San Angelo Athlete Signs to Play Soccer at McMurry

SAN ANGELO, TX — It was a joyous moment for Gabby Ibarra and her mother, Angela Fuentes, when Gabby put pen to paper to play for the McMurry University Warhawks, an NCAA Division III school in Abilene.

'Ibarra felt the love from her new school as soon as she stepped on to campus during her official visit.

"It was the people [on campus] that convinced me," the Central High School senior said. "The players and professors welcomed me like I was one of them even though I hadn't signed yet. I felt comfortable."

Despite attending Central High School, Ibarra elected to focus on club soccer which took her to the Mansfield Revolution in the Dallas area.

“There was more competition for me," the attacking midfielder said. "I like playing girls above my level because it’s good experience. I also had more opportunity to be seen by college coaches.”

The Mansfield Revolution plays in the Lake Highlands Soccer Association where Gabby says she'd "never seen girls fight for a ball like that."

Ibarra said that McMurry runs a similar formation to what she plays with the Revolution and that helped make the sell to go to Abilene that much easier.

The future Warhawk joked about getting to play teammates in the future who will be playing at Howard Payne who is also a member of the American Southwest Conference. Schools like Mary Hardin-Baylor, Hardin-Simmons and Sul Ross State make up the 13 team conference.

McMurry went 4-14 overall and 1-11 in conference play last season.

Gabby will be a pre-med undergrad student at McMurry before going to medical school and completing four or five years of residency to become either a cardiovascular or neurosurgeon.