SAN ANGELO, TX—Faith Webber took the next step in her academic and athletic career by signing her National Letter of Intent on Sunday to play soccer at the University of South Alabama.

“There are a lot of emotions,” Webber said. “I’m very excited. I’m relieved. I’m nervous, as well, because this is a big step in my life and I’m moving so far.”

South Alabama has won an NCAA Division 1 record five straight conference championships in the Sun Belt Conference.  The Jaguars went 14-6-1 overall and 9-1-0 in conference play this past season.

“We have a very strong program and school,” Faith said. “That was a really big factor.”

Faith also said that being close to the beach in Mobile, Ala., also made the decision easier.

Webber is just the second female soccer player from San Angelo to sign to play soccer at the Division 1 level.

“It is an extremely big honor,” Webber said.  “I was never expecting it.  I worked really hard and prayed about it all the time because it was something I always dreamed of but never thought it would become a reality.”

Even though Mobile is 831 miles from San Angelo, Webber is no stranger to the distance after the San Angelo product spent the most of her club career playing for teams in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

“I’ve been traveling for a very long time to Dallas, since I was 13,” Webber said. “I’ve played on many different teams and it has been very strenuous on my family. It’s taken a lot of time and money, but it’s been 100 percent worth it.”

Her family agrees to the sentiment of the time and money spent was worth it to put their daughter in to college.

“She is a really good girl and has worked really hard,” said Faith’s father John Webber. “She has worked so hard and had to overcome a lot of obstacles. Even now she travels every Wednesday to Plano to train and her league games are in Dallas, Houston and Tulsa…So it’s been a big group effort and we are grateful for the doors God has opened.”

 Webber began her club career in town at San Angelo United in 2012 before making the jump to Liverpool FC in Dallas the following year. In 2016 Webber moved to play for the Dallas Texans in the Elite Clubs National League, the highest level of girls club soccer in the country. The ECNL boasts eight different conferences throughout the United States.

In the fall of 2017, Webber made the move to her current club Sting Football Club based in Plano and the ECNL.

Webber is the only girl from San Angelo to play in the ECNL. Webber also made the North Texas Olympic Development Program team.

Faith is planning on studying Marine Biology at South Alabama.