SHELDON, IA (KTIV) – With the first football season approaching, the Athletic Department and Northwest Iowa Community College invited people to their first Sports Media Day.

In Sheldon, the Thunder are preparing for their first-ever season of men’s and women’s college soccer at the NJCAA level.

Both women’s head coach Tre Thomas and men’s head coach Jesse Kuehler talked about what a successful season would look like for the Thunder in Sheldon.

“Having a high goal is good, but you have to understand that you don’t have to achieve it all at once,” said Tre Thomas, head coach of the women’s soccer team. “As long as we take a step in the right direction every day, that’s the biggest challenge.”

“For me, a successful season is having a good team culture, so setting the standard early on of good, responsible, respectful young men,” said men’s head coach Jesse Kuehler. “And using those as building blocks to continue to move forward.”

Thunder football players come from all over the world, but despite the differences in hometown and culture, the honor of representing the NCC in their very first season means a lot to each athlete.

“It’s kind of crazy, I was actually planning on coming to NCC for the power line. When I heard they had a soccer team, I was so excited,” said freshman Jenna Pringnitz. “It’s just cool to see the whole community excited for us.”

“It means a lot to me, not only being here for the first season, but also being the captain of the team,” said Ori Alster, captain of the men’s team. “It’s tough, we do preparation three times a day and we’re really together, so it means a lot to me and I think it means a lot to everyone on the team.”

The Thunder will play their opening game on Saturday, August 24th when they face Central Community College. Kickoff for the women is at 2 p.m., followed by the men at 4 p.m.

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