Fernández Announced as SWU Men's Head Soccer Coach
Central, SC – Southern Wesleyan is excited to welcome Josué Fernández as the next Head Coach of the Men’s Soccer program.
“I am so pleased to announce Josué as the new leader of our men’s soccer program,” said Director of Athletics Julia Reininga. “I know Josué and his wife have been praying for God to lead them in their ministry. I feel very blessed to have Josué and Kari join the SWU family! Go Warriors!”
Fernández joins the Warriors after serving as the assistant coach at Howard University in Washington, DC since joining the Bisons in 2022. During his time at Howard, Fernández worked with compiling and creating post-game film analysis and established an individual film session for each player to their enhance performance. He also traveled to multiple showcases both internationally and nationally to recruit players to join the Bisons Men’s Soccer program.
While working with the Bisons, Fernández also served Brit-Am Academy as both the Assistant Academy Director (2022) and the Academy Director (2023). At Brit-Am Academy, he oversaw the development of competitive U9-U18 teams in accordance with the club methodology and helped execute training sessions at each level. In his time there, Fernández was able to help refine the year-round technical and tactical curriculum for player development at each level of the program. He also served as the Head Coach for two of the U10 Academy teams and one of the U9 travel teams.
Prior to this time at Howard and Brit-Am Academy, he served as the assistant coach at Point University in Georgia. Under his guidance, the team went to their first AAC Conference Championship and National Tournament Appearance in 2021. The team posted a winning record of 11-6-2 during the season and the team posted seven clean sheets in the last twelve games of the season. As assistant coach he handled many of the defensive tactical coaching responsibilities and under his instruction the defense averaged 1.01 goals allowed during the season. At the conclusion of the season, he had players receive NAIA All-American and NAIA Golden Boot honors. Prior to the start of the season, he had worked on developing a game model handbooks that all of the team could use as a resource throughout the season.
Fernández attended Point University in college where he started and played for two years. During that time, he received back-to-back Academic All-Conference First Team honors. He graduated from Point in 2021 with a bachelor of science in exercise science. Upon completion of his bachelor degree, he gained his Masters in Football Tactical Analysis and his USSF D license.
A native of Heredia, Costa Rica, Fernández also competed with AD Juventud Escazucena, a D2 professional team based out of Costa Rica, where he made his senior debut on the first team.
"I would like to thank Julia, Mike, Lindsey, Al and just everyone at SWU for this opportunity,” stated Fernández. “I am also extremely excited to build a winning and successful program on and off the field as well as be a part of the SWU family."
Fernández is married to Kari and looks to join the Warriors on February 19.
Southern Wesleyan University is a Christ-centered, student-focused, faith-filled community that offers inventive learning experiences. The university endeavors to prepare its students to be dedicated scholars and servant-leaders who impact the world for Christ. For details about degree programs, go online to swu.edu.
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