New Española Valley High School girls head basketball coach Joseph Estrada, said he’s finally landed his “dream job.”
The Former head coach of Valencia High School in Los Lunas introduced himself to his new players and their families, May 10, inside the High School school library.
“I wasn’t looking to leave Valencia because I was happy there,” Estrada said. “But, this is Española and it’s the basketball capital of New Mexico. You can’t deny the passion and enthusiasm for the sport — and there’s a lot of young talent here.”
The new coach ensured all in attendance that he’s the right man for the job and he is willing to do whatever it takes to take care of his players.
He received several questions, a few that addressed the team’s uniforms and warm-ups, which have not been identical in the past few years.
With his answer, he proved that he is here for business and to win.
“We will take care of all those concerns,” he said “The girls program should have everything that the boys have, including matching warm-ups. I like my team to look official and like winners. When we step off the bus or go into an opposing gym, I want people to say, ‘Wow, look at these guys.’”
Estrada was one of 15 candidates that applied for the position. It was a process that would require three interviews before he was awarded the position.
“We had a great deal of interest in the position and all of the candidates interviewed well,” Española athletic director Ruben Salazar said. “Coach Estrada made it as one of the three finalists and was interviewed a third time, lastly by Mr. Archuleta (Robert, principal) and the superintendent (Bobbie J. Gutierrez), who ultimately made the final recommendation.”
Salazar said he was in “shock” at how many applicants there were, but noted they all said that “Española was the place to be.”
Coaching history
Estrada has been coaching basketball for 25 years and said he believed that his experience and success is what set him apart during the interview process.
Before coaching at Valencia, he led Tularosa High School to a state title in 2014 and another championship game berth in 2016. He was also an assistant coach for Pojoaque Valley High School, when the Elkettes won back-to-back state titles in 2008 and 2009.
A native of Las Vegas, N.M., Estrada attended Robertson High School, but it wasn’t his days as a basketball player that got him interested in coaching.
“I was a decent basketball player, but I would never call myself a star or anything like that,” he said. “This is actually kind of a second career for me. I spent 20 years in the retail and grocery business before, but through my daughter, I found my way into coaching.”
He explained that in the early 1990s, when his daughter’s basketball team at Chaparral Elementary School in Santa Fe needed a coach, he decided to take the opportunity.
“There were 50 or so screaming girls when I first walked into the gym, but from that moment on, I just fell in love with coaching,” Estrada said.
Not a yeller
Now a veteran coach, Estrada uses a philosophy that teaches the fundamentals of the game as a first priority.
“I’m an educator, first,” he said. “I’m not a yeller, I’m not a screamer. What I do believe in, is that if you can put five girls on the floor who are all good at the basics of shooting, dribbling, passing and rebounding, then it can be pretty tough to stop.”
As for players who certainly know the basics, several will be returning next season, including, Kaylinn Martinez, Kaylee Chavez, Destiny Valdez and Miranda Salazar.
Martinez and Chavez (co-player of the year in 5A District 2) both made first team all-district last season, while Valdez and Salazar made the second team, as freshman.
Española will be in a new district next year in Class 4A, which will still include Los Alamos High School, who just recently hired Lanse Carter, who was the head coach at Pojoaque and Capital High School during Estrada’s time as an assistant.
“It’ going to be a great district,” Estrada said. “It will be fun to go against Lanse a few times a year after coaching with him for so long, but I’ll be there to beat him.”