Jimenez taking over Plymouth soccer
PLYMOUTH — Jesus Jimenez is not a new name to soccer in Plymouth. He will be more of a household name now as he takes over the varsity boys team that he has been a part of in one way or another for nearly 10 years.
Jimenez graduated in 2018 and in the course of his career scored 17 goals, 13 in his senior season, and amassed 43 points for his career.
He also has been part, as a player or coach, of some of the best teams in Plymouth program history, including two undefeated teams and two sectional champions, but it all started a long way away in Mexico City.
“I moved to Plymouth when I was five,” said Jimenez. “I didn’t really know any English when I came. I quickly learned. It’s easier to learn another language when you are younger than when you are older so I was really fortunate to come at a younger age. I now use English as my first language. I don’t have a lot of memories of Mexico. I grew up here. I was raised here. I’m an American.”
His love of soccer was passed on from his father.
“My Dad grew up playing with his brother and he passed that down to me,” said Jesus. “Ever since I can remember I’ve watched games with my dad. He put me in a rec (recreational) league here when I was in the third grade. My dad is the one who taught me to love soccer.”
For those with a heritage in Mexico, soccer is as much a part of their lives as another sport is to those born in America.
“I would compare it to football in America,” said Jimenez. “A lot of American families get together and watch the Colts or the Bears, we all have teams from back home that we get together and watch whenever they are on. We have food. The most similar thing I can think of would be football for Americans.”
Also part of Jesus’ heritage was good coaching. Jimenez played for two outstanding coaches at Plymouth, Josh Martin and Grant Masson from 2014 to 2018 who he credits with being his mentors.
“I played for Coach (Josh) Martin and Coach (Grant) Masson and I like to think that we were pretty good,” he said. “We won sectional in 2016 and in 2017 we went undefeated. In 2020 we were undefeated and we won sectionals and I was part of that coaching staff with Coach Masson. Recently we’ve been on the up.”
“He (Masson) and Coach Martin were my mentors,” he said. “Coach Martin was awesome and taught me so many new things. Coach Masson was awesome for me being so young, and not much older than some of the players whenever I needed something or somebody to help me out he was always there.”
After his playing days, Jimenez continued his education at IUSB earning a teaching degree in social studies this spring. During that time he made the trip home to be part of Masson’s coaching staff taking over the JV program. He admits that coaching players within a year or two of his age had its moments.
“When I was still 19 it was a little bit of an issue,” he said. “I’ve been in the program for six years so I feel I’m entrenched in it now.”
“There’s a level of respect and a lot of kids grew up watching me in my playing days and I think that helps too,” he said. “My coaching style fits that. They know we’ve been through what they are going through they can trust us that what we are teaching them is going to help them get better.”
His youth gives him another interesting challenge, coaching his brother through his high school days.
“Mauricio is going to be a junior this year,” said Jimenez. “I think it’s unique. You can’t be biased, especially when you have your mom yelling at you at home. I treat him like all the other kids. If he’s putting in the work he’ll get time. If not we’ll do whatever we have to do. He’s a hard-working kid so I know I won’t have any quarrels with him.”
Despite his youth in his first head coaching job, Jimenez knows firsthand that no matter how veteran you are, winning soccer games in Northern Indiana is tough. Year in, year out some of the best soccer programs in the state are not only in northern Indiana, but in the Northern Lakes Conference.
“I would say the NLC and NIC are two of the best soccer conferences in Indiana,” said Jimenez. “Goshen, Northridge, Concord, and Warsaw are always ranked in the top 20 in 3A. It’s really hard to win the NLC. You rarely see a team win two years in a row because it’s that competitive.”
Jimenez feels up for the challenge and excited about the opportunity, even though it came a little earlier than he thought it might.
“I’ve been on staff since 2019 and helped out Coach Masson and I know he just had a new grandson and wanted to spend time with his family so I applied,” said Jiminez. “I really didn’t think I would get a job like this so early in my career.”
“For me to get this job this quickly was something I really didn’t expect. Being a part of Plymouth I’ve seen the community grow to really love soccer. Seeing how the community supports us it means a lot to the kids. Some of them are in my position. They are immigrants or they just love soccer and they want to play. That really resonates with me.”