One of the best soccer players at KHS is not playing with the boys’ varsity team, but rather training with St. Louis’ professional soccer team, St. Louis Football Club. Taner Dogan, senior, received the opportunity from his St. Louis Scott Gallagher Academy team (part of the U.S. Soccer Developmental Academy where high school athletes play year round club soccer) which does not allow him to play for high school. He was also given the opportunity to play college soccer at Harvard University next school year.
“It would be cool to socialize and play for your school, but [then] you look at all the opportunities you get through academy, for the two to three month [high school] season to give up the entire year of academy.” Dogan said. “At high school, I probably would not have had the opportunity to train with STL FC and go to Scotland, so it’s opened so many more doors.”
Such doors began to open when Dogan came to St. Louis his freshman year from San Diego, as the transition from San Diego Academy soccer to SLSG Academy was all he had hoped for. His growth as a soccer player at SLSG gave him the opportunity to go to Scotland on trial with two professional teams over the summer, Dundee Football Club of the Scottish Premier League and St. Mirren Football Club of the Scottish Championship, the second division in Scotland.
“At Dundee I stayed with some of their players who are assigned guys from foreign countries,” Dogan said. “I was always going out with guys, and it was a good experience all-around to see. You go there [and] think it’s gonna be unreal, but reality [is] I can play here. I can be a pro and stuff like that.”
Dogan’s academics have also given him an opportunity from a soccer and education standpoint to attend Harvard. Dogan verbally committed to play soccer in winter 2014. Because of his achievements thus far on and off the field, Jeff Townsend, assistant principal, only has praise for the St. Louis soccer star.
“He’s got a bright future, and I think he’s pretty grounded and confident and he’s done a lot of work to deserve it,” Townsend said. “When you put in work, it gives you an opportunity to deserve success.”
Townsend sees Dogan’s future commitment as a smart plan for long-term success, on and off the soccer field by planning to attend an internationally renowned school like Harvard. The school allows Dogan to continue to benefit once he leaves the soccer field and enters his chosen career path.
“An opportunity to get a great academic degree in whatever he wants to go into and also then play [NCAA] Division I soccer,” Townsend said. “He got the opportunity to go to Scotland and his schedule worked out for him this year that he could avoid the middle of his day. He got a [chance] to [play with STL FC].”
Dogan’s SLSG Academy coach Kevin Kalish sees Dogan as a kid on a mission. Through further training, Kalish has no doubt Dogan will do just fine in the future.
“He’s a soccer junky. He lives and breathes it,” Kalish said. “Taner will continue to grow, become physically stronger for the college game. For all young players, the goal is to gradually improve year after year. He’s one of the top players in the country.”
Dogan’s soccer ambitions are massive, as he wants to play wherever he can, for as long as he can after college. As a highly touted recruit, his overall goal is to become a legitimate candidate to be drafted into Major League Soccer.
“In the years after Harvard, the goal is the MLS draft,” Dogan said. “If that doesn’t work out, I would try to go to Europe, [and] get a work visa. I feel like I can sign there. But [I’m] just [going to] see how far I can take it.”
Though Dogan eventually decided against pursuing a pro contract in Scotland at the time as he wanted to maintain his amateur status to play NCAA soccer, another trial is possible again in Scotland with the SLSG Academy. Kalish also sees a great advantage in playing academy soccer because of the national and international exposure for young, elite athletes.
“Every player has a decision,” Kalish said. “From a soccer perspective [academy’s] better. You have the best players in St. Louis training together every week. They’re playing against the best competition around.”
Despite missing out on team athletics during his time at KHS, Dogan also feels there are more pros than cons staying within the U.S. Developmental Academy. The academy provided him with the chance to go to Scotland and train with STL FC, things that would not have been possible playing with his high school team.
“Each side has it’s own positives,” Dogan said. “Moving from San Diego, and having never played for a Kirkwood sports team, I was never submersed into the culture, [and] I think I definitely missed on some things. But in the end, I feel like playing academy is definitely worth it. I would not have gotten recruited by all the schools I was if I played high school soccer.”