Rudy Ybarra completed his fifth season as an assistant coach of the Westmont men’s soccer team this past spring, helping the Warriors to their fourth Golden State Athletic Conference title and third NAIA National Tournament appearance during his time on staff.
In his first year as an assistant in 2016, he helped Westmont to a shared GSAC regular season championship, its first conference regular season title since 2002. The next year, he coached the team to a GSAC Tournament championship and its first NAIA National Tournament berth since 2008.
The 2019 team won the conference regular season after finishing undefeated in GSAC play for the first time in 30 years. The Warriors began the season 6-0, the best start to a campaign in program history, before reaching the Round of 16 of the NAIA National Tournament.
In 2020, Ybarra aided the team's journey through navigating the COVID-19 pandemic that saw the club's season not actually begin until February of 2021.
Regardless of circumstance, the club rallied together, going 7-2-1 including 5-0-1 in GSAC play to win the conference regular season championship. The icing on the cake came when the Warriors went on the road and defeated OUAZ in the GSAC Championship by a score of 2-1, with the game-winner coming in the 90th minute.
Ybarra recently became an assistant coach of USL Championship side Las Vegas Lights FC. He previously served as head coach of the Ventura County Fusion for eight years. The Fusion is a USL-2 team (formerly PDL), comprised of some of the best college players in the country. During his tenure, he coached his Fusion teams against numerous professional teams from the U.S. (MLS and USL Championship), Mexico, and Europe.
Ybarra is a household name in the Santa Barbara soccer community, having played and coached at Santa Barbara High, and being a longtime coach for Santa Barbara Soccer Club. As a player at Santa Barbara High, Ybarra won two CIF Championships and was twice named CIF Player of the Year (1975, 1976). He then went on to play professional soccer in the North American Soccer League with the Los Angeles Aztecs, Tulsa Roughnecks, and the Memphis Rogues. He also played in the Western Soccer Alliance with the Hollywood Kickers.
After his professional career, Ybarra became the head coach of his alma mater, Santa Barbara High, leading the Dons to a CIF Division II Championship in 1995 and twice being named CIF Coach of the Year (1994, 1995). He has since coached Santa Barbara Soccer Club, leading the club to all four of its US Youth Soccer National Championships. He has also led SBSC to a total of seven Cal South National Cup titles, seven USYS Region IV Championships, and two national semifinal appearances. For his work, he has been named Cal South’s Nike Competitive Coach of the Year three times (2013, 2015, 2017). Ybarra was just inducted into the Cal South Hall of Fame in March.
He currently holds a National “B” coaching license and is working towards getting his “A” license.
He and his wife Lourdes have three grown sons (Marco, Raul Jr., and Juan Pablo) and two granddaughters (Victoria and Carolina).
