A few area soccer players are helping kick start a new soccer program at Riverland Community College this fall.

Former Albert Lea players Jake Thompson, Lukas Deng and Chris Karge have signed on to play in the inaugural season for the Blue Devils and will have the opportunity to play a handful of games back in Albert Lea this fall.

The season begins Aug. 29 for the team and head coach Sonar Dogan is excited for the upcoming season and the addition of the former Albert Lea players.

“There are some challenges that come from being a first-year program, but I love it,” said Dogan, who has a Ph. D in biology and teaches at Riverland.

Riverland is one of the few community colleges in the area that offers soccer and Dogan sees the sport attracting more athletes in the future.

“This is just a start,” Dogan said. “I guarantee in two years from now you will see 40-50 players that I have tryout.”

This season the team is just beginning to scratch the surface of the talented pool of players that exists in southern Minnesota.

“Hopefully we’ll attract more younger students, especially the minority through (the) soccer program,” Dogan said. “This part of (the) state has a great potential for soccer.”

For Thompson and Deng, it’s an opportunity for them to continue playing a sport that’s been with them throughout their childhood.

“If people want go to community college and play soccer it’s very convenient if you live around here,” Thompson said.

Dogan has an extensive background in soccer, having spent the past decade as a referee at the Division-I level and was an assistant coach at Hamline University in 1999. He also played on the varsity soccer team as a student at the college of veterinary medicine at Ankara University in Turkey.

“I have passion for two things, one teaching and the other one is soccer,” he said.

Now he’ll have the chance to do both this fall as the team will play 13 games against other community colleges in the state.

It hasn’t taken long for the coach to establish a bond with the team.

“The coach is really nice,” Thompson said. “We get along with him great. He runs practice really smoothly.”

The players have responded with enthusiasm about the start of the program as well, Dogan said, often arriving before him for practice, which is twice a day.

“What I like most about them is they do their best,” Dogan said. “For me, the best student is the one who does his or her best in the classroom. For me, the best athlete is the one that does his best on the field.”

The team started practice last week and slowly the numbers have jumped up and the roster consists of players from Austin, Albert Lea and Owatonna.

Riverland has contests scheduled in Albert Lea on Sept. 14 and Oct. 9-10, and possibly one on Sept. 30. The season begins Aug. 29 against Crossroads College.