Lakewood provides free soccer camp for local kids

The Lakewood Soccer Program held their third annual Summer Youth Soccer Camp at Lakewood High School on July 15-18.

For the third straight year the boys and girls soccer teams put on their camp for the local kids, kindergarten through fifth grade. Unlike many camps throughout the area, the Cougars welcome everyone to participate without any fees or costs from the first day through the last.

“The point of the camp is to get the kids out here having fun with soccer, and away from the computer and TV screens. Our three goals are to give them some pieces of soccer knowledge, put on a fun camp, and send them home tired to their parents,” said Lakewood Head Coach Nick Anderson.

Over the four-day camp, more than a hundred kids got to learn the basics of the sport, teambuilding and experience competition. The first three days are setup with drills and games that are meant to teach the basics while making everyone familiar with the coordination involved in soccer. On the final day, the kids are able to compete with one another in a round-robin style tournament, where the winning team is crowned at the end.

“It’s great to see how much support we have at the school and how many kids are super interested in soccer throughout the community. This whole camp is really fun and makes all of us better because you have to really know the sport in order to teach it. The biggest things I want the kids to know are to never give up and always have fun with the game,” said Lakewood varsity midfielder Cama Much.

Along with being a free camp, Lakewood separates itself by having volunteers from the both the girls and boys high school teams. This allows for hands-on coaching for each child and provides someone who can relate to those who want to pursue soccer beyond the camp.

“I think this camp brings both the girls and boys teams closer together and helps us create that bond as well. It’s great to be able to come out here with the kids and work on teaching soccer rather than just playing it,” said Lakewood varsity forward Jared Wolfson.

If you are interested in learning more about this camp for next summer, you can contact Coach Nick Anderson at [email protected].