With the coming of the next academic year, Diablo Valley College just might be getting a new soccer team.

Jeremy Bedig and Michael Oreja, DVC students and avid soccer players, attended the ASDVC meeting Tuesday to advocate their cause for a men’s soccer team at DVC. They presented to the governing board with statistics on the academic success of male students involved in athletics.

“From some of the research that we’ve done, we found that male student athletes have a higher graduation rate,” said Bedig.

He and Oreja are diligent in their effort to create a men’s soccer team at DVC.

“And, honestly, just by playing with the team and meeting new people and forming a brotherhood, … it just helps all of them to come together and achieve greatness as one single unit,” said Oreja

They also mentioned the numbers of people who either signed a petition calling for the establishment of men’s soccer team at DVC or actively plan on becoming a part of said team. According to Bedig, they currently have over 170 signatures on the petition and 35 people interested in joining the future team.

Besides presenting their goal to ASDVC, their game plan involved a meeting with Christine Worsley, Dean of the Kinesiology, Athletics and Dance department and Athletic Director at the Pleasant Hill Campus. The formal process towards creating a men’s soccer team at DVC has officially started during this meeting on April 23, when a group of students interested in the sport met up with Worsley.

Starting the men’s soccer team is important to a lot of students. Besides the aspect of giving students a supportive community, it is also simply a big part of their lives. For some students, it is essential to their upbringings, Oreja cited that he has been playing the sport since he was 4 years old.

“Playing soccer has been a way of life for a lot of people,” said Oreja. “It’s a way of life for me.”

Gerardo “Panda” De La Torre, a member of the ASDVC board, advised Bedig and Oreja that they should try to re-activate the soccer club. He also said that although it is an extra burden to take care of, apart from all the work that needs to be done to establish the soccer team, it would help the cause.

“Any club support, in general, is definitely gonna be a plus,” he said.

An open informative meeting for those interested in playing men’s soccer at DVC and potentially joining the team will be held Wednesday, May 8 from 2.30 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. in the Margaret Lesher Student Union building, room 204.