Rudy Ybarra is an American former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who played professionally in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

and

Western Soccer Alliance The Western Soccer Alliance was a professional soccer league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States and Western Canada. The league began in 1985 as the Western Alliance Challenge Series. In 1986, it became the Western Soccer ...

Player

Ybarra graduated from

Santa Barbara High School Santa Barbara Senior High School, "Home of the Dons," is situated on a sprawling campus in Santa Barbara, California in the Santa Barbara Unified School District. Among the oldest high schools in California and one of five high schools in the Di ...

in the class of 1976. In 1978, he signed with the

Los Angeles Aztecs The Los Angeles Aztecs were an American professional soccer team based in Los Angeles, California, that existed from 1974 to 1981. The Aztecs competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1974 North American Soccer League season, 1974 ...

of the

. On March 17, 1979, the Aztecs traded Ybarra to the

Tulsa Roughnecks Tulsa Roughnecks may refer to any of four distinct professional soccer teams: *Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984), the original top-flight team that played in the North American Soccer League from 1978 to 1984. *Tulsa Roughnecks (1993–2000), the team ...

in exchange for Vito Dimitrijevic and future considerations. The Roughnecks later traded him to the

Memphis Rogues The Memphis Rogues were a professional soccer team in the former North American Soccer League (1968–1984), North American Soccer League. They operated in the 1978 in sports, 1978, 1979 in sports, 1979, and 1980 in sports, 1980 seasons and p ...

. He played the 1980–1981 NASL indoor season with the Aztecs. In 1986 and 1987, he played for the

Hollywood Kickers Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

of the

. In 1989, he played for Real Santa Barbara.

Coaching Experience

Ybarra has held several coaching positions at many levels and has been successful at each of those levels. Ybarra has spent time coaching at

, Santa Barbara Soccer Club (youth), Santa Barbara Soccer Club (men's team in the Central Coast Soccer League in Santa Barbara),

Ventura County Fusion Ventura County Fusion is an American soccer team based in Ventura, California, United States. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid. The team plays its home games in the stadium on th ...

of the Player Development League and Westmont College of Santa Barbara, California. Ybarra served as the head coach of the men's varsity soccer team for nine seasons at

, and guided the team to many Channel League championships as well as the 1995 CIF Division II Championship. Ybarra was also named CIF Coach of the Year in the 1994 and 1995 seasons. Ybarra is also one of the few people that have had the honor of being recognized as CIF Coach of the Year and CIF Player of the Year (1975 and 1976). After retiring as a professional soccer player, Ybarra continued to play semi-professional soccer on the weekends for his beloved Santa Barbara Soccer Club in the Central Coast Soccer League where he served as a player/coach and captained the team to the 1991 and 1992 California State Championships, helping solidify the club as one of the premier semi-professional soccer teams in the state. After retiring from competitive soccer, Ybarra also guided the team to their third California State Championship in 2002 as the head coach. Wanting to give back to the local community, Ybarra began coaching local youth soccer at Santa Barbara Soccer Club. Ybarra guided the Boys 1996 and Boys 1998 teams to numerous Cal South State Championships, US Youth Soccer Region IV Championships and US Youth Soccer National League Championships. The Boys 1996 group won the state, regional and national championship in 2014. The Boys 1998 group won the Cal South State Championship on six occasions (2010 and 2012–2016), six US Youth Soccer Region IV Championships (2010–2016) and three US Youth Soccer National League Championships (2012, 2013 and 2016). Due to his accomplishments in youth soccer with Santa Barbara Soccer Club, Ybarra has been recognized by Cal South, the governing body of youth club soccer in Southern California, as the Nike Competitive Coach of the Year in 2013, 2015 and 2017. From 2006 until May 2008, Ybarra has served as an assistant with the expansion

of the

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

. Ybarra then returned to the

as its head coach in April 2012 and still currently holds the position. In August 2016, Ybarra joined the Westmont College Men's soccer team as an assistant coach and still currently forms part of the coaching staff. In these two seasons, the Westmont Warriors have won the Golden State Athletic Conference Championship (GSAC).

Promoter

In addition to his coaching duties, Ybarra co-founded Santa Barbara Soccer Entertainment to market soccer events in Southern California. In June 2006, his company formed an alliance with 11 Sports Marketing LLC to expand their marketing opportunities.Sports Marketing Alliance Formed
/ref>

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ybarra, Rudy 1958 births American soccer coaches American men's soccer players California Kickers players Los Angeles Aztecs players Living people Memphis Rogues players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Real Santa Barbara players Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984) players Western Soccer Alliance players Men's association football forwards 20th-century American sportsmen