Adversity is something that many athletes face, not only on the competition circuit, but also in their everyday lives. It is even more inspiring when an athlete is able to overcome that adversity and shine at the most competitive levels. Guilford native Gabriela “Gabi” Garcia-Perez is the epitomoe of perseverance and dedication, as she has pushed through a variety of obstacles and recently concluded her final season on the soccer pitch for the University of New Haven (UNH).

Gabi, who has been playing soccer for nearly her entire life, credits a family connection for inspiring her to get involved with the sport she loves.

“Being that my dad played soccer professionally and in college, I have been playing soccer all my life. My dad also played at the University of New Haven. I come from a big soccer family being that my family is from Colombia and Ecuador. Soccer is a constant within my household,” says Gabi. “I started out playing with the Soccer Club of Guilford (SCOG), where my dad was my coach. Having my dad as my coach was an incredible experience and I believe was where I made the most amount of development as a player. Playing at SCOG meant I was playing with my friends and my community, which has always been incredibly important to me.”

In 2019, Gabi played her last season for the Guilford High School (GHS) girls’ soccer team, winning the Southern Connecticut Conference (SCC) and Class M State Championship titles as a co-captain. Upon graduating, she decided she wanted to stay local for college to continue the community work she had established during her high school years, and to continue her dad’s legacy at UNH. Upon entering college in 2020, COVID-19 had unexpected plans and cancelled her freshman soccer season. The rest of her collegiate career fired challenge after challenge her way.

“In my sophomore year, we were all back to playing, but unfortunately in my junior year, I tore my ACL and Meniscus. During my ACL and Meniscus year, I spent most of my time in rehabilitation and physical therapy with Rich Krueger (from CT Orthopedics), who was instrumental in helping me gain back my confidence and strength,” says Gabi. “My family, friends, community, and coach were all very supportive through this time, as they knew that soccer was a big part of my life. The family of the girls I coached even sent me messages and sent over my favorite pizza to my house in support.”

While having to recover from her injuries to get back to the soccer field as soon as she could, Gabi found herself volunteering for the school with several organizations. During this time, she made a connection with LiveGirl, an organization dedicated to uplifting women and girls to be confident leaders. Gabi has close ties with LiveGirl, as it helped her a lot in her career development.

“Now, the University of New Haven and LiveGirl have a partnership, which has helped many women obtain internships in fortune 500 companies. LiveGirl has been an organization that has helped me tremendously and is how I obtained my internship at Boeing,” says Gabi. “I wanted to give more students at the University of New Haven the chance to have the same opportunities, which is why I connected my university for a partnership.”

In addition to working with LiveGirl, Gabi also continued to host events with the Community Integration Mentoring Program, an organization that she created her sophomore year of high school and still continues to this day. The objective of the organization is to integrate communities by promoting relationships amongst students all over the shoreline. Some of the events she organizes involve other UNH students, New Haven/East Haven/Guilford/North Branford public school students, and other community members.

“Some event examples included various Beach Cleanups and an event where care packages were made for people facing homelessness. I also serve on the administration team at ARTE Inc’s Saturday Academy, an organization dedicated to providing free extracurricular programming (focused on art and music) to New Haven Public School students,” says Gabi. “I have involved many of my UNH friends and teammates to volunteer at our events, including College Readiness Courses for New Haven Public School students that I ran.”

UNH women’s soccer Head Coach Laura Duncan, who has been coaching Gabi since her freshman year, has seen her love for the game shine through in her strong on-field leadership abilities, and the way she gives back in a generous way off the field is something anyone should admire.

“It initially started with her impact on the field coming in as a soccer player,” said Duncan. “Then she just grew into an amazing person. She was such a key part to the point where she led by example, was always positive, and organized events for the team to do different community events. She is one of those kids that everyone looked up to, everyone was friends with, and she just really positively affected so many players on and off the field.”

Despite her injuries, Gabi has remained resilient both on and off the soccer field, continuing to play the sport that she grew up with and also giving back to her community. In December, Gabi will be graduating with her Master of Business and Science (MBS) after extending her graduation one more semester to be able to play soccer one last time. As she moves on from UNH and enters the real world, Gabi knows that the sport she’s loved for many years will continue to be a part of her life in the long run.

“In the future, I look forward to continuing supporting the Soccer Club of Guilford, where everything started out for me, being that my family is very involved in the community,” says Gabi. “My dad is the director of coaching for SCOG, and I have always been involved in coaching our community’s young players.”