José Vivanco, Sr. began his long and faithful service to our game in 1974. Over the years, he has served as: a long-time and successful Youth Coach; a Referee in Youth, Adult, Amateur, and High School games; a USSF Referee Instructor; both a USSF and a College Referee Assessor; and a Referee Program Administrator for both GSSA and the Georgia State High School Athletic Association.

José started as a youth coach at the South DeKalb YMCA in 1974, and, after several seasons, moved on to coach for the American Soccer Association Mustangs soccer club. In his 23 years as a youth soccer coach, José guided teams in every age group, sometimes more than one team at a time. Among his players were his three sons. Much to his credit and to the benefit of the many players he has guided, José has coached teams at every age level from U-6 through U-19. He also coached the Georgia Tech Club Team for 2 years. Under his coaching guidance, all of his youth teams won their respective age group State Championships. Among the youth players he coached, two (Josh Wolff and Grant Leroux) played for USSF National Teams; six (Josh Wolff, Chad Carithers, Javier and Carlos Vivanco, Josh Farrar, and Shane Weems) later played on professional teams. Remarkably, all of his graduating seniors went on to earn soccer scholarships; four (Brad Harris, Phil Danbury, Brad Brown, and Tracy Crouch) became high school soccer coaches. José ended his outstanding youth soccer coaching career in 1997.

In 1974, José took on an added avocation; certifying as a USSF Referee, he began a long career of officiating youth and adult amateur soccer. A year later, he also certified to referee in the high school program. José went on to attain the coveted USSF State Referee Grade 5 status, and, after retiring from active refereeing in later years, is now an Emeritus USSF State Referee. Not content to simply coach and referee, in 1978 José became certified as a USSF Referee Instructor. He advanced over the years, achieving the grade of USSF State Referee Instructor, and has continued to train countless referees. In addition to being an active Coach, Referee, and Referee Instructor, José also qualified as a USSF Referee Assessor in 1978 and is still active. Added to that service are four years as a College Referee Assessor. In 1992, José attained the grade of USSF State Referee Assessor and, in 1996, he was appointed as a High School Referee Assessor for the Georgia Soccer Officials Association.

In 1994, he was appointed GSSA State Director of Referee Assessment; then, in 2001, he was appointed the State Director of Referee Assessment by the Georgia State High School Athletic Association. He still serves in both positions.

José is an outstanding volunteer whose dedication, perseverance, competence, commitment, and desire to help others to attain personal excellence have helped Georgia Soccer rise to the high level of excellence it enjoys today.