Soccer Week

Welcome to week one of the "Summer Sampler Platter," the set of nine weeks when Luke and Amelia get to try loads of new things a dab at a time to see what they like. This week, the sport of choice is soccer (although Amelia is also getting a sneak peek at gymnastics, but more on that another time).

They are enrolled in soccer camp through Challenger Sports, an organization that imports Brits for the week to impart their wisdom of the craft to our American youths. The coaches stay with host families and teach soccer to various age groups throughout the day. Older kids and teens have the option of half day or full day camps, and the younger kids have shorter lessons. Amelia spends 90 minutes during each of the five days with 4- and 5-year-olds, and Luke gets 60 minutes each day with other 3-year-olds.

Coach Rob and Coach Jenny have been teaching the five and under crowd. Luke's group works on fun games designed to introduce ball control and dribbling. I was surprised to see that this is apparently a tough concept - my own child continued to pick up the ball and run with it the first day. He also falls down a lot (check out those knees!). They do a variation of "Mother, May I?" where the Big Bad Wolf allows the Piggies to take a number of steps (kicking the ball forward and then stepping on it), and then chases them for dinner. They have introduced a number of games such as this, that clearly teach a skill and yet engages the kids. I have been truly impressed with the variety of activities and VERY patient nature of the coaching staff.

Amelia's team plays some of the same games as the younger team, with additional activities that have more difficult and involved criteria. They also tack on a thirty minute scrimmage at the end of practice. Amelia told me after the first day that she didn't think that it would be as much fun as it is. That's a good thing, I think.