On Saturday mornings at Glenn Hall Park, Rio Americano Raiders go head-to-head in a competitive soccer league. Rio students who live in the River Park area have created an organized soccer league where anyone can get the chance to play. Many students who might not want the pressure of playing high school sports can compete in this league.

Aaron Mason, who runs the Instagram account for the soccer league, organizes the teams and showcases highlights from the games.

 “I put up polls during the week for students who want to be on teams,” Mason said. “It’s fun seeing new faces every weekend.”

Many of the players in the league also play soccer outside of River Park. Bringing experience and expertise to the soccer league are Josh Brown, August Kirchgessner and Braydon Bloom.

These well-adapted soccer players have been blown away by how far the student-created league has come.

“It is a great time seeing players who come out for fun compete against some of the best players out here,” Brown said. “It shows how competitive the community we have is.”

When at the pitch, the players bring out the goals and set up a downsized soccer field. Nets are put on the goals and cones are set around the field to make a border. After that, the field is ready to play on.

The teams get ready on their respective sides and the game begins. The athletes compete until four goals are scored and then there is a halftime. After that, the second half goes until eight goals are scored by a team.

This community competes hard in these short and compact game times and makes it hard for their opponents. As more players attend, the community continues to grow and become more competitive. 

Not only has this community grown over involvement in soccer, they have also hosted football in past years. This league showed equal competitivity and gave birth to the River Park sports scene.