Athlete-turned-admin inspires student-athletes

Debbie Garcia has seen it all at UTA.

From her time as a student-athlete to being named senior woman administrator to ascending to deputy Athletics director last November, Garcia has spent nearly 32 years at the university.

Now, she is the longest-tenured staff member in the Athletics department. 

She started working for the athletics department in 1997 as a graduate assistant coach for the track and field team. Her first office, which she shared with another coach and a sports information director, was in the Gilstrap Athletics Center attached to Maverick Stadium. 

Now, she holds her own office in the C-Suite level at College Park Center just steps away from the Athletics director’s office. 

“Every new opportunity has really affirmed to me that I took the right path,” she said. 

Garcia’s path to where she is now has come from decades of work with administrators, coaches and students. Now as an administrator herself, she uses the relationship skills she made at lower levels to be the best executive she can be while mentoring the next generation of student-athletes. 

Senior softball outfielder Morgan Westbrook said seeing a woman of color in authority shows her the “sky is the limit.” The representation to her means women have a space in corporate positions of administrations. 

“It just feels good to be represented by a woman because she understands our perspective and our point of view, and it’s easy to resonate with her and she’s so personable,” Westbrook said. “It’s just so fun to be represented and loved by someone at a high position like that.” 

One of Westbrook’s favorite memories with Garcia came when the softball team opened their 2023 season. It was the first game of head coach Kara Dill’s tenure and Garcia brought flowers to celebrate the game — a 4-3 win over Texas Tech University. 

Garcia makes it a priority to see student-athletes and build relationships with them. She doesn’t want to just be a name to them — she wants them to feel that she’s there to celebrate their successes.

She regularly attends practices and games of all the sports teams at UTA. The basketball and volleyball teams practice at CPC just steps from her office, but she still goes out to Gilstrap to connect with athletes on that side of campus. 

It’s about making the effort to see them where they are, rather than forcing athletes to make the cross-campus trip, she said. 

“She’s just always there,” Westbrook said. “Even when I take the jersey off and I’m outside the lines, I know she’s always in my corner.” 

As a former student-athlete, Garcia knows the struggles firsthand. She stepped onto UTA’s campus as a college freshman in Fall 1992 as a member of the women’s track and field team. Garcia, an all-state athlete in high school, said she had a decent freshman season, but began to struggle her sophomore and junior years. 

This article was featured in the March 27 print

Injuries piled up and Garcia had to “pull a band-aid” her junior year when she decided to end her collegiate career. As she reflected on her athletic career, Garcia was brutally honest with herself. Now, she recognizes she wasn’t as mentally prepared in her recovery process as she could’ve been. She felt she may have given up on herself. 

So when Hannah Morris, who started playing for the softball team in 2012, made the tough decision to end her career as injuries nagged her, Garcia was there for her. Morris transitioned from playing softball to interning with the department where she got to rub shoulders with administrators like Garcia. 

Morris said she doesn’t believe it was a coincidence that Garcia was there to help her through the journey of transitioning out of being a student-athlete. Garcia is part of the reason she comes back to UTA home games as an alumna. 

“For me, I always knew I could call Debbie Garcia and she would be there and that just meant a ton,” Morris said. 

When Garcia isn’t at a softball game or a meeting with one of UTA’s many athletics coaches, she often finds herself in senior administrator meetings with director Jon Fagg and other senior staff members. 

Throughout her time at UTA, Garcia has been a part of an administration that’s changed conferences three times, gone through countless coaching changes and worked to adapt to the current world of college athletics with Name, Image and Likeness rights and the adoption of the transfer portal. 

But that last part has been tough, she said. With Fagg’s help, she had to get to a point where it didn’t feel like the athletes were leaving her. The department is confident UTA is a great place to go to school with a great surrounding area, but that may not be the best fit for everyone. 

Fagg said Garcia takes great care of the athletes on and off the playing field. She works hands on with academics, compliance and engagement to help make athletes “productive citizens” once they leave UTA, he said. 

“She’s just an incredible person,” Fagg said. “I love working with her.” 

Fagg said Garcia has never been afraid to challenge him, something he appreciates. 

“That is a wonderful role to have for a leader, someone who’s confident enough, knowledgeable enough to openly challenge you makes us all better,” he said. 

In her time at UTA, Garcia has seen and done it all, including being a part of the decision to bring women’s golf to the program. She said it was important to give more opportunities for women student-athletes at the university. 

She works closely with staff to give student-athletes mental health resources and attends the Student Athlete Advisory Committee meetings. The group led by student-athletes, known as SAAC, is led today by its president Westbrook. Garcia was on the committee during her time as an athlete as well. 

Garcia works with the committee to make sure student-athletes’ voices are heard and their demands are met, but the committee gave her a chance 30 years ago to help ease the transition out of student-athlete life. It was hard to step away from the competition, but working with the group helped lead her into compliance and ethics. 

As she gets older, Garcia has it on her bucket list to eventually go to law school, so she can further the education she prioritized as a student. But for now, Garcia is happy where she is, building relationships with the athletes and department staff. 

Her time as a student-athlete may have passed, but Garcia still has that perspective within her. She goes to work every day to make today’s athletes’ lives easier and that starts with one question she asks herself. 

“What is something that I wish somebody had made available to me?” 

@isaacappelt

news-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu