Soccer Camp Both Educational and Enjoyable

Some aspire to become the next David Beckham, Mia Hamm, Landon Donovan or Abby Wambach.  Others just want to come out and have a great time.  One thing is for sure, boys and girls ages 4-14 learned the fundamentals and skills of soccer and had a blast doing it at the Oconee County Parks and Recreation Department's summer held this week at .

Colin Connors, varsity boys head coach at , is the the camp's director.  Coaches have two goals; for the kids to have a good time and improve as athletes.

"We want them to get a lot of touches, to learn the rules of the game and develop their skills:  passing, first touch, trapping, dribbling, shooting, just all the skills of the game," he said.

Connors, who has been running the camp for nine years, is thankful for a great coaching staff.  The coach to player ratio is about 1:5 or 1:6. 

"We divide the kids into four groups based upon age and skill level," he explained. "We have 48 kids divided up in those four groups with two coaches for each of those groups.  We also have goal keeper coaches to train the goalies."

The campers learned individual skills and also had a chance to utilize those skills in game situations.  Some, like 7-year-old Mason Gunter, have aspirations of playing professional soccer.  When asked what his favorite soccer skill is, Gunter said that he most liked dribbling inside the cones. He went on to say that soccer is his favorite sport and the position he enjoys the most is defense.

Other kids at the camp don't necessarily have dreams of playing at the highest levels one day, but had a great time nonetheless.  One camper said he doesn't really watch soccer that much and doesn't favor one skill over another, but would be interested in playing in high school.  

It remains to be seen if any future soccer stars will emerge from this past week's camp, but what is clear is that the kids had a good workout and enjoyed themselves while learning how to play one of the most popular sports in the world.

For a list of upcoming summer sports camps, see the Oconee County Parks and Recreation Department's website.