Soccer, Fun, and Learning at Challenger Sports British Soccer Camp

We have just ended a week of British Soccer Camp through Challenger Sports. Needless to say, I am sad it is over. My son had such an incredible time while learning so much this week. I really enjoyed watching him and the coaches interact!

Big shout out to his coach, Coach Alex from Scotland! Ryan was looking forward to this camp all summer. Even though he was excited as could be about it, he was a little unsure of what to expect since he had never gone to a sports camp before and he knew NOBODY going to camp. His coach was extremely welcoming and made Ryan’s nerves settle down quickly. Ryan said he loved his coach!

What is Challenger’s British Soccer Camp?

The camp brings high-level soccer players from Britain to the US to teach children of all ages how to play the great game of soccer.

Children do not have to have any experience to be a part of the camp. Coaches not only help players with mastering the skills they already know but they teach them new skills as well. 

Why We LOVE Challenger’s British Soccer Camp

All week long, I have watched as the coaches have taught close to a hundred children (broke into 5-20 per coach) in the heat and humidity while still keeping great spirits and a lot of patience. Their humor was something my son talked a lot about. 

Each of the coaches has been very playful with the children yet disciplined enough to keep things structured and organized. At the end of each day, the coaches would pick MVP players from each team. If it was a girl who won the MVP, she would stand while all the other kids would sing the phrase “This girl is on FIRE”. If a boy was voted MVP, he would stand up and yell “Who’s the man?” and all the other kids could shout “YOU THE MAN!” My son was so excited that he won MVP two days in a row!!

Each player is placed on a team with a specific country name. My son was on the team, in Indonesia. All week long, the Indonesian team was competing against the other “countries” to win the most points to eventually win the World Cup on Friday. Ways to win points were not only by winning soccer competitions but also by participating in the weekly “theme” days. Every day (except Monday), there is a theme for the day. Tuesday was trivia day where the players had to bring trivia questions about their team’s country. If the coaches didn’t know the answer, the team got points. 

Ways to win points were not only by winning soccer competitions but also by participating in the weekly “theme” days. Every day (except Monday), there was a theme for the day. 

• On Trivia Tuesday, the players had to bring trivia questions about their team’s country. If the coaches didn’t know the answer, the team got points. So, the kids were learning about geography while having fun! I love that!!
• Wacky Wednesday they dressed wackily and brought stuff to dress the coaches crazy!
• Talent Thursday was where they showed their amazing talents.
• Flag Friday was a competition for bringing flags of their country’s team. There were a variety of categories they could enter. Biggest flag, littlest flag, most creative flag, and the one we entered… the tastiest flag. We made a flag cake! Thankfully Indonesia is a pretty simple flag or I would be in trouble. I am NOT a cake decorator even though I wish I was.