Veteran Eisenhower Junior High School teacher and soccer coach Rubén Núñez is starting a brand-new job this month.

No, no – the students who love him at EJHS don’t have to worry. He’s not leaving the Taylorsville school.

For this new gig, Núñez will have to drive to Magna, almost daily. He’s been named the brand-new Cyprus High School girls soccer head coach. He’s been hosting informal “open gym” practices out there all summer. He’ll officially select his CHS team at the end of this month.

A daily round trip trek out to Magna might sound like a headache to some of us. But that commute is nothing compared to the one-way trip he took to begin his Utah teaching career back in 2014.

After all, it’s 5,265 miles from Madrid, Spain to Taylorsville.

“I was born and raised in Spain, learned to play and coach soccer there and also began my career as a high school teacher in my home country,” Núñez begins his story. “My parents and sister still live there. I never had any intention of moving to the United States – let alone, Utah – until late 2013. That’s when my life changed; and I couldn’t be happier.”

The Utah State Board of Education prompted the change.

“The state was short on Spanish dual immersion teachers and put the word out in Spain they wanted instructors in my home country to interview, over Skype, for teaching positions here in Utah,” Núñez said. “My first Skype interview was in November 2013. Then there was lots of paperwork and another couple of long-distance interviews. I learned I had the job in June 2014. And I officially became a Utah resident on August 3, 2014.”

Núñez  has gone back to Spain many times since then to visit family and friends. But he’s been an official “Utah resident” ever since then – with no real yearning to ever move back.

“In 2009, some friends and I flew from Madrid for a vacation,” he said. “We rented a car and drove the entire East Coast, from New York to Miami. That was my only other time in the United States prior to moving here five years later. I was excited for the challenge.”

For the record, Granite School District officials report they have not needed to recruit any new foreign language teachers through this system – from Spain, or anywhere else overseas – for the past year or two. 

The same month he arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, Núñez began teaching at Millcreek Elementary School. Three years later – beginning in the fall of 2017 – he shifted to Eisenhower Jr. High. He’ll begin his tenth year at the Taylorsville school next month.

“I love the age group I am teaching now and have no desire to move up to the high school level or to return to an elementary school,” Núñez said. “I teach a couple of levels of Spanish along with some other subjects. I am also the student body officers’ adviser. And, my second year at Eisenhower, I began coaching the boys soccer team there.”

Núñez says 50 to 60 Madrid teachers initially applied for the Utah teaching posts and 21 of them were hired and moved to our state in 2014. At first, they were the only people Núñez knew in our country. 

“They were my only friends and social network when I first got to Utah,” he said. “But luckily, I’ve been able to make many friends since then. And now, of those 21 who moved here in 2014, I am the only one still here. The other 20 have all moved back to Spain.”

Núñez, 41, has never been married and has no children of his own. But he works with hundreds of kids at Eisenhower and dozens of others on the many soccer teams he coaches.

At first, Núñez only coached the EJHS boys soccer team. But that changed after one of his athletes aged out of the junior high. That boy is the son of the Razzia Futbol Club President, Ricardo Scardina.

“I invited Rubén to coach for Razzia FC after he coached my son at Eisenhower,” Scardina said. “He and I have coached several Razzia teams together. We joke with each other, this is really a second fulltime job. Because he is a teacher, Rubén is so good at explaining things to our players. He teaches them all of the right techniques.”

The Razzia Futbol Club fields 10 to 15 teams in both spring and fall soccer leagues. The teams include boys and girls, ages 8 to 18. When not busy competing in their Utah Youth Soccer Association leagues, many of the teams travel to play in tournaments, from Park City to St. George to neighboring states.

“Last winter, two of my teams went undefeated in a couple of international tournaments,” Núñez said. “In January, our Razzia Juniors 2010 (meaning all of the boys were born in 2010) won the Coyote Cup in St. George. The next month, over Valentine’s Day weekend, our Razzia Stars 2009 team won the International Mayor’s Cup Showcase in Las Vegas. Both tournaments featured teams from many countries – Ireland, Italy, Mexico and others. Both my teams included a lot of Taylorsville boys. It was very exciting.”

The Razzia Futbol Club Board of Directors includes Núñez over social media and Malina Tripp over marketing.

“In 2024, I was named ‘parent volunteer of the year’ by the Utah Youth Soccer Association and they had a fancy suit-and-tie and ball gown dinner to announce it,” Tripp said. “I had never even met Rubén before that night. He had never coached my sons. But he got all dressed up and came to the gala… just to support and congratulate me. That’s the kind of guy he is.”

Tripp has gotten to know Núñez much better in the two years since that big night.

“I have watched Rubén with his boys at practices and games,” she added. “He really knows his stuff. And the boys respect him so much. These players, ages 15, 16, 17, can be pretty loud and chaotic. But when Rubén wants their attention, he gets it instantly. The boys listen to him and follow his coaching.” 

Núñez’ parents and sister, another teacher, visit him frequently here in Utah. And Núñez plans to return the favor with a flight to Madrid over Christmas this year.

But last year Núñez bought his first Utah home; so, the EJHS students, Cyprus HS girls soccer team members and Razzia FC athletes can expect Núñez to be a positive influence in their lives for years to come.