Elite Soccer Camps
by Alan Maher
When I was much younger and working I was in charge of running the gifted program for the school district. This was hard work. I had to design a method of selecting the students so nobody could complain that we left out gifted people. It had to be fair and objective. Then I had to hire the teachers and it is not easy to teach gifted children. It is hard to teach a room full of them all at once. They tend to go in every direction and can be very sensitive to criticism or comments. Then there was the curriculum. The regular classroom teacher did not want us stealing from what they were doing. So I had to develop a parallel curriculum for the program. I might add that I got no extra money for all of this. But I did it.
Then I met a friend who was principal in a nearby district and he was interested in the gifted program. He was so interested that he wanted to open his own school.
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-How would you identify the kids? I asked. -Simple, the parents would do it for me.
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-You would be overwhelmed with numbers. How would you prevent that? -Simple. I would make it an elite gifted program.
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-How would you do that? -I would charge a lot of money which would cut down on the number who applied.
We both laughed. Money solves most problems.
I mention this because I pulled up a web site yesterday that began "Fordham University Elite Soccer Camp." Now you know that elite means money. There is no time to be nice and select the best players. The trick is to charge a lot to rationalize the use of the word "elite." Would they have the best instructors? A well thought out curriculum? Who knows. I never read a word beyond the word "elite."
Now if I ran a soccer camp...
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I would register only 24 players in a given age category. I would do this because I want to start small and make it work. I would have 3 teams of 8 players. I would have one coach for each team of 8. The first 24 to register would be accepted. First come first served. Groups of 8 mean that they can play 4v4 or 3v3 plus two neutral players which is 5v3 for good tactical work.
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We would train for 2 hours from 8:00 to 10:00. Sharp. Training would be in 20 minute segments. There would not be time outs to sell candy or soda. The participants would not rest to watch the coaches play. And there would be no two hour lunch time. I have seen as many as 17 or 22 players in a single line waiting to shoot. There would be no lines. There would be no waiting.
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I would send home instructions, be prompt and bring water. No water, no play. I would send home a wrist bracelet with instructions. Go to the coach who has a shirt the color of your bracelet. (I hate camps where the first morning is spent with players trying to find the coach and then tell their mothers who he is. Blue bracelet to blue shirt.)
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At the end of the week I would not give out certificates of attendance or certificates for the best camper. I would give each player a laminated paper with instructions of how to practice alone, and on the other side how to play small sided games without a coach or adult.
If it went well, I would add groups of 8 the next year. That is the right number for me. One coach and 8 players. I have the whole program outlined in my head. It could be done. And there is nothing elite about it. It is for any and all. It is all activity, no resting and waiting.
The best part of all is that the kids are free for most of the day. Why not? It is summer time!