An Ohio University professor is spearheading an effort to bring coaches from across the Atlantic to teach Athens-area children the fundamental skills of soccer.
The first and only Youth Soccer Player Development Camp will take place June 20 to 23 at the practice field adjacent to Peden Stadium. The camp will offer training from coaches who typically give instruction thousands of miles from Athens.
Forty-one coaches from three African nations, including Ghana, Senegal and South Africa, will travel to Athens for an 11-day coaching development program called Coaching the Whole Child.
While in Athens, the coaches will partner with OU sports administration faculty and students to interact with local kids for the four-day camp that will develop everything from soccer skills to life skills.
“What we’re hoping to get is somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 to 120 kids to come to camp and participate in learning the game and interact in a cultural environment with coaches from other countries,” said David Carr, camp coordinator and OU associate professor in the Department of Recreation and Sport Pedagogy.
As a part of a grant made possible by the connections between Play Soccer Nonprofit International and OU, Carr traveled to South Africa in December 2009 with Andrew Kreutzer and Sheri Huckleberry, also faculty in the department.
They saw firsthand how the Play Soccer curriculum was delivered. They will implement their findings when the coaches visit Athens later this month.
“I had a really great time when I was in Africa to see (the kids’) faces light up and engage with us,” Huckleberry said.
During the first part of the African coaches’ stay in Athens, Carr and his staff will educate and receive feedback from the African coaches with the hope that the coaches will learn skills to take back to their respective countries.
“I just think it’s going to be a great educational experience,” Huckleberry said.
“Hopefully, (the coaches) can take some things away and evolve their current curriculum.”
One of the largest elements of the camp will be the “No laps, No Lines, No Lectures” approach in which all learning is based through activity and engagement. The goal is to educate camp participants on the values of working together and teamwork.
“We do a progression of ideally one player, one ball and then as the kids get a little older, ‘how do you work with a partner so (you will have) two players trying to work together?’ ” Carr said. “Then, as they get a little older, ‘how does a small group interact with the ball?’ ”
Carr said the effect on Southeast Ohio will outlast the duration of the camp.
Play Soccer Appalachia will come about to continue the camp’s mission.
“We’re dealing with kids in a rural environment that may have some challenges based on where they live, what they may or may not have access to, but we can still use the game as a vehicle to bring kids together,” Carr said.
While the program already is underway, Play Soccer Appalachia will need additional funding if it is to continue, Carr said. That likely would require OU to seek out grants.
But in the meantime, the focus is on the impact the camp will have for the coaches and Athens-area children.
“The exciting part for me is the cultural exchange that we hope will take place,” Kreutzer said. “We have an opportunity to have interaction between the youth coaches from Africa and coaching education students here and also athletic administration students.”
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