New MHS boys soccer coach Jose Romero while playing for Portland Community College. Photo courtesy of 509J

Jose Romero is taking over as head coach of the Madras High School boys varsity soccer squad this fall.

Romero has spent the last few years as an assistant coach in the program. He is also an alum from the MHS class of 2016. He comes into the role after Scott Jividen stepped down for personal reasons. Romero credits his success in the sport to both Jividen and former MHS Head Soccer Coach Clark Jones. He coached under both of them and played for both of them.

“I’m just super grateful that I got to work with both of them, honestly,” Romero said. “When I was a part of this program, I said this in my interview, they were the ones that gave me wings. They made me feel like I could do anything with the sport. Jones, Scott, they made this program fun.

“Jose has a lot of passion not only about soccer but for our Madras community,” MHS Athletic Director Walt Stahl said. “We are thoroughly looking forward to seeing him step into this role and continue to lead our program forward. We’d like to thank Scott Jividen for his more than 15 years of service to the MHS Boys Soccer program. His dedication has had a profound impact on where our program is today.”

Jividen stepped away from the program to focus on a family health crisis.

Romero first started playing soccer at a young age, and he hasn’t stopped. Soccer has been his passion for as long as he can remember. He continuously sought out opportunities to play, no matter what.

“It was kind of like, if I didn’t play a day, it was a day wasted, you know,” Romero said. “That’s how much it meant to me at that point. I grew up here, I started playing when I was young, I wasn’t very good. I wasn’t one of those players that like, right away, you could tell, you know, he’s going to develop. I always liked it though and I always tried really hard.

Romero represented the White Buffalos when he walked the halls of MHS as a student. Lining up and playing all four years as a center back. His first coaching experience with MHS was as a volunteer coach a couple years after graduating. After a few years as a volunteer coach, he became the assistant coach for varsity this past season.

“What excites me the most about being the head coach is teaching these boys to play soccer the correct way,” Romero said. “With patience, a strong work ethic, and giving them specific direction and guidance to allow them to become the best soccer players they can be.”

The team will look vastly different than it has in the past couple of seasons. Last season alone, the program saw more than a dozen seniors graduate from high school. Led by four-time all-leaguer Steve Gonzalez, the Buffs finished third in the though Tri-Valley last season, but won two post-season games before losing 1-0 to North Marion in the state semi-finals.

Romero is ready to take on the challenge and keep this team in contention for the fall season.

His goal is to win the league championship. The White Buffalos won back to back league championships in 2022 and 2023, and came up third in conference last season.

“There’s a lot of spots open as far as filling in the roles of being a captain, being a leader,” Romero said. “I’m just excited to see what boys are going to step up. I definitely don’t want it to be a building block year. I’m hoping to get a league championship this year. We’re going to work hard and we’re going to start soon and I definitely think we’re capable of it.”

When Romero isn’t coaching, he loves all things soccer. He is always looking for a chance to play the game somewhere, whether that means staying in Bend after he finishes work or finding a game in Madras. He also enjoys watching movies and listening to vinyls and records front to back.