Haris is a product of the European football (soccer) youth academy. He joined the European professional soccer development system when he was 7 years old and quickly rose up through all of the sections (Pioneer, Cadet, Junior, Senior). Haris played for the Division 1 club, FC Sarajevo, currently competing in Bosnian Premier League (former Yugoslavia). At age 18 Haris made a roster on Bosnian National Futsal Team but decides to head to the United States.
After immigrating to the United States in 1994 (due to the war in Bosnia) Haris played collegiate soccer and garnered an MVP & first team All Conference awards at CSU Stanislaus (1995-97). Haris was offered a scholarship at University of San Francisco but was unable to accept it due to the injury which eventualy caused an early retirement from soccer. Haris decided to stay in the Modesto area and dedicate himself to coaching youth. The first team he coached was AC United of Modesto, California. Under Haris' guidance, AC United won the Y-League National Championship (prototype year, California teams competed only). In 2004, after six years of absence from soccer, Haris accepted an offer to become the head coach
for California Gold (former Stanislaus Cruisers), a minor league professional soccer team out of Modesto.
The soccer team you see on this page is Ajax Power (Modesto Bee, July, 30 1998) of Modesto, California. Ajax Power is another great success story. The powerful combination of raw talent and exceptional coaching made the Ajax Power a formidable team. Six months after Haris took over the Head Coach position, the Ajax Power team qualified for the Kellogg's Nor Cal Tournament hosted by the San Jose Earthquakes (Clash). During the 3 day tournament, the Ajax Power won the 16 team tournament, with five straight wins. The attached photos were taken after the Championship game where Ajax beat the Marin County Marauders 3-2. The Ajax Power was one of the twelve teams that qualified for the Kellogg's National Tournament held in Orlando, Florida. Each of the twelve teams represented an MLS soccer teams' region. Kellogg awarded the winning Ajax Power team with $40,000 in cash and prizes to pay for National Tournament expenses in Orlando, plane tickets for each player, tickets to Disney World, tickets for the MLS All-Star Game, tickets to the USA Womens' National Team exhibition match against Canada, and a 4 day stay in the luxury hotel resort at Disney World. The Kellogg's Tournament and Orlando trip made for an unforgettable experience for the Ajax Power Team!
During his youth coaching career Haris was fortunate enough to have had an opportunity to coach some of the most talented players that Modesto area produced (Ryan Daley - Cruz Azul reserves, Adolfo Gregorio - UCLA captain, FC Darlington & Real Salt Lake, Heath Pearce - US National Team & Hansa Rostock of Germany, Manuel Brasil - USL Professional D3 National Rookie of the year).
