CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –Jaime Frias will join the Virginia women’s soccer coaching staff, head coach Steve Swanson announced on Tuesday (Jan. 8). Frias, who will be in his second stint with the Virginia women’s soccer program, brings with him a wealth of experience across all levels of soccer.

Frias, who was a part of the Virginia women’s staff for the 2010-15 seasons, has spent the last three seasons working exclusively with US Soccer as a Youth National Team Coach. He served as the head coach for the U18 Women’s National Team and was an assistant coach with the U20 Women’s National Team since April of 2017. Prior to that, he served as the head coach of the U16 Youth National Team from April 2016 until assuming his duties with the U18 and U20 teams. 

“We are extremely excited to welcome back Jaime Frias to our coaching staff,” Swanson said. “His credentials and vast background in the women’s game, particularly with the U.S. Youth Women’s National Teams speak for themselves, but what we are most excited about, especially for our players, is his ability to teach the game and develop the players he works with on a daily basis.”
 
“We have worked extremely hard over the years at Virginia to put in place a unique, individualized and multi-faceted model of player development that places an emphasis on technical skills and decision making.  Adding Jaime, who already took part in helping us shape this model only strengthens our program/staff as he values the technical side of the game, values developing creative and thoughtful decision makers, knows what it takes to play at the highest level and most importantly, he relates extremely well to all the players he coaches.”
 
As a part of the Virginia women’s staff for six seasons, Frias helped the Cavaliers to back-to-back College Cup appearances in 2013 and 2014, including a runner-up finish in the 2014 season. He also helped Virginia secure the 2012 ACC Championship and finish atop the regular-season ACC standings in the 2014 and 2015 seasons.  Additionally, over 20 players have gone on to play professionally either in the United States or abroad during this time.    

Frias also has head coaching experience on the collegiate level through stints at Nevada for the 2008 and 2009 seasons, leading Nevada to the finals of the 2009 WAC Tournament and the most conference wins in Nevada history. Prior to his time at Nevada, he spent three seasons as head coach at Stephen F. Austin (2005-2007). Before taking over as the head coach at Stephen F. Austin, Frias spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the Lumberjacks (2002-2004). He helped lead Stephen F. Austin to three Southland Conference titles and two NCAA Tournament appearances. 

In addition to his collegiate experience and his most recent coaching stints with the US U18 and U20 teams, Frias has coached at various levels of US Soccer throughout the last decade. He has a United States Soccer Federation National “A” License.  Frias and his wife, Ta, have two children, Azari and Jaime Dhani.