Atlanta-based professional soccer team Georgia FC will play at Dalton on Saturday | Local sports

Pro football comes to Dalton on Saturday.

Atlanta-based Georgia FC, which competes in the National Independent Soccer Association, will play a regular season match at Dalton Stadium – located next to Heritage Point Park at 1275 Cross Plains Trail – on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Georgia FC, which joined NISA for its inaugural season this year, will face Michigan Stars FC on Saturday. Doors open at 1 p.m. and tickets will cost $10 for adults and $5 for children 17 and under.

This is part of a series of games that Georgia FC, which normally plays regular season games in Atlanta, will play in Dalton this season. There is also a game scheduled for July 24 at 7 p.m. at Dalton Stadium. Georgia is 1-2-1 this season, while Michigan is 4-0.

“There’s such a soccer culture here,” said Kerem Daser, a well-known figure in the Dalton soccer community who also serves as the new club’s athletic director. “I think it’s pretty amazing to wake up Saturday morning and drive a few miles to Dalton Stadium and watch professional football.”

Daser, known locally as “Coach K,” is the founder and CEO of the North Georgia Soccer Academy, based in Dalton, and the former director of soccer at Dalton State College.

The club’s roster also includes some familiar faces, both from Daser’s North Georgia Soccer Academy and Dalton High School.

Former Dalton stars Fabian Rodriguez and Cristian Zaragoza are on the Georgia FC roster. Rodriguez spent time on the roster of Chattanooga FC, which was part of NISA before moving to MLS Next Pro this season. NISA is part of the third tier of the American professional soccer system. Zaragoza was formerly on the roster of the Chattanooga Red Wolves, a USL League One team.

Also among the Georgia FC players are other players who trained with Daser for the NGSA, including Hugo Martinez, who recently signed to play collegiately for Dalton State, and Victor Valencia, a Rome High graduate.

“It’s good to have two players from Dalton High School playing,” Daser said. “It’s nice to see former children from our region putting on the professional jersey. It gives children the dream that if they work hard, maybe they will become professional players too.

Daser, in addition to his youth soccer efforts at the grassroots level, spent time working with another professional team in Atlanta before becoming a professional scout for Chattanooga FC and then helping launch Georgia FC.

He has pushed Georgia FC to play games in Dalton and hopes to bring a professional team to Dalton permanently.

“I’ve been working on this for 10 years,” Daser said. “The team is based in Atlanta, but maybe one day we will have a team in Dalton.”