The winners of last year’s top camp prizes – monogrammed soccer boots - pictured with Mark Hardy (back row, left) and Rob Speller, president of Freeport Rugby and Football Club.
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The dates have been announced for this year’s Sir Jack
Hayward Soccer Camp – and three top UK coaches have already signed up to lead
the fun.
Chloe Brown, Mike Gilham, and Joe Tomlinson will be jetting
out on June 17 ready to launch the week-long event at 9am on Monday, June
20. Though they are only aged 26, 27 and
31 respectively, each has years of experience professionally coaching kids in
the camp’s target age range – Joe starting when he was just 17.
Between them they bring specialist knowledge such as
goalkeeping good practice as well as general soccer skills, and all of them
have a particular interest in using sport for character building and bringing
out the good in people, including not just learning how to win bit also how to
lose, graciously.
“We have had some great visiting coaches over the 12 years
of the camp’s existence but I genuinely think this year’s group will prove to
be the best yet because of their blend of different talents and high levels of
coaching qualifications,” said Derek Archer, one of the camp organisers.
It will be held as usual at the East Settlers Way playing
fields of Freeport Rugby and Football Club and will feature the usual six hours
of sporting fun and games a day with lunch included, and the usual two sets of
camp uniform handed out the weekend before activities begin.
The coaches are already laying plans for the week and are
excited to be coming to Grand Bahama. Mike Gilham said: “
The trip sounds awesome and thanks for much for giving
us the chance to work with Bahamian kids! I am really looking forward to it.”
Each year the coaches work with well-known local soccer
names Mary Woodside and Mark Hardy, chief coaches of girls’ and boys’
programmes on the island, to tailor-make a programme suited to existing skill
levels of the campers and the likely age break down. The result is a very exciting and great value
package which consistently beats many camps in the US, let alone in this
country, said Archer.
Registration forms are already available at the rugby club
(evenings) and at Town and Country, Yellow Pine Street, Freeport, as well as at
a number of local websites
(Attached below this article).
“June may
seem a long way off but the summer is when a lot of people head off the island
for vacations elsewhere and now is the time for parents and youngsters to ink
the dates into their calendars so no one misses this great opportunity,” said
Archer.
