Abbey Barnum was named the seventh head coach of the Eastern New Mexico women's soccer program in March of 2020.
Barnum most recently served as the assistant women's soccer coach at the University of Southern Mississippi prior to assuming the role of head coach at Eastern New Mexico. The Houston, Texas native will bring extensive ties to the Lone Star Conference and the region with her to Portales as she was a two-time Lone Star Conference regular season champion and two-time LSC Tournament champion as a player during her career at Midwestern State. Barnum also began her coaching career at nearby University of the Southwest as an assistant coach under former Eastern New Mexico women's soccer head coach Josh Smith from 2017-to-2018.
Barnum was instrumental in the revitalization of the University of the Southwest women's soccer program, helping the program achieve a 13-3 record, the second highest win total in program history and the best conference record in program history at the time. During her time in Hobbs she also served as the athletic department's Community Service Liaison and assisted the program in obtaining the 2018 ASA Champions of Charity Award.
Her track record of success as an assistant coach continued with her from 2018-to-2019 as she served as assistant coach at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn. and helped lead the team to a record of 9-5-3 and mentored three All-South Atlantic Region athletes. That squad finished second in the Southern Athletic Association and advanced to the SAA Conference Tournament final.
She joined the women's soccer staff at the University of Southern Mississippi in 2019 and had a hand in leading the Golden Eagles to victories over SEC foes Mississippi State and Auburn as well as the development of three All-Conference USA performers. Barnum headed up the recruiting and fundraising efforts for the Southern Mississippi women's soccer program as well as assisted with day-to-day operations of the program and travel accommodations.
Barnum holds a Bachelor's of Business Administration with an emphasis in marketing from Midwestern State University and a Masters of Business Administration with an emphasis in Sports Management from the University of the Southwest.