2nd Year as Head Men's Soccer Coach
Hometown: Muscatine, IA
College(s): Texas A&M International University
Juan Espinal enters his second season as Head Coach of men’s soccer at Dodge City as he is the sixth ever coach of the program.
Year one (2024) under Coach Espinal saw the Conquistadors post a 5-12-2 record and have four players earn All-Conference KJCCC honors.
Espinal came to Dodge City after four seasons at Drury University where he was an assistant coach for the Panthers and was the Associate Head Coach during the 2023 season. During his four seasons at Drury, he helped the Panthers put together competitive seasons in the Great Lakes Valley Conference at the NCAA Division II level, while helping coach seven All-GLVC selections and one All-Region honoree.
Before his time at Drury, Espinal had a two-year stint as a head coach at Indian Hills Community College. Espinal found great success with the Warriors amassing a 24-7-3 record over the two seasons and had the program ranked in the NJCAA Top 20. He coached 14 Iowa Community College Athletic Conference All-Region players and 36 ICCAC All-Academic honorees.
His college coaching career started at Iowa Lakes Community College where he spent two seasons including helping the team win 10 games in his first season in 2017 with the program. He also helped place four players in the National Premiere Soccer League (NPSL).
Espinal played soccer collegiately and professionally before embarking on his coaching career. His college soccer career started at the junior college level at Iowa Central Community College (2012-2013) where he was a two-year starter and second-team ICCAC All-Region honoree. He helped the Tritons to a 14-3-2 record & 9-2-2 in ICCAC his freshman season playing and starting in 17 games, while his sophomore year saw the Tritons go 13-7 (8-4 ICCAC) and he would play in 19 games with 18 starts. In two years with the Tritons, he recorded six goals and 10 assists.
He would transfer to Texas A&M International University to finish his collegiate playing career where he played in 11 games for the Dust Devils.
Juan had a strong high school playing career at Muscatine High School in Iowa and in 2023 was inducted into his hometown school’s Hall of Fame. He was a four-year starter on the soccer team from 2008-2012 and was first-team all-conference three times. His senior year saw him record 32 goals and 16 assists to earn first-team all-state honors.
During this time playing soccer in middle and high school he also played for the Iowa Olympic Development Program, winning three regional titles and a national championship in 2011 at the ODP National Championships in Phoenix, Arizona. He also played for Eastern Iowa United, based out of Iowa City, Iowa, known as one of the best club teams in the state of Iowa coached under Jon Cook, winning back-to-back state cups, and competing at the regional tournament.
Juan has competed at the Semi-Professional level in both the Professional Development League (PDL) and the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), playing for the Springfield Demize in 2013 (PDL) and playing for the Quad City Eagles in 2014 (NPSL).
He earned his bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology with a minor in Business Management from Texas A&M International University. He is currently pursuing his master’s degree.
He currently holds his USSF coaching E license and plans to join the USSF D coaching course.
