20-year-old coach turning Roseville boys soccer around after winless season

When Joseph Vigil was hired to be Roseville boys soccer's head coach, he could not celebrate with an adult beverage. The Huskies' new leader is just 20 years old and only graduated from Roseville in 2024.

"I feel people are way more surprised than I am, honestly," Vigil said. "I get a lot of reactions from people. A lot of referees or different officials asking me if I'm just an assistant coach or a player."

It was not a decorated playing career that earned Vigil this job. He didn't even make the varsity team, but now he's coaching it. It's a path he put himself on when he was still in high school.

"If you would have told senior-year me, 'Three years from now you're gonna be coaching at your old high school,' that's kind of what I was envisioning," said Vigil. "That was kind of the dream back then. So now, just living the dream every day. Grateful to be here every day working with these guys."

The youth movement is working. The Raiders went winless last year. This season, they've already won three of their first five games.

"It's interesting," said senior defender Ben Von De Linde. "It's new, but it is nice because he can relate to us and he has a lot in common with us."

Vigil has big soccer coaching goals.

"I want to work in the game professionally in whatever capacity in coaching and directing," he said.

Vigil believes there should be more young people coaching sports. He's doing it; his career carried by determination.

"I almost thought about quitting the sport," he said. "But I knew that I wanted soccer to be something that continued to be in my life. So I branched out into coaching. I think it's really nice. Life is funny that way, that it just brings you back into familiar places in a funny way."