By Jack DaSilva
It’s not often an athlete from the Gainesville area signs to stay in town and play at the University of Florida but that’s exactly what happened.
Ailey Tebbett of the Oak Hall girls’ soccer team has been committed to play at UF since the summer of 2015 but she never got comfortable or lost her focus on the field.
“She’s very different,” explained Athletics Director Jeff Malloy. “Even though it was done [commitment to UF] and in the bag so to speak she just continued to work hard every day and really, a lot of the reason for our success and Oak Hall Soccer this year was because of her. Any time you can put her at the back end of your defense you stand a great chance to win a lot of games.”
Tebbett had 175 saves this past season, including 10 shutouts, and she added three goals off of penalty kicks for the Eagles (12-4-2). 
When talking about who helped contribute to her success on the field the most Ailey said, “I think definitely my parents. They’ve made so many sacrifices for me. Just being able to drive me to practices and games; they’ve never stopped supporting me from the start.”
She looks forward to playing at the University of Florida because of the coaching staff that has made her feel at home from the very beginning, and because of the close proximity to home.
Ailey Tebbett is an exceptional athlete with remarkable career statistics and will greatly help the UF woman’s soccer team.
“I’m excited to be a part of such a huge program,” she said. “I also really love the team and coaches and what they’re trying to build there.”
Tebbett, who started playing varsity goalkeeper at the end of her 7th grade season, finished her career with a total of 1,075 saves.
