After finishing his impressive 2022-23 season with the Ashland University Eagles, forward Haruki Kimura has decided to take his talents to the professional soccer scene.

On Wednesday, July 26, Kimura announced to the public over social media that he officially signed a contract with FK Internacional.

“I’m really excited for the first year of my professional career,” he said. “I’ve been trying hard to be a professional footballer since I was young and I proved to myself that the dream really does come true.”

Throughout his time at Ashland, Kimura was a spark on the field for the Eagles. In his first season, he played in 16 contests while starting in seven. During that time he knocked in three goals and dished off one assist as the Eagles finished the season with an 8-10-3 overall record.

After a successful start to his college career, he would go on to play in 12 contests over the next two seasons, but pieced together consistent outings, adding two goals and three assists to his career statistics.

Heading into his fourth season, he started to become a regular threat on the field for opposing teams. In the Eagles’ first year in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC), he brought home five goals through 22 shots.

However, in his fifth year, he took it up a notch becoming one of the Eagles’ best.

Through 19 games, he recorded 51 shots, with 23 of them being on goal. Of those 51 shots he found 11 of them finding the back of the net, while also helping to contribute in the playmaking department with two assists.

The comeback for Kimura was important, as he dealt with injuries during his career at Ashland.

“I’ve spent 4.5 years at AU and they have taught me the importance of not giving up on my goals,” he said. “I’ve had two ankle surgeries during my time at AU and I was not confident to become a professional footballer because of my injury.”

His fifth year would be marked by his team-leading 11 goals, which would give him GMAC First-Team honors. The Eagles would then go on to work their way through the conference tournament before taking down the Cedarville Yellowjackets in the conference finals.

“I started to feel confident to be a pro after we won the tournament from the bottom of the league,” he said. “Anything could happen if you work hard, just like what we’ve [The Eagles] done in the GLIAC and GMAC and this mindset helped me prepare to play professionally.”

His goal now shifts to the higher level of play, where he will compete in the Montenegrin Second League which resides in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegrin. 

There, he will have the opportunity to adjust to the professional game and help his team try to achieve promotion to the Montenegrin First League.

“This is just the beginning and I will keep working hard towards the higher goals,” he said. “AU has made me prepared for my professional career.”