British soccer camp to start next week

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Despite having low registration numbers for the Challenger British Soccer camp this year, Andalusia city youth sports coordinator Barbara Tyler said the number should “double” by next Monday, when the camp officially begins.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Tyler said there are 12 campers signed up to participate in the camp, which will be held July 26-30 on the soccer field at the Andalusia Sports Complex.

“We’ll probably double that come Monday,” she said. “What’s nice about Challengers is that they offer incentives to register early.”

What are the incentives?

“If you register early, you get this really cool jersey,” Tyler said. “If you register prior to this week, then you will get a soccer ball and a camp T-shirt, but you won’t get your soccer ball and T-shirt until the end of camp.”

Campers ranging in ages from 3 to 18 years old will participate in a camp that caters to different levels of skill.

Campers from 3-to-4-years-old will be a part of the “First Kicks” for one hour per day; campers ages 4-6 will be a part of the “Mini-Soccer” for one-and-a-half hours per day; campers from 8-18 will be a part of the “Full-Day Player Development” camp for six hours per day; campers 6-14 will be a part of the “Golden Goals” camp for a half-day; campers 6-to-16-years-old will be a part of the “Half-Day Player Development” camp for three hours per day; and all ages will take part in the “Team Camps.”

The mini soccer camp for 3 to 5 years old costs $80; the half-day camp for 6 to 9 years old and 10 to 14 years old costs $105; and the full-day camp for 8 to 14 years old costs $152.

Those that are still interested in registering, Tyler said to visit the city of Andalusia’s web site at cityofandalusia.com, and click on the link to the city’s soccer web site.

In addition, campers can register at challengersports.com.

“It’s a great program, and they do a wonderful job with the kids,” Tyler said.

This year’s coach, Gareth Winter, comes from England, where he is currently studying for a coaching degree at the University of Cumbria, based in Lancaster. He served as captain and ran the Lancaster’s soccer team. In addition, Winter has been the coach of the Kirkham Juniors 16Us for the last three years.

This is Winter’s second year with Challenger Sports.

Campers are encouraged to bring something to drink to the camp in a bottle because a tent with coolers full of ice water will be provided.