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Our Staff

Coach Joey Garah

Joey Garah
Pelada FA Director (founding – present)
USSF C-License. Originally from Corvalis, OR.
Joey is the founder and director of Pelada Football Academy. He has been coaching in the Eugene area since 2005, and before that in the Corvallis/Philomath area since 1994. Prior to starting Pelada Football Academy, Joey founded Grassroots Soccer Clinics (2010-2012) and coached for Marist High School (2008-2012), FC Willamette (2006-2008), Goal-Line Soccer Clinics (2006-2008), Kidsports (2006-2012), Philomath High School (2003-2005), and AYSO programs in Corvallis (1994-2002). Joey holds a BA in English Literature from University of Oregon, Honors College.
Contact: [email protected]

 

Coach Colin Hay

Colin Hay
Coach (Winter 2016 – present)
USSF C-License. Originally from Edinburgh, Scotland.
Colin payed for Tynecastle Boy’s Club (1967-77) and Newtongrange Star U-21. Since emigrating to the United States in 1984, Colin has coached for California clubs Central Valley United (1984-86) and El Dorado United (1989-94) as well as the California Olympic Development Program. Colin moved to Oregon in 1994, where he lead Pleasant Hill High School to four League Championships and four State Semi-finals between 1994 and 2004. More recently he has coached with FC Willamette (2004-2010) and lead the Churchill High School varsity girls (2012-2015).
Contact: [email protected]

 

Coach Chris Daniel

Chris Daniel
Head Coach (founding – present)
USSF D-License. Originally from Eugene, OR.
Chris has been coaching with Joey since before the founding of Pelada FA, assisting with five teams during the 2012 seasons and with the full set of Summer 2012 Grassroots Soccer Clinics. Prior to this he was a coach in the Little Kickers program at Kick City. Chris is an alumni of Marist HS and a BA candidate at University of Oregon.
Contact: [email protected]

 

Coach Steve Deskovic

Stephen Deskovic
Head Coach (founding – present)
USSF D-License. Originally from Buffalo, NY.
Steve is one of the founding coaches of Pelada Football Academy and has been coaching alongside Joey since the 2012 summer Grassroots Soccer Clinics season. His past coaching experience includes work with U8/9/10/11s in New York in 1991-93. Steve holds a BA in Philosophy and English from University of Oregon and works as a college writing tutor when he is not playing or coaching.
Contact: [email protected]

 

Coach Alex Baker

Alex Baker
Coach (Fall 2015 – present)
USSF D-License Candidate. Originally from Eugene, OR.
Alex began coaching for Pelada in the Fall of 2015. Before that, he coached youth teams in Eugene, Oregon and in Walla Walla, Washington, where he attended Whitman College. He played four years of NCAA Division III soccer while at Whitman, under head coach Michael Washington. While at Whitman, he studied History and Spanish, receiving a dual degree in the winter of 2014. A native of Eugene, Alex played two years of Varsity Soccer at South Eugene High School, graduating in 2010. In addition to coaching, he works at Cal Young Middle School, and volunteers for the local chapter of the Special Olympics. His favorite team is Arsenal.
Contact: [email protected]

 

Coach Alex Matu

Muvua Alexander Matu (Alex)
Head Coach (Summer 2013 – present)
USSF D-License Candidate. Originally from Nairobi, Kenya.
Alex grew up in Kenya, a country crazy about football (soccer). Watching professional football games on TV and learning about the sport, its geography, and terminology was among his greatest treats. Alex started his football career in middle school, as part of the Mathare Youth Soccer Association (MYSA). His passion for football doubled in High School, where he made the school team. Football games’ were supplemented by friendly kick-arounds during lunch and snack breaks, as well as long hours of watching and imitating videos of football stars like Ronaldinho and Zidane. Upon graduating from high school five years ago, Alex moved to Eugene, OR, where he met Joey at a local pelada (pick-up game) and a year later started coaching for the Academy.
Contact: [email protected]

 

Coach Jose Chaves

Jose Chaves
Head Coach (Winter 2014 – present)
USSF E-License. Originally from Mt. Vernon, Washington.
Jose played soccer until 8th grade before turning to cross-country and track, where he was a three year varsity letterman, and captain. Before coming to Pelada, he coached at Kidsports, and was a parent volunteer with EMFC’s Little Metros Program. He holds a Masters degree in Creative Writing from the University of Oregon, and was a Fulbright Scholar to Bogota, Colombia in 1999. In addition to coaching, he currently teaches writing and literature at Lane Community College.
Contact: [email protected]

 

Coach Mark Nash

Armando Filho
Coach (Winter 2017 – present)
USSF E-License Candidate. From Cataguases, Brazil.
Armando has been playing soccer his entire life. He was awarded a scholarship in 2012 to play in the United States for Monroe Junior College in New Rochelle, NY. After one year at Monroe, he fulfilled his lifelong dream of playing for a university (Post University in Waterbury, Connecticut), where he was a captain for three years and helped lead the team through many successful seasons. He was awarded ALL-CACC in 2015 and ALL-TOURNAMENT his senior season in 2016. He graduated in December 2016 with a dual degree in Business Administration and International Business. Armando has also played with the Lane United Football Club, since the team’s first season in the PDL NW Division. In addition to coaching for Pelada Football Academy, Armando is currently in the process of becoming a strength and conditioning professional.
Contact: [email protected]

 

Coach Mark Nash

Mark Nash
Coach (Summer 2015 – present)
USSF E-License Candidate. From Eugene, OR by way of Salem, Germany, and North Dakota.
Mark is one of the founding members of Pelada Football Academy and currently serves as Treasurer. Mark started coaching in 1994 as an assistant for a Kidsports U13 girls soccer team. Since then he has coached other sports as well, including football, basketball, baseball, and softball. Mark is a small business owner and has earned a BS in Computer and Information Science and an MBA, both from the University of Oregon.
Contact: [email protected]

 

Coach Hans Elliott

Hans Elliott 
Staff Player-Coach (Spring 2015 – present)
USSF F-License.
Hans was born in Eugene and is currently a Junior at Churchill High School, where he has participated in 3 years of varsity soccer. He has played with many of the other coaches since joining Pelada as a player in middle school and began coaching as part of Pelada’s player-coaching program. Hans joined the full Pelada coaching staff in the spring of 2015.

 

Coach Liam Elliott

Liam Elliot 
Staff Player-Coach (Spring 2015 – present)
USSF F-License.
Liam was born in Eugene and has lived here his whole life. He attends Churchill HS, where he has played three years of varsity soccer for the Lancers. He has also played for Pelada since the summer of 2012 and been part of the Player-Coaching program since the summer of 2014, training and working alongside the PFA staff coaches. Liam joined the full Pelada coaching staff in the spring of 2015.

 

Coach Jonathan Fechtel

Jonathan Fechtel
Staff Player-Coach (Summer 2016 – present)
USSF F-License.
Jonathan was born and lives in Springfield. He is a student at Marist HS, where he made the varsity soccer team as a junior. He joined the Pelada coaching staff in the summer of 2016, specializing as a goalkeeper coach. He has enjoyed playing soccer since he was a toddler and has been a part of Pelada Academy since he was in 7th grade.

 

Coach Dakota Hanson

Dakota Hanson 
Coach (Winter 2016 – present)
USSF F-License.
Dakota was born and raised in Eugene, Oregon. She has played soccer since kindergarten and participated in 6 years of club soccer. Dakota played two years at Pleasant Hill High School on the varsity girls soccer team; it was the first girls soccer team they had in 10 years. While at Pleasant Hill she was team captain her senior year and was awarded First Team All-League. Dakota has coached for many Kidsports teams, from boys to girls ranging in ages from 3-14. She has also coached U10 girls for the Eugene Timbers Futbol Academy. In addition to coaching for Pelada FA, Dakota is an assistant coach for the Pleasant Hill High School girls varsity team and attends Lane Community College. At Lane Community College she plays for the women’s soccer program and is majoring in Exercise and Movement Science.
Contact: [email protected]

 

Coach Coal Taylor

Coal Taylor
Staff Player-Coach (Spring 2015 – present)
USSF F-License.
Coal was born in Eugene, and has never lived anywhere else. He has been playing soccer since he could walk, and joined Pelada at the age of 10. He started volunteering as an assistant coach a year later, and has been both playing and coaching for Pelada every season since, joining the staff coaching program in the Spring of 2015. He is currently a junior at Baker Early College, and attends classes at LCC.

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