Omaha. Nebr. (Oct. 6, 2026) – Before Union Omaha, and before Inter Miami, Cole Jensen was just a kid in Council Bluffs who wanted to play soccer.
“There’s opportunities in Council Bluffs right there for you to play,” says Jensen, now a goalkeeper for the professional club right across the Missouri River. “I think as you grow and as you aspire to become a better soccer player and get into good environments, there was a transition that took me to Omaha. As a young kid, it was more of an angle of enjoying myself and having fun… which is obviously still what I want to do now. But that was what was available in Council Bluffs, and still is available there. I know that there’s developing clubs and and more opportunity for kids and for soccer to continue to grow in Council Bluffs.”
Jensen even spent a year playing for his father, who coached at one of the youth clubs in Council Bluffs, before both of them separately crossed the river to teams in Omaha. He says that’s when he was able to get the additional access to goalkeeping coaches and one-on-one training, with such a pathway paved in part by his father’s journey in becoming a coach.
Soccer permeated the Jensen household well beyond those two, however. Both of his sisters played at the collegiate level, with his older sister Brooke showing out at the University of Sioux Falls while younger sister Hope played down in Oklahoma at Rogers State.
“We grew up in a soccer family. Both my parents were athletes growing up, but it was always competitive. It wasn’t always the lovey-dovey type of relationship that we have now. I think that the older we get and the more mature we get, I think it continues to grow and develop. But as we were kids, soccer was always the thing that remained the same through the different stages of life. We could always connect through soccer.”
Of course, it also helped that he was taking up goalkeeping, given that his older sister was a striker. Many a basement practice sessions were had between the two of them, well before they spread their wings and flew elsewhere to play soccer.
For him, after venturing everywhere in the metro from Council Bluffs to Elkhorn, that meant heading east. He attended college in Cincinnati, Ohio at Xavier University, where he was named the 2022 BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year. That led to Jensen being selected 18th overall in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft by Inter Miami CF, and heading to an even farther-flung locale to begin playing professionally on a star-studded team that, yes, included one Lionel Messi.
When he finally returned home last year to play for Union Omaha, it was at once unexpected and welcome.
“It’s not something that was on my bingo card,” says Jensen of the full circle nature of his career so far. “Like I didn’t see it happening. It just naturally came to be, and I’m really grateful and blessed have the opportunity to play in front of family and friends. When I was in Cincinnati or Miami, it was more difficult for everybody in my family to be a part of some of those experiences. So naturally, it really fills my cup to be able to have my grandparents and my friends and my immediate family be able to come out to every game and and support me and support the team.
“That’s a feeling that the majority of footballers don’t get to experience, because we have players come in from all over the world. I don’t take it for granted by any means.”
It’s something that has buoyed Jensen throughout his two years with the club. While laudits are not something that he pays heed to, he is motivated to uphold a standard both for himself and the team. His goal, along with the backline on up is simply to keep things clean and help the club win.
Still, good performances breed good vibes, and no matter where they take place, he’s felt the love from those who cross over from Council Bluffs to see him.
“I’ve played a lot of really big games on the road this year. The first couple that come to mind are at Knoxville and at AV Alta earlier in the year. but I’ve also had a handful of games at home, and it’s just awesome to have that support and that love that’s genuine and down to earth. And it’s it’s not for me as a soccer player, but it’s for me as a son, a brother, a boyfriend, whatever it might be.
“Regardless of the result of the game, I can go hug my mom and dad and my grandparents and and my aunts and everybody else that comes to the game. That’s bigger than any one moment.”
Jensen is working to give that kind of support back to his hometown as well. This summer, he held a Training Like a Pro soccer camp for Council Bluffs youth at his alma mater, Lewis Central High School. Not only did he have a couple of Union Omaha teammates helping out, but the camp was a true family affair. His entire family was heavily involved in the camp, from preparation all the way to the day-of, with his sisters and girlfriend all helping to coach and connect with the kids in attendance.
The camp was open to boys and girls from first grade all the way up to those preparing for college, and alongside the games and competitions, Jensen set aside time for a Q&A with those in attendance, something he felt was just as important.
“I kind of always had the idea of, ‘How can I best involve myself as a soccer player in the community, not just Council Bluffs and not just Omaha, but the surrounding area?’ Putting on my own camp was a really cool process for me to go through, and it was a way for me to be able to tap into the community and provide kids the opportunity to experience some of the things that I’ve experienced, or to be able to sit down and have conversations.”
Though Jensen says there’s “a ton of really good athletes” in Council Bluffs, they usually play other sports. With that in mind, he aims to shed light on the possibilities to follow in his footsteps as a professional soccer player, and just what it takes to do so. After seeing the turnout at his camp, he’s encouraged by the positive impact he’s already seeing in the community. It’s just one more way he’s staying connected to his hometown.
“It was a wonderful opportunity be able to positively impact these kids, and see a little bit of that impact on how they view me. I just want to give them a fun experience and encourage them to continue to play soccer,” says Jensen.
“Omaha is where I began to see more of a love for goalkeeping, and I began to see a lot of growth through the Omaha club system, but Council Bluffs will always be home. I’m from Council Bluffs, and went to high school in Council Bluffs, and proud to be that.”
ABOUT UNION OMAHA
Union Omaha, the 2021 and 2024 USL League One Champions, is the premier professional soccer team in the state of Nebraska. USL League One is a United States Soccer Federation-sanctioned professional men’s soccer league that occupies the third tier of the American soccer landscape, below USL Championship (tier two) and the newly announced top-tier USL Premier, launching in 2028. Union Omaha will play its 2026 USL League One home matches at Morrison Stadium in downtown Omaha. The team is led by Chief Operating Officer Alexis Boulos in the front office and by Head Coach Vincenzo Candela on the pitch.
