It was a beautiful week of soccer and fun for many soccer players in Humboldt.
A Challenger British Soccer Camp was hosted by the Humboldt and District Soccer Association August 22-26.
"It is the first year we've been here," said Danny Whincup, one of the British coaches with Challenger Sports.
The camp was created by Challenger Sports, a British Soccer company.
The camp is put on to help children with their soccer skills.
"We have both a half-day and full day options," said Whincup.
In the morning, the camp teaches the children more skills, such as ball mastery.
After they go over ball mastery, the coaches move on to the topic of the day. Each day they cover a different skill, such as dribbling, passing, shooting, heading and defending.
"We also have a World Cup competition," said Whincup.
The group is divided into countries and have to play mini games against each other.
"The afternoon is more game-based," said Whincup.
He said it is interesting to see the progress the kids make throughout the week.
"They use the skills we taught them in the morning during their games in the afternoon," said Whincup. "They learn and progress without really knowing it."
Not only do they play soccer, they also have other activities to enjoy.
"At the end of the day, it's a summer camp and we want them to have fun," said Whincup. "We want to make it a nice way to spend their last week before they head back to school."
The kids were given homework activities to do throughout the week, such as make the coach a bracelet, decorate a soccer ball and create the flag for their country in the World Cup.
"We like to have fun with them," said Whincup.
The teams were each awarded points for completing the homework activities and for the mini-games. At the end of the week, they presented the World Cup to one of the teams.
Whincup has enjoyed his experience coaching the Challenger Soccer Camp.
"We are going to new places and expanding which is brilliant," said Whincup.
Whincup and his fellow coaches, Ross Jervis and Sharna Greenaway, were based in a region covering British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories.
"In the region there are probably 50 coaches," said Whincup.
Each week, they put on about eight camps in their region, so the coaches had the opportunity to visit many different communities in Western Canada.
Whincup enjoyed his time spent in Humboldt, especially since he felt he could relate to his host family he was billeted with.
"I stayed with Finley Hart's family," said Whincup.
He said it was interesting to be billeted with the Harts because Janine Hart is originally from the same area he is from in England.
"It was a slice of home," Whincup said.
