Juan Vivas of Colombia is joining the A&M-Victoria Jaguars men's soccer team for his junior year. Vivas is pursuing a degree in kinesiology and hopes to become a professional soccer player or coach.

Juan Vivas has a lifelong love of soccer, and now the junior from Bogota, Colombia, is bringing that passion for the game to the pitch at Texas A&M University-Victoria.

“The first gift I ever remember getting as a child was a soccer ball,” Vivas said. “I’m always playing, and one day, I want to get a taste of what it’s like to be at that professional level with 40,000 people in a stadium yelling my name.”

Vivas is starting his junior year and his first year as an A&M-Victoria Jaguar. He previously attended the University of South Carolina Sumter during his freshman year and then Fresno City College as a sophomore. Once he finished his sophomore year, he had to move from the two-year college in California to a four-year institution to continue playing. After meeting with Vincent Martinez, A&M-Victoria head soccer coach and receiving a scholarship, he chose to come to Victoria.

Vince Martinez

“Juan is a great kid and someone who takes care of his business both on and off the field,” said Vince Martinez, A&M-Victoria head men’s soccer coach. “He’s a family-oriented person who works hard and leads by example. As a player, he’s a centerpiece of our defense and someone we can rely on every time he steps on the field. He brings a level of maturity, consistency and competitiveness that makes the players around him better.”

Vivas’s quest to be part of professional soccer has already seen some twists and turns. When he was in high school, he tried out for the professional team. However, he suffered a broken ankle on the last day of tryouts, which required at least six months of rest and recovery. Rather than let that get him down, Vivas used that time to finish his high school education and start pursuing a college degree, he said.

When he was looking for a college, he didn’t just want to get his degree. He wanted to play in a strong soccer program, maybe even making it into a Division 1 school, then pursue a professional career again, just like his older sister did.

“There aren’t many universities in Colombia, but there are hundreds of schools with soccer programs in the U.S.,” he said. “U.S. schools tend to have larger facilities compared to Colombia, and there are so many options to choose from across the country.”

Although he was excited to study in the U.S., his first few weeks away from home were difficult, Vivas said. His parents came with him to his first university experience in South Carolina to make sure he settled in on campus. At first, he was scared to be living so far away from his family and everything he knew. But as time went on, and he saw how much his family wanted him to study in the U.S. and succeed, he began to feel better and more confident about his choice.

Although soccer is his main passion, Vivas has come to love and enjoy many elements of studying in the U.S. In particular, he loves meeting people from so many different backgrounds, religions and cultures. He also is crazy about the chicken and dipping sauce at Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers.

When he’s not on the field, Vivas is working on earning his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology, specifically focused on strength and conditioning. He hopes that he can use that knowledge in his soccer career either as a player or one day as a coach.

“There’s nothing like being able to do what you like in life, and for me, that is soccer,” he said. “I’ve been a fan of the sport my whole life, but I want to experience that professional level, whether it’s as a player or as a coach. I want to be part of what I love so much.”