Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Challenger Sports. All opinions are my own.
With my daughter away at camp, I knew that I needed to find an activity to keep my son busy for the last week of July. He tends to become really bored when she is not around–ha! I saw that Challenger Sports was holding a British Soccer Camp at a park just down the street from us so I decided to sign him up. There was a choice between a half day camp (9-noon) and full day camp (9-4). We went with the half day camp, which was a good thing since the weather was so hot that week. I actually felt bad for the kids that were signed up for the full day camp since it was so hot, but it is a nice option if you need full day childcare.
There were three coaches, and about twenty-five kids at the camp. Sign-ups were open to boys and girls from ages 3-16, but it seemed like most of the kids were about 5-12. I had limited interaction with the coaches (2 male, 1 female), but they did have British accents! From what n told me, they were all friendly, knowledgeable and enthusiastic. I appreciated how they greeted n by name by the second day. That might seem like a small gesture, but it made me feel like they were paying attention to each individual child which is not always the case in settings like this.
The kids were split up into 6 teams and earned points throughout the week for winning their games, as well as participating in fun spirit activities such as dressing up for “Wacky Wednesday” or drawing a picture of their coach. Each day they did focused drills to focus on specific skills.
The coaches also gave the parents instructions about signing up for an app called TopYa! Soccer. I had not heard about this app before, but it is pretty cool. The app teaches kids certain soccer skills through videos. You can then take a video of your child performing that skill and a virtual coach gives you feedback. We had a little trouble uploading the video at first, but now that we have the hang of it, n seems to like it.
I realize this is not the most exciting video, but you get the idea!
If you have a young soccer player, or a child who is interested in trying soccer, I would recommend trying out a Challenger Sports British Soccer Camp near you!