James Michael Gabarra (born September 22, 1959) is an American retired soccer forward who coached the

Washington Spirit The Washington Spirit is an American professional soccer club based in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area that participates in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the W-League and cont ...

National Women's Soccer League team, and previously coached

Sky Blue FC NJ/NY Gotham FC is a professional women's soccer team based in Harrison, New Jersey. Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sky Blue FC from 2008 until 2020. A founding member of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 2013 ...

and the

Washington Freedom Washington Freedom was an American professional soccer club based in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Germantown, Maryland, that participated in Women's Professional Soccer. The Freedom was founded in 2001 as a member of the defunct Women's Uni ...

women's soccer teams. He played professionally in the American Soccer League,

United Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

American Indoor Soccer Association American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

, Major Indoor Soccer League and

Western Soccer Alliance 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 Alli ...

Early career

A native of Key West, Florida, Gabarra attended

Connecticut College Connecticut College (Conn College or Conn) is a private liberal arts college in New London, Connecticut. It is a residential, four-year undergraduate institution with nearly all of its approximately 1,815 students living on campus. The college w ...

where he played soccer from 1978 to 1981. In 1989,

inducted Gabarra into its Athletic Hall of Fame. After finishing college in the spring of 1982, Gabarra was signed by the

Detroit Express The Detroit Express was a soccer team based in suburban Detroit that played in the now defunct North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1978 to 1980. Its home field was the Pontiac Silverdome. The Express were co-owned by Jimmy Hill, Roger ...

of the American Soccer League (ASL). The Express won the ASL championship that season, defeating the

Oklahoma City Slickers The Oklahoma City Slickers was the name given to two different American soccer clubs based in Oklahoma City. The first team competed in the second American Soccer League in 1982 and 1983, and as the Oklahoma City Stampede in the United Soccer Le ...

two games to one to take the title. However, both the Express and the ASL barely made it through the 1983 season before they both folded. Gabarra spent most of his time with the Express on the substitute's bench. In 1984, the

(USL) attempted to replace the ASL as the de facto U.S. second division. Gabarra moved to the USL where he joined the New York Nationals. The USL fared little better than the ASL, and the Nationals folded at the end of the season. The league itself collapsed during its second season, but by that time Gabarra was establishing himself as an indoor star.

Indoor soccer

In 1984, the Louisville Thunder of the newly established

(AISA) signed Gabarra. With the move to indoor soccer, Gabarra found his niche. That year he led the Thunder in scoring as the team went to the AISA championship series, only to lose to the

Canton Invaders The Canton Invaders was an indoor soccer club based in Canton, Ohio that competed in the National Professional Soccer League. After the 1995–96 season, the team relocated and became the Columbus Invaders. History The Canton Invaders were a p ...

. On September 18, 1985, during the AISA off season, Gabarra signed with the Dallas Sidekicks of Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) as a free agent. He played ten games with the team, assisting on one goal, before moving back to the Louisville Thunder. In 1986, Gabarra and the Thunder finally overcame the Invaders and took the 1985–1986 AISA title. The next season, he moved to the

Los Angeles Lazers The Los Angeles Lazers were an indoor soccer team that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) from 1982 to 1989. History Jerry Buss, the owner of California Sports, the parent company of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kings and Strings of ...

of MISL. He stayed with the Lazers for three seasons. However, the team folded at the end of the 1988–1989 season. Gabarra then moved to the

San Diego Sockers San Diego Sockers may refer to: *San Diego Sockers (1978–1996) The San Diego Sockers were a soccer and indoor soccer team based in San Diego, California. The team played in the indoor and outdoor editions of the North American Soccer League ( ...

where he was a part of the 1990–1991 championship team. He moved once more, this time to the Tacoma Stars for the 1991–1992 season. By the 1991–1992 season, the MISL was on its last legs. At the end of the season, the league and the Stars folded. He then moved to the

Milwaukee Wave The Milwaukee Wave is an American professional indoor soccer team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1984, they have been the oldest continuously operating professional soccer team in the United States and are seven-time league champions, m ...

of the National Professional Soccer League. During that time, Gabarra also played two outdoor seasons with the

Los Angeles Heat Los Angeles Heat joined the Western Soccer Alliance in 1986. They joined the American Professional Soccer League in 1990 when the WSL merged with the American Soccer League, then folded in 1990. The club played in Torrance, California at West H ...

. In 1989, the Heat were members of the

Western Soccer League 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 All ...

(WSL). That year, they lost in penalty kicks to the

San Francisco Bay Blackhawks San Francisco Bay Blackhawks were a professional soccer team which came into existence in 1989 as a team in the Western Soccer League (WSL). The Blackhawks spent time in the American Professional Soccer League (APSL) and the United States Interreg ...

in the semi-finals. At the end of the 1989 season, the WSL merged with the American Soccer League to form the American Professional Soccer League (APSL). The Heat continued its excellent play in 1990, making it to the Western Conference championship series, where it fell again to the Blackhawks.

Olympics, futsal and national team

In 1986, Gabarra began playing for the U.S. Olympic soccer team as it began the qualification process for the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

to be held in

Seoul, South Korea Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 o ...

. The U.S. qualified, and Gabarra was part of the team which went 1–1–1 and failed to reach the second round. Gabarra used his extensive indoor soccer experience to contribute to the U.S.

Futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is ...

team. He was the captain of the team from 1986 to 1996, during which he earned 30 indoor

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

and scored 17 goals, both U.S. records. In 1989, the U.S. Futsal FIFA Futsal World Championship. Three years later, Gabarra and his teammates took second at the Futsal championship, losing 4–1 to Brazil in the championship game. Gabarra earned his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

with the U.S. national team in a May 14, 1988 loss to Colombia. He went on to earn a total of 14 caps in 1988 and 1989. During 1989, he usually came on as a substitute. His last match with the national team came on November 5, 1989 in a scoreless tie with El Salvador.

Coaching

Gabarra began his transition from playing to coaching early in his career when he became the player/coach of the Louisville Thunder in 1985. He lasted two seasons as the head coach. After he retired from playing with the collapse of the Tacoma Stars and the MISL, he returned to coaching with the

. He lasted only the 1992–1993 season. In 1994, he became the head coach of the

Washington Warthogs The Washington Warthogs were a professional indoor soccer team in the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) from 1994 to 1997. They played their home games in the USAir Arena in Landover, Maryland, an arena they shared with the Washington Bul ...

of the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) and remained with the team through the 1997 season when the league folded. He also served as a volunteer assistant coach to his wife who is the women's soccer coach at the U.S. Naval Academy. On August 11, 2000, the

of the

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the Un ...

announced it had hired Gabarra as its first head coach. The WUSA was a new league which did not begin competitive play until the 2001 season. That year the Freedom stumbled badly, finishing second to the bottom in the standings and placing no players on the All Star team. In 2002, the Freedom made a complete turnaround and reached the WUSA championship, only to fall 3–2 to the

Carolina Courage Carolina Courage was a professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Fetzer Field on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus in 2001, and then at the soccer-specific SAS Stadium in Cary, North Carolina i ...

. In 2003, Gabarra led the Freedom to a second consecutive WUSA championship game. This time it won, defeating the Atlanta Beat 2–1 in overtime. That was the last year for the WUSA, as it folded due to financial difficulties. When the WUSA folded, the Freedom recreated itself as an independent soccer club, the Freedom Soccer Club. Gabarra remained on as its head coach despite briefly coaching the San Diego Spirit during a tournament in 2004. In 2007, Gabarra coached the Freedom's W-League franchise to the W-League championship and was one of three finalists for W-League Coach of the Year. When the Freedom returned to professional soccer in 2009 as part of the new

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 sea ...

league, Gabarra continued as head coach. The team made the playoffs both that year and in 2010; however, the team suffered a 10-game winless streak in the latter. After losing the first-round playoff game (as happened in 2009 as well), Gabarra resigned, citing "irreconcilable differences" with team management. Gabarra signed with

in 2011. After the WPS folded, Gabarra coached the

New Jersey Wildcats The New Jersey Wildcats is an American women’s soccer team, founded by Vincent Baldino in 1996. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues W-League, the second tier of women’s soccer in the United States and Canada. The team played ...

of the W-League for the 2012 season. Gabarra returned to coach Sky Blue FC in 2013 as part of the National Women's Soccer League, where he led the team to the playoffs in their first year in the new league but did not return under his tenure. He left in October 2015 to become the general manager and head coach of the

In his

first year A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ar ...

in those roles with the Spirit, the team hosted a home playoff match, won a playoff game, and advanced to the NWSL Championship for the first times in club history. The Spirit drew the

Western New York Flash The Western New York Flash (WNY Flash) was an American soccer club based in Elma, New York that competed in the United Women's Soccer league. They have won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-League in 2010, Women's Pro ...

in regulation and extra periods before losing 4-3 in penalty kicks.

References

External links

Jim Gabarra
profile at

Gabarra's Sidekicks Bio

1991–1992 Tacoma Stars Team Photo

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gabarra, Jim 1959 births Living people American men's futsal players American Indoor Soccer Association coaches American Indoor Soccer Association players American soccer coaches American soccer players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players Anaheim Splash players Connecticut College alumni Continental Indoor Soccer League coaches Continental Indoor Soccer League players Dallas Sidekicks (original MISL) players Detroit Express (1981–1983) players Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Los Angeles Heat players Los Angeles Lazers players Louisville Thunder players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Milwaukee Wave players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players New York Nationals (USL) players Olympic soccer players of the United States San Diego Sockers (original MISL) players Tacoma Stars players United Soccer League (1984–85) players United States men's international soccer players USL W-League (1995–2015) coaches Washington Warthogs players Western Soccer Alliance players Women's United Soccer Association coaches Soccer players from Florida National Women's Soccer League coaches NJ/NY Gotham FC coaches Washington Spirit coaches American women's soccer coaches Association football forwards People from Key West, Florida Women's Professional Soccer coaches