Soccer Camp

Sometime over the last year my middle son, Big Red, became interested in soccer. He attended a local homeschool gym program that offers a variety of 3 week sessions. His favorite weeks were soccer and swimming.

When I got an email offering a free week of soccer camp through UsFamily Guide I jumped at the chance to enroll him. This 5 day 3 hour camp will give us both a chance to see how much he really enjoys soccer before signing up for a longer commitment this Fall. The closest location for the Challenger International Soccer camp was just over 20 minutes away and was the first week of June. Since nothing else was scheduled for our family’s calendar I signed him up.

Each day began with a nice set of warm up exercises along with frequent breaks for water. I noticed right away that the coach calls each child by name for each skill AND compliments each child for giving each new exercise or skill a try.

Some of the soccer skills worked on were:
Warm-ups
Toe touch, inside outside, ladder
Drink of water
Passing through markers
Passing with inside after toe-touch
One touch inside pass
(Coach Dave encourages all players throughout each skill.)
Touch with one but pass with the other foot.
Pass the ball then sprint again your partner.

Another water break before the coach goes over skills reviewed since the last water break. Then states that possession is the next skill. Defender is going to try to kick all the balls away from the attackers and out of the square. Then attackers practice passing.

Another water break even though temps are below 80! This is very encouraging to me since Midwest Summer days can be very unpredictable and heat stroke and dehydration can occur quickly.

More skills are practiced while having 3 on 3 scrims. Coach Dave does another review of skills again. Giving tips and pointers for each skill that ALL players can learn from BUT NOT singling out anyone who might have that skill mastered.
Good sportsman ship is encouraged and points awarded for good attitudes.

It was great to see how my “wanna be soccer player” progressed in knowledge and skill throughout the week. He is now even more excited about joining the homeschool soccer league this Fall. Thanks Challenger Sports and Coach Dave for a Great week!