Children learned the finer points of European-style soccer after participating in the Challenger Sports British Soccer Camp from Monday, July 28 to Friday, August 1, 2014.
According to Sam Micklethwaite, Camp Director, this is the fourth year of the camp in Barrhead and over 40 kids registered for this year’s camp.
“So for this year’s camp, we had roughly 30 kids sign up for our half day program. In addition to that, we had another 20 kids register for our Mini Kickers Program,” said Micklethwaite.
Kids attending the camp learned a variety of football skills and each day of the camp they focused on a different skill.
“We had themed days. Monday we focused on dribbling, Tuesdays was passing, Wednesday was shooting, Thursday was heading and volleying, and Friday was more of a fun-oriented day where we put all of the skills together and put them into game-based situations. It was like a reward for all of their hard work throughout the week,” added Micklethwaite.
Micklethwaite explained that the kids also took part in a World Cup competition over the course of the week.
“Every kid in the half-day program was put on a World Cup team that they stayed with for the week. This year we had Peru, South Africa, Scotland, and Turkey representing these teams in the World Cup and they played each other every day. They played for points throughout the week but it was not based on winning matches it was more about sportsmanship, respect and leadership skills. The team with the most points won the World Cup trophy, which was a cone with a soccer ball on it,” he said.
Micklethwaite went on to discuss the calibre of players at this year’s camp.
“It is not too bad to be honest with you. You get a bit of a mix, and not just here but at every camp. We are seeing enthusiastic kids and seeing kids with certain skills that are at quite a high standard and other skills that are lacking,” he said. “What I have noticed this week was that ball control was a bit lacking so there was a heavy focus on that every day. Before we did our themed sessions we did 20-25 minutes of agility and coordination work every day. Other than that, it has been a pretty reasonable standard and has been up there with the other camps I have done this year.”
In Canada, soccer isn’t as popular as hockey but Micklethwaite admitted that it could be, based on recent events.
“I believe soccer in Canada is growing massively. It is getting huge and I think that is because the improvement in facilities by getting indoor buildings. The other thing is the success of the women’s national team,” he said. “I think it is getting bigger and if you start seeing success with the men’s national team it is going to take off in a really big way. If Canada can have the same success as the U.S. men’s national team there is no limit to how big soccer can get in this country. You have a lot of kids that are naturally athletic; they play a variety of sports, which is great for them. If they can get into soccer and get the coaching here, there is no reason why it can’t take off in a big way.”
Micklethwaite shared his final thoughts on this year’s Challenger Sports British Soccer Camp.
“I think it has been a really good camp. It has been interesting because of the way the camp was broken down with no full-day campers. We also added a new element in the goalkeeping aspect of the camp. It has been running really smoothly so I have been really happy with how it went. These kids were so enthusiastic and it was really great to see,” concluded Micklethwaite.
