Coach Gaby: first woman on staff of Borregos Monterrey football team

The Borregos Monterrey football team has a new staff member, Gabriela Martínez García, who will be assisting the offensive line coach.

According to the Tec de Monterrey team, she is the first woman to be on the coaching staff of an ONEFA Major League team.

Coach Gaby, as she is also known, recognizes that it is a challenge to be a pioneer on the football program at the Monterrey campus.

“I’m not joining just any Major League program, but rather a prestigious team that has won championships and has a great image and reputation under its belt.

“I hope that with me as an example, more girls will have the confidence to approach football programs to learn and demonstrate the knowledge they already have about the sport,” she said.

Borregos Monterrey are training for the 2022 season of the National Student Organization of American Football (ONEFA for its initials in Spanish), which begins on September 9th.

“I’m not joining just any Major League program, but rather a prestigious team that has won championships.”

Her experience in American football extends to referee and player

Coach Gaby Martínez played flag football as a student at the Autonomous University of Nuevo León (UANL for its initials in Spanish).

In 2009, after graduating with a degree in Sports Management, she played for the Dallas Diamonds, a football team in the U.S.

She returned to Mexico and joined several teams, where she played quarterback, catcher, and other positions.

“I had the opportunity to play tackle and flag football. That allowed me to learn and expand my knowledge of the game,” she said.

She is also an American college referee for the NCAA, where she will participate in the Big Ten Conference Division I and SIAC (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) Division II games.

She has been a referee since 1995. At the 2016 World University Football Championship held at the Monterrey campus, coach Gaby met Bill Lemonnier, an American referee for the NCAA and Arena Football League, who gave her an opportunity.

“Without being on the official list, Bill let me referee a game and he saw the potential in me: ‘If you continue like this, you’re going to get far.’ I took his advice and I’m still training and studying,” she said.

Following those experiences, she was invited to join Borregos Monterrey by head coach Carlos Altamirano, who recommended that she begin her coaching experience on the offensive line.

“I took his advice because he knows what he needs, he knows what he brought me in for. He saw the potential in me to develop as an offensive line coach, so I took his advice and joined line coach Javier Aguirre,” she said.

A college football pioneer

After her appointment as a coach in the ONEFA Major League, Martínez hopes that more opportunities will open up for women in that area.

“This allows other girls to see that it’s possible. As well as scouts looking for new talent, the girls can also go and look for the opportunities themselves. There will always be someone who will open the door for them,” she said.

“I’m not here as a female coach, but as a member of the coaching staff,” she added.

"I’m not here as a female coach, but as a member of the coaching staff.”

She pointed out that starting this journey with Borregos Monterrey was the best option since coach Altamirano has put his trust in her.

“He’s someone who surrounds himself with people who are in line with what he wants, and I think that was what made me really believe that I was in the best place, that I was making a good decision,” she said.

Borregos Monterrey will start the season playing against Pumas CU at the Olympic University Stadium on Saturday, September 10 at 12:00 noon.

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