Dean Faithfull made the trip from Southampton, England to the United States with a ‘goal? in mind.
Literally.
Faithfull, 19, is a coach with the UK International Soccer Day Camp. Both he and fellow coach Damaris Young, 22, of Panama City, Panama recently made the trip to Goodrich to give local kids a unique soccer camp experience.
According to the group’s Web site, www.uksocca.com, the program was established in 1990 with the goal of providing ‘the best possible soccer experience?.
Faithfull and Young taught two sessions a day, 9 a.m.-noon and 5 p.m.-8 p.m., to more than 30 kids from Aug. 7-11 at Oaktree Elementry School, 7500 S. Gale Road in Goodrich.
The experience is meant to be ‘fun, it needs to be educational, and it needs to be done in a safe environment,? said Faithfull. ‘We want to give fun to the kids The experience is meant to be ‘fun, it needs to be educational, and it needs to be done in a safe environment,? said Faithfull. ‘We want to give fun to the kids for educational purposes,? agreed Young.
Avery Alchin, 9, attended the morning session of the camp and said she was having fun playing scrimmage matches. ‘I’ve leaned about passing (the ball),? said Avery. ‘The coaches are doing a good job.?
Maddy June, 10, said her experience at the camp had been one of ‘learning skills for soccer and having a lot of fun.?
‘I’ve learned good techniques for shooting,? Maddy added.
Taylor Wakerley, 8, said talking with the coaches about where they were from was interesting.
The coaches appeared to be having an enjoyable time as well.
‘It’s awesome,? said Faithfull, who, like Young, has been playing soccer’or as he calls it, football? since he was 4. ‘It’s good to do what you love doing in a different environment.?
‘It’s really nice,? agreed Young. ‘It’s different to work with kids in a behind the scenes type of thing. It’s really nice to see the development of the kid’you can have a really big influence.?
The opportunity to act as a role model is one Faithfull said he is grateful for. In England, Faithfull explained, because soccer is so popular, kids have professional players to look to as role models, the way American kids look to basketball, baseball, football and hockey stars. In the States, though, soccer has never gotten the spotlight in the way those other sports do, so to the kids at camp, coaches might take on the role pro athletes may hold for other kids.