As promised, Bakersfield College has an official men’s soccer club. With the help of a couple of past Student Government Association board members, male students can get things going with its soccer club.

“For years there have been tons of guys on the campus that have been really interested in trying to find some way to have a men’s soccer program here,” said the adviser of the club and BC women’s head coach Scott Dameron.

“There have always been lots of guys on campus that have had a passion and a real desire to play and nowhere to play,” Dameron added.

BC has a women’s soccer team, but the men’s team was discontinued more than 10 years ago, leaving a club as the only option for men who want to play organized soccer at the college. Dameron said BC student Raul Carrillo was a major part of getting guys together and organized on the campus to get the club going.

“That was their original goal when they were formed, the club was to create a place for everybody that was interested in men’s soccer,” Dameron said about the men who’ve been pushing for a soccer club.

Dameron said on the first day of the meeting there were over 50 men showing their interest in the program.

When asked if the number went down since the first meeting, Dameron said there were even more attendees that showed up to the meeting.

“I know that we haven’t come close to hitting everybody that has real interest,” Dameron explained.

“People just kept showing because when they hear about it, they’re excited because it’s something that people really wanted for a long time.”

According to Dameron, one of the main focuses at the moment is to raise awareness of the men’s soccer club that is at BC.

When asked about fundraising, Dameron said that he has talked about “possible things,” but nothing has been scheduled at the moment.

“They’re going to need to raise money if we’re going to pull this off because obviously if they’re talking about competing, it costs money to travel places,” he said.

Dameron said that men from other schools who want to be part of the club have contacted Carrillo.

“That’s what I’ve enjoyed about being around those guys so far,” Dameron, answered when asked about the atmosphere of the club. “They do have such a passion for it and it doesn’t matter what the situation is, they’ll figure out how to get there.”