Joe Armas or the story of the young Ecuadorian technical director who overcomes prejudices and who, at 26 years old, decides how much soccer players and coaches of a LigaPro club earn

Willian Joel Armas —Joe, as he is best known— is aware that he has had to overcome prejudice at just 26 years as technical director and sports manager of a club in the Ecuadorian Professional Soccer League, Imbabura. He joined the gardenio team eleven months ago and has since achieved promotion to the LigaPro Serie B last October. This July he eliminated from the Ecuador Cup a rival from the first division, Guayaquil City, on penalties, in the phase prior to facing Liga de Quito on the 19th, in the round of 16.

“When I arrived, I told my players to value us for our knowledge and not for the age they were in front of their eyes,” the professional from Pichincha, who has not only led the Imbabura first team since August, told EL UNIVERSO. 2021, but also manages training divisions and decides how much the institution’s footballers and coaches earn. Very young in appearance, the strategist is convinced that preparation is important and, for this reason, he has also sought space to train in European football since he was 17 years old.

First of all, what is the difference between technical director Y sports manager?

A coach only trains the first team. I train the first team and manage the entire sports aspect of the institution, from the training divisions to the first team: budgets, player and coach salaries.

Were you a professional footballer before dedicating yourself to coaching?

I played in the training divisions of Deportivo Quito (2007, according to Ecuafútbol records) and Liga de Quito (from 2008 to 2012). From the age of 17, when I left school, I dedicated myself to studying to be a coach. I started at the institute of the Ecuadorian Football Federation. Then I got a degree from the University of Mexico. I traveled to Spain, where I also got my coaching degree and two master’s degrees: one in sports management and the other as a football manager. I went to the Netherlands to do internships at Ajax, PSV and AZ.

What did you take away from your experience in Europe?

It was a great learning. I was able to learn the training methods they use, the ways they play, how they are managed in the different departments. I also learned it at Athletic Bilbao, at Real Madrid. I helped the Mexican Football Federation in the sub-17. Later, I worked at the Toledo Sports Club, with a long tradition in Spain, and in the Ecuadorian U-15 team: in Toledo I was a technical assistant, the coach was Manuel Calleja; in the Selection, with Eduardo Moscoso.

How did Imbabura find it?

It was a coincidence. They decided to sell the Toledo club and I decided to leave and come on vacation to Ecuador. After a month, they communicated from Imbabura and we reached an agreement. About three years ago I sent a CV to the different clubs in the country with the intention that they give me an opportunity. One of them was the Imbabura. They already knew about me, but not in person.

In addition to his young age, his appearance is quite young, something unusual in Ecuadorian football. What do you think about that?

In my work team we are all very young. It is not common in a club. That is why we are grateful to bosses; they have believed in our knowledge and not in our age.

Has that caused you complications at work?

When we arrived in Imbabura, the team was in the second category and ranked third. That’s why they changed the coach and hired us. We had three weeks to prepare the team for the promotion phase. We got to know the squad, and the first week was very complex, very difficult, because the players, because of the age they saw us, didn’t believe in us, they saw us as very young. What I told them is that they value us for the knowledge we had, for the work we would do, and not for the age they were in their eyes. With management we have managed to convince players, bosses and leaders. Youth is not a limitation to manage a sports institution.

How did you know that the players did not believe in you and your team?

Something that we coaches develop is the perception of conduct and behavior of soccer players, who are also human beings. We saw very low attitudes and predispositions to work with us. We knew it was normal, because their mood was not right. We analyze it. It was not easy, because we also had to convince them of the different training method that we were going to carry out; they were not used to it. Those three weeks were a lot of work. There came a time when one of our older players told us that they were completely convinced of us and that they believed in every decision we made. It was a breaking point, and we had managed to get the team to trust the work we were doing. As a result of this, we achieved promotion, being the team with the most ball possession and scoring the most goals; We went up undefeated.

What are your goals with Imbabura?

We established, more than goals, dreams. That’s how we talk here. The first is to be promoted to Serie A and the second is to play in an international cup. “Let’s dream together” is our phrase. For this reason, we invite the province of Imbabura to play together every time we play.

Will the match against Liga de Quito be the most important of your career so far?

Surely, the game with the League will be the most important we have so far in our professional careers. We are very focused. So it was against Guayaquil City (1-1 in regular time; 2-1 on penalties). The greatest happiness we had was the predisposition of the team against a rival from Serie A.

What personal dreams do you have?

With our work team we hope to be in Europe at some point and lead in the Champions League. We would like to be there one day. Also lead the selection of our country. (D)