Leonel Ibarra was born and raised in San Diego, CA. Graduated from Mission Bay High School in 1999 and the University of San Diego with a B.S./B.A. in Electrical Engineering in 2004. As a USD Torero, played soccer in the NCAA Division I West Coast Conference from 2000-2003. The toreros played in the NCAA Tournament 2nd Round in 2000 and 2001 and were WCC Champions in 2000. As a Mission Bay Buccaneer, he played 4 years of high school soccer with a CIF Division III Championship season his Senior year (2 years of tennis). He continued his professional development with the San Diego Gauchos from 2004-2006 in the USL Premier Development League (PDL).

 

As a coach, Leonel currently holds a USSF A-Senior License and is the Technical Director of Albion SC San Diego CV. His coaching development has been focused on continual education and experiential learning. His roles as head coach (HC), assistant coach (AC), and associate head coach (AHC) in youth to senior environments have allowed him to develop players in leagues like the United States Development Academy (USDA 2018-2019), United Premier Soccer League (UPSL 2019-2022), SoCal (2014-2015 and 2022-present), San Diego Development Academy (SDDA 2014-2019), San Diego Unified MS League (2013-2014), CIF Division I Metro Mesa League (2009-2010), and Cal South Presidio League (2009-2010). In the UPSL, was the 2021 Western Conference SoCal Champion as AHC. In 2015, was Cal South/Region IV Cup Champion and made it to Round 3 of the Lamar Hunt US Open as a player and AC. In 2008, was Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Champion as AC.