How former soccer pro Jose 'Chiva' Cuevas is raising the standard at Golden West
Growing up in Farmersville, Jose "Chiva" Cuevas didn't have the luxury of playing on a club soccer team or taking the pitch against top-flight opponents consistently.
Instead, Cuevas briefly learned to play the beautiful game on the street, and sometimes, he and his childhood friends had to be creative and make their own goalposts.
Those humble beginnings didn't stop Cuevas from achieving his soccer dreams.
Cuevas, a former Farmersville High School standout, helped the Aztecs win four straight East Sierra League championships and two Central Section titles.
In 2009, Cuevas embarked on a pro career with the Fresno Fuego. He would go on to play for four more different organizations with his last pro season coming in 2018 with Fresno FC — a now-defunct franchise that was a member of the USL Championship.
Today, Cuevas is paying it forward to the Tulare County community that helped embrace his dedication and love for the game.
Cuevas is in his first season as the Golden West girls' soccer head coach. He's helped direct a Trailblazers team that entered Jan. 24 with an 11-2-5 record, including a 3-1-1 mark in East Yosemite League action. The Trailblazers have already matched last season's win total with five games remaining in the regular season.
Golden West's two losses this season are the fewest in a single campaign since at least the 2006-07 run.
"I think that's probably my favorite part of my life," Cuevas said of helping mold the next generation of soccer players in Visalia. "I didn't have that growing up.
"I never played club ball or played at a high level until I turned 16 but giving back that knowledge, that soccer knowledge, is huge for me. Seeing athletes put that into place in a game and seeing them grow as human beings, for me, it's such a fulfillment."
Raising the standard
Cuevas is using his background and experiences as a former pro player as the foundation for his coaching style.
A former attacking player, Cuevas scored 51 goals across parts of 10 professional seasons.
When the opportunity came to build a program of his own, Cuevas, like his soccer career, jumped at the offering from Athletic Director John DeLong. He previously served as an assistant at Farmersville and Golden West but stepped down from his post when Soccer City 1852 Visalia opened its indoor facility in 2022.
Cuevas is the 1852 director of operations.
"I was at the point where I missed coaching," Cuevas said. "I missed coaching. 1852 was up and running. It was doing really well, and I was like, 'You know what? This is a time when I can come back and coach. I love coaching high school.' So I said, 'John, let's do it.'"
More: See Tulare County's top winter sports performers for Week 11
Cuevas has installed a fun and modern style of play at Golden West.
That has helped complement the Trailblazers' strengths, which has resulted in a stellar start to the 2023-24 campaign.
The Trailblazers kicked off this season with a 5-0-2 record. During that seven-game stretch, Cuevas' club outscored their opponents a combined 15-2. All five of those victories came via shutout fashion.
Golden West didn't suffer their first loss until nearly mid-December.
How has Cuevas been able to raise the standard?
"We have such a good team this year, and the girls are lights out this year," Cuevas said. "I think it's a mixture of heavy seniors and leaders, and at the same time, we have a really nice style of play where we build out of the back, and in the final third, we find the danger zones.
"We pass the ball to the high percentage areas and the girls execute that so well, you know. I think that's kind of been the plan all season and the girls understand the plan."
A confident bunch
The Trailblazers have been anchored this season by senior captains Amanda Caudillo and Alize San Juan, helping provide direction and leadership for a program that went 11-11 overall last season.
That duo has also assisted Golden West in allowing just 16 goals in 18 matches — five of those strikes came in a 5-0 loss to Redwood.
The Trailblazers have posted nine shutouts this season behind freshman goalie Sierra Fernandez. Jessica Garcia, a sophomore, leads the team in scoring. Garcia posted a pair of hat tricks in November wins over Lindsay and Granite Hills.
Has Cuevas already made an impact?
"Yes, I definitely think he holds us to a better standard," Caudillo said. "To play to our best ability."
That's been evident.
The Trailblazers rebounded from their five-goal defeat to perennial power Redwood by defeating El Diamante 2-1 on Jan. 23.
One of Cuevas' primary goals when he took over as head coach was to instill self-belief and mental toughness.
"He's helped us more with our mindset before the game," Caudillo said. "We've been more confident, just play with confidence. We're a good team, and he helps us try to bring that out while playing more confident as a team."
Under Cuevas, communication and team chemistry have been the backbone of Golden West's success.
"I feel like we just get along on and off the field, and we're really open with talking to each other," Caudillo said. "We help each other with mistakes. We take feedback well and we listen to each other."
The ultimate goal for Cuevas, though, is to help develop student-athletes who excel on and off the pitch during and post-high school.
"I want to have a very strong program, where it's not necessarily about the wins but at the same time, creating good human beings," Cuevas said. "I want to have that mixture of, 'Can you have the mindset of being there at training every day with discipline? On-time?' That creates good human beings.
"I think when you have all that, I think the soccer kind of falls into place. The talent level will come. If not, then the challenge as a coach, is you have to be responsible, 'How do you bring that talent level up?' That's kind of what I want to go with. I don't want to have a program where, 'Hey, here you go guys. You guys are expected to win.' No, there's a lot of little things that go into play."
More: Vote for the Tulare County athlete of the week, Jan. 22-26
Mission Oak hosts 10-team girls basketball showcase
The Mission Oak girls basketball program is hosting a 10-team showcase on Saturday at Richard Torrez Jr. Gymnasium in Tulare.
Here is the schedule:
Hanford vs. El Diamante, 10 a.m.
Immanuel vs. Bakersfield Christian, 11:30 a.m.
Monache vs. Central, 1 p.m.
Morro Bay vs. Dinuba, 2:30 p.m.
Shafter vs. Mission Oak, 4 p.m.
All games will be televised on the NFHS Network.
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: How former pro Jose Cuevas is raising the standard at Golden West
