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Light Rain Soccer players step up their skills
What was supposed to be a spring soccer clinic felt more like late-winter clinic, but that did not stop about 25 children from the Valley Stream Soccer Club from honing their skills at Barrett Park last week.
The club, in conjunction with the New York Red Bulls soccer team, hosted a week-long skills camp for players, one of seven held on Long Island during spring break. Children worked on their dribbling, turning, receiving, passing and shooting, focusing on a different skill each day through repetition and even some competitive games.
Last year, the Soccer Club formed a partnership with the Red Bulls academy to offer training to both players and coaches. Instructors work with children in the league every weekday evening and even on Saturdays, but this was the first week-long clinic the Red Bulls offered in Valley Stream.
Another camp will be planned for the summer, said Soccer Club President Tim Graham, who expects an even larger turnout then. He said the Red Bulls training program is starting to show results on the field. “The kids are learning an unbelievable amount,” he said.
Abraham Galvan was one of three instructors at Barrett Park last week and is a regional coach for the Red Bulls. He also happens to live in Valley Stream and enjoyed working with local children. “For a lot,” he said, “it’s their first time playing. Our priority is for them to have fun, to fall in love with the game.”
Children ranged from 7 to 12 years old. He said that the instructors were working with both experienced soccer players and newcomers to the sport, so they had to cater their lessons to meet each child’s needs.
He was also pleased to see the participants make new friends.
Fletcher Goodman, 10, has been playing soccer for close to eight years, and didn’t want to spend his spring break watching television. “I’d rather play a sport that I love,” he said.
He said he loves soccer because it keeps him active, and he enjoyed honing his skills last week. “In a game,” he said, “I might be able to position myself in a way that I can create an opportunity for my team.”
His younger brother, Ryan, 9, also joined him on the field last week and said he was looking for new moves to improve his game. Mike Martinez, 12, who has been playing soccer for seven years, was complimentary of his coaches last week. “They’re nice,” he said. “Whenever I don’t know how to do something, they help me out.”
Lucian Acosta, 9, said he signed up for the clinic to become a more well-rounded player. “I wanted to practice more,” he said. “The only position I ever play is defense and I want to get better at all positions.”
He added that he liked learning dribbling skills so he could control the ball and trick the defenders.
Graham said that when the Soccer Club first partnered with the Red Bulls, there were some concerns over registration fees going up. However, he said, parents have quickly realized they are getting bang for their buck.
“There’s nothing like having a professional train your kids,” he said. “The parents, they see the value in it.”
The volunteer coaches have also been trained by the Red Bulls so they are implementing the same system throughout the league. Graham said it is important to have parity among the teams. He also expects the Soccer Club’s travel teams to bring home more championships as the players’ level of skill rises.
Galvan said he was pleased with the work ethic of last week’s camp participants, some of whom stayed for seven hours straight. “At the end of the day,” he said, “they don’t want to go home. They want to keep playing.”
