The British Soccer Camp, a development summer camp ran by Challenger Sports, gave 31 youth soccer players from the Lac La Biche area a week of drills and soccer fun.
To build their skills, first you get them to love the game.
The British Soccer Camp, a development summer camp ran by Challenger Sports, gave 31 youth soccer players from the Lac La Biche area a week of drills and soccer fun. The camp has ran in the area for a number of years, and this year it's being sponsored by the Lac La Biche Junior Soccer Society as a way to encourage development.
"The kids have a great time, they learn about the sport, they learn more skills, they like the coaches that are sent out," said Al Robertson, JSS executive member. "It is very important in the development of kids' skills... keeping their skills going over the summer, and building soccer within Lac La Biche."
The five-day camp, which had an age range of 6-14 years old, works on different skills every day including dribbling, passing, shooting and volleying, ran by director Mike Whitehead and coach Jack Sarahs.
"I had the younger ones this week," said Sarahs, a 20-year old from Swindon, England. "The main thing is that improvement is always important, but just as much as enjoyment. You've got to get the mix."
Sarahs said he handles the balance by building up enjoyment first.
"You can drill the kids as much as you want, but if they're not enjoying it, they won't sign up next year," he said. "You have to make sure that they're enjoying it but they're understanding why they're doing what they're doing."
Youth player Laney Smith, 14, said that it's her fourth year in the camp.
"I've liked it over the past few years, it's really good," she said.
According to Smith, the looser age group boundaries helps younger kids improve.
"It's good for kids, it helps improve them," she said. "When you play with kids your own age, you're playing against your own level. With the younger kids, they can try to play better because they're playing against older kids, and then the older kids can try to out-deke all the younger kids and do better."
Sarahs said that player retention is always a concern.
"In England, when you get to (age) 13, 14... a lot of kids drop out of soccer," he said, "and that's our number one sport, so I imagine in Canada it's ten times worse."
He said that playing through the winter is the most important part of improving development, and praised the Bold Center.
"The centre here is the best I've seen anywhere, really. If you want potential to get more player development, you need somewhere to play for the winter," he said. "That is the way forwards, if people can get the funds for it."
Sarahs said that facilities and coach training should be a priority for soccer development in Canada.
"I can't see how this country can't go wrong, like the U.S.," he said. "They have facilities, I think they have the population, it's just getting the kids now into soccer, in particular in Canada it's to play in the winter months."
This year's theme was based around the FIFA World Cup, with teams based on international sides like the Netherlands and Brazil.
"You're going to run down Wembley Way and give everyone high fives," Whitehead told the kids, pointing at a set of cones leading to an inverted traffic cone with a soccer ball swaddled in plastic bags on top of it, emulating the look of the World Cup trophy.
The kids weren't fooled, especially when the wind pushed over the cobbled-together trophy. But for some of the young players that might have been hoisting a trophy for the first time, it rewards the best achievement you could ask for in youth soccer: they got a little bit better.
