ARLINGTON, Va. – Arlington Soccer Association Technical Director German Peri is excited to announce the hiring of Javi Oliva as the club’s new coaching education director.

Oliva has served in numerous roles for several clubs, including BARCA Academy Northern Virginia, The St. James FC Virginia Academy, FC Barcelona and the Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC). In addition to serving as a head coach, he has also worked as an academy coordinator, age group director, summer camp director, strength and conditioning coach and athletic trainer.

“Adding someone with Javi’s expertise and knowledge will immediately benefit the education of our coaches and development of our players,” Peri said. “Over the past six months, I have had the opportunity to work with Javi building a robust coaching education program for our club. I am excited to have such a talented educator in our club who will help us continue to improve our coaching and player development.”

Along with directing the club’s coaching education program, Oliva will coach the 2012 Boys Pre-Academy team.

“I’m really excited to be working with one of the big academies in the area,” Oliva said. “We want the U8s through U19s all to be working through the same curriculum and have an academy that will help players achieve their dreams. In addition, we will work hard to establish a definitive philosophy of playing that will elevate our teams to new heights. I look forward to working with everybody and getting Arlington Soccer to the next level.”

Oliva most recently worked at The St. James FC Virginia Academy, overseeing the Strikers Clinics, along with serving as an age group director and coaching. Last year, he led the U18 Boys Yellow team to the top state ranking and a No. 5 national ranking by GotSoccer. He also spearheaded the integration of the club’s methodology across the boys’ teams within the academy, along with overseeing the coaching education and creating monthly formations for the boys’ coaches.

He also spent the summer of 2022 as the summer camp director for LAFC and served as a soccer coaching trainer for LAFC’s parks and recreation center, developing soccer coaching programs for players of all ages and skill levels.

From 2019 to 2022, Oliva worked at BARCA Academy Northern Virginia. There he created the club’s first strength and conditioning department and oversaw six coaches. A native of Madrid, Spain, he also served as academy coordinator for two years, implementing the FC Barcelona methodology to several academy age groups. He coached several different age groups for the boys and girls programs and was recognized as one of 30 Under 30 “Promising Young Coaches 2021” by Elite Development Program (EDP) Soccer.

Oliva also had the pleasure of serving as the summer camp technical coordinator for FC Barcelona in 2021. He managed a group of 16 coaches during the summer camp tour as they executed the Barca methodology. For nearly a decade, he coached and worked as an athletic trainer in his home country of Spain, primarily in Madrid.

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About Arlington Soccer Association

Founded in 1970, Arlington Soccer is a non-profit association that provides soccer programs for youth of all abilities, backgrounds and financial means in Arlington and surrounding communities. The club develops players, coaches, volunteers and staff, with an enduring commitment to teamwork and community. We offer a broad curriculum to more than 9,000 children per year in a wide variety of programs, including recreational, developmental and travel along with camps, clinics and community-based programs.