With the summer holiday well underway, the Spireites Soccer School has been ongoing for the last two weeks at St Mary’s Catholic High School in Chesterfield.
The sessions on offer involve fun football games & sessions through the mornings, with tournaments in the afternoon.
Lead coach Ryan Cheshire said: “The kids love the camps that we put on. At the Soccer Schools we get at least 50-60 kids every day. It’s really enjoyable as we get to see the same faces but there are always new kids that come too.
“We’ve got a good word of mouth with the parents and everybody sharing how good these camps are and the kids love them.”
The camps are open to all children from ages 5-13, with mixed sessions from Monday – Thursday and exclusive girls sessions offered on Wednesdays.
On the importance of offering girls an exclusive session as well as a mixed one, Ryan added: “It’s very important. With the growth of the women’s game, the Euros win last year and how they’re currently doing at the World Cup it’s great to see so many girls getting involved.
“In times gone by girls probably wouldn’t be getting involved in things like this because it might be a little overwhelming to join in with the boys, so it’s great that we have the separate (girls) camp as well as the mixed.
“It’s amazing that some of the girls have shown the courage to step in and play with the boys. They compete and love it so it’s really important that there is a mixed or separate option there for the girls.
“The message I can tell you is just come and get involved, we do lots of fun games & activities and have tournaments in the afternoon every day.”
Specialist goalkeeper sessions are also offered on Tuesdays for 5-9 year olds and Thursdays for 8-13 year olds.
Tommy Barnett, who has been attending the camp this week, said: “It’s really good and I’m enjoying it a lot.
“We’ve been learning different techniques because in the mornings we learn different skills like shooting, passing or defending.
“I’m really enjoying it because I’ve made loads of new friends recently after meeting them at the camp.”
Georgie Bailey, who is a girl attending the mixed sessions, said: “I’m really enjoying the camp, there’s loads of good things.
“I’m learning loads of different way to play football compared to usual because usually I just have a couple of coaches at my football team, but here you learn different things from all the coaches.”
On playing in the mixed sessions, she added: “It’s good because I think I progress better against boys, so I feel like I’ve been learning more.”
To book places at the soccer school, please visit: www.spireitestrust.org.uk/bookings
The remaining goalkeeper specific sessions for this summer are: Tuesday, August 15 & Tuesday, August 22 for 5-9 year olds and Thursday, August 17 & Thursday, August 24 for 8-13 year olds.
The goalkeeper sessions run from 9am – 12pm and are priced at £15 for half a day, or £25 for a full day.
The remaining soccer school sessions for this summer are: August 14-17 and August 21-24, running from 9am to 3:30pm, priced at £20 per day.
Exclusive girls sessions are available at the soccer school on Wednesday, August 16 and Wednesday, August 23.
All sessions are held at St Mary’s Catholic High School, S41 8AG.
To book, please visit: www.spireitestrust.org.uk/bookings
