GIRARD -- Ahmet Olgun has found a way to combine a career in the food service industry with his love

GIRARD -- Ahmet Olgun has found a way to combine a career in the food service industry with his love for soccer.
The native of Bursa, Turkey, has carved out a niche in the restaurant business as the owner of Cafe Olgun in downtown Girard, and he's also coach of Boardman High School's soccer team.
Olgun served in the U.S. Army and spent some time studying engineering in college, then got his first taste of the food service industry when he spent four years aboard Carnival Cruise Lines as a busboy and bartender.
He met his wife, Carol, on the cruise ship, they returned to Turkey for their wedding, then settled in the Mahoning Valley.
Olgun started out locally as a bartender, working at Powers Auditorium and the Squaw Creek Country Club, then moved to the former Antone's Banquet Hall restaurant in Boardman where he was a wine steward and beverage manager.
Finally, about 18 years ago, Olgun decided it was time to try his own eatery. He took over the former Diamond Restaurant on West Liberty Street in Girard and renamed it Cafe Olgun.
The restaurant specializes in preparing made-to-order items, many featuring fresh products, seasonings and spices that give them a Mediterranean flavor, Olgun said. Breakfast makes up about 60 percent of his restaurant's business.
Soccer nut
Cafe Olgun is open from 6 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. daily, and those limited hours allow Olgun to pursue his interest in soccer. "When I'm done [at the restaurant], I rush home and go to soccer practice," he said. "Sometimes I don't eat until the day's over."
Olgun started playing at age 12 and turned semi-professional when he competed in Turkey. Olgun has been Boardman High School's soccer coach for 10 years, and jerseys and other soccer memorabilia, as well as his collection of foreign sports cars, line the restaurant's walls.
"I play and coach soccer and sleep with soccer and get up with soccer," Olgun said.
A few years ago, Olgun and three others started the Girard Youth Program for kids interested in the sport. He said the program began with about 90 kids and has grown to close to 400.
Olgun said his restaurant hosts numerous fund-raisers and donates money to help kids buy soccer equipment. He also raises money for high school athletic and soccer boosters clubs and other charitable events.
Shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, his restaurant donated 50 percent of the day's earnings to a New York City firefighters fund.
Olgun said he's making plans to expand his business by using the space he owns next door to his restaurant to open an Internet cafe that would serve coffee, European-style desserts and other foods.