Former assistant varsity coach, Abe Soani, plans to bring the Jones College Prep JV soccer team to success throughout the 2025 season.

In Soani’s first year as a head coach, he says he’s not nervous, but excited to be coaching these boys.

“This is my second year. I was the assistant coach to Varsity Coach Dan Eckels last year,” said Coach Abe. “I actually don’t even see this as a movement down. I feel like I see the program as a whole … I want to encourage them to play with a lot of effort.”

Former head coach Eduardo Rivera’s resignation from the team has not been disclosed, but the program is keeping the position open to anyone interested.

“I don’t know, but there is a position for another coach, I believe. So I think we will if someone shows any interest,” said Coach Abe.

Even with Coach Abe taking over the team, students say Coach Eduardo will be missed.

“At first I was sad… but I will miss Eddie because he did have a lot of commitment,” said Bryan Luna ‘28.

With his sudden change in position, Coach Abe was chosen to pick who will excel on his team after not getting to know the players, making this year’s tryouts hectic and hard for the program directors, but players see it differently.

“It was a little hectic… It’s a little hard when you don’t have a background with the players and you have to judge them off just one week of playing. So it’s a little bit difficult to make a roster out of just getting a glimpse of someone. There was definitely some mistakes we made but I think we came out of it okay,” said Coach Abe.

The players of the team speak of Coach Abe positively, praising what he has done for the team during the beginning of the season.

“Now that I’m getting used to him he’s a pretty good coach,” said Luna. “We’re playing really good like the setup he’s having for us so hopefully we keep going. He’s a great person. He actually communicates with us a lot.”

Coach Abe is also bringing with him new formations and tactics on the field.

“I mean like the formation that he plays, it’s different because I’ve never played it but we have to acclimate to it to have a good season,” said Hans Lima ‘28.

As the season kicked off, the team started well, winning their first game 6 – 0 against Westinghouse College Prep and a draw to Walter Payton College Prep. Coach Abe seems to have the team under his belt.

“We’re one, zero and one draw against Payton and one win against Westinghouse,” said Ithan Ruvalcaba ‘28.