WS Chronicle

After making a verbal commitment last year, standout midfielder Aaryn Gabriel made it official last week when she signed her National Letter of Intent. Next fall Aaryn, who is a senior at Winston-Salem Preparatory Academy (WSPA), will be taking her talents to Minnesota University. 

“I committed last year around this time and I think I’ve just grown so much and I put in a lot of work, so I’m proud to be here and be celebrated,” said Gabriel before signing last week inside the auditorium at WSPA.

Gabriel has made a name for herself in the soccer world over the past few years playing with the NC Fusion ECNL (Elite Club National League), in the USL Women’s League, and with her high school team. She was an ECNL All-Conference selection and was named to the Mid-Atlantic U16 and U17 first teams. Gabriel has also been invited to the U.S. Soccer YNT (Youth National Team) Regional ID Center three times. U.S. Soccer YNT ID Centers are led by U.S. Soccer and used to identify players for the Youth National Team program.

At the high school level, as a freshman at Atkins High School, Gabriel helped lead the Camels to the most successful season in team history, going undefeated in the Western Piedmont 2A Conference. At Winston-Salem Prep, Gabriel has been named All-Conference in soccer, basketball and track (indoor and outdoor). 

Gabriel has also shown the ability to overcome adversity. In 2021 Gabriel tore her ACL. Instead of letting the injury deter her dream, Gabriel used it as motivation to rededicate herself to the game and to getting better.

“After I had surgery back  in 2021, just being off and not playing, I knew this was something I loved and something I wanted to do,” Gabriel continued. “I had to do a lot of rehab and a lot of training but it was more of a mental thing. I just had to tell myself that I was going to overcome and keep working.” 

While shining on the soccer field, Gabriel excels in the classroom as well. She’s been an honor roll student since she was a sophomore and serves as the president of SGA. Gabriel is also a member of the National Honor Society and Crosby Scholars. At Minnesota, Gabriel plans to major in physical activity and health promotions with a minor in business management. 

When discussing her decision to attend Minnesota, Gabriel said she fell in love with the coaching staff and the campus almost instantly. “I love the coaches, it’s an all female staff,” she  said. 

“I got to spend the night, meet some of the players, and they really showed me how much of a family it is. The fields are amazing and there’s no boys’ team so we get all the perks. It’s really a good quality school and I’m really excited.” 

Although she admits it is going to take some time to get used to her youngest daughter being more than 1,000 miles away when she goes off to college, Aaryn’s mother, Keisha Gabriel, said it’s exciting to see her daughter achieve her goals. Gabriel, who is the principal at Winston-Salem Prep, said Aaryn is also an inspiration for other students who have dreams of competing at the collegiate level. 

“She has wanted this for a very long time so to see it come to fruition is an amazing thing,” she said. “And not just for her; I think it’s also inspiration to the rest of our students and that’s why we invited them here to celebrate and also possibly realize their own goals.”

Aaryn’s father, Shawn Gabriel, said it felt good to see all the hard work and dedication pay off. He said he still remembers the first time Aaryn told him she wanted to play soccer. 

“She’s always been a fighter, she’s always achieved and she said she wanted it. I’m just proud to be here to support her. That was my job, to find out the support she needed and be there for her,” he said. 

Like all great athletes, Aaryn is always working to get better. As she prepares for the next level, Aaryn said she’s been working on improving every aspect of her game. Over the past few years shel has been training with Derrick Speas, who trained the Chinese speed skating Olympic team in 2020. 

“Honestly I’m working on everything,” Aaryn said. “I’ve been trying not to be too hard on myself but I do want to work on my technique and my finishing because I know I’m going to be going against some bigger girls.”