Soccer from across the seas: English coaches teach youngsters the game
By Staff
Justin Schuver, Hartselle Enquirer
Even while the World Cup was taking place thousands of miles away in Europe, Hartselle soccer players got their own taste of international soccer right here at home.
For the 11th straight year, Hartselle participated in MLS Camps, a program that brings together high school soccer enthusiasts with talented instructors from across the globe. This year, four English soccer players taught 70 kids about both soccer and British culture in a camp that took place at Walker Field June 12-16.
"I think the best thing this program does is give our kids someone closer to their own age that they can then look up to and emulate," Hartselle varsity boys coach Darrell Harris said. "These guys are coming from a background of just soccer – they don't play anything else growing up in England – so I think our kids see them as purists and take everything they say seriously."
The instructors from MLS Camps this year were Chris Sewell from Durham, Michael Blundell and Will Rowlands from Liverpool and Matt Pulley of Milton Keynes. Sewell was at Hartselle's camp last year, making him the first instructor to teach Hartselle more than once in a row.
"The hospitality here is absolutely superb," said Sewell of wanting to return to Hartselle. "The kids are a great pleasure to coach and coach Harris has been great to us."
Sewell and the other MLS Camps coaches instructed the boys ages 9-18 on both the fundamentals of soccer and on more advanced techniques. The high schoolers attended camp in the afternoon while the younger campers attended in the morning.
"This camp for the high schoolers is an awful lot about possession," Sewell said. "For the older kids, we wanted to teach them some attacking plays and get them all on the same wavelength. With the younger kids, it's more about just learning the game and its fundamentals."
The kids weren't the only ones learning from the MLS Camps experience, however. The English instructors were given a crash course of their own – in the culture of the American South. Harris and several parents provided homes for the instructors during the time of the camp.
"I had fried chicken at the family house this week for the first time," Blundell said. "It was pretty good.
"I think the boys are much better behaved over here. When I'm coaching English boys, they're often rude and don't pay attention, but these boys really want to learn over here."
Blundell, making his first trip to the United States, did say there are things about England he still misses.
"It's almost a little too hot here," he said. "I like the hot weather, but it's also really humid. I mean, you sweat even when you're just standing around doing nothing. That never happens in England."
This year's camp schedule was unique because it conflicted with the World Cup, a competition that of course includes the instructors' home nation of England. But modern technology solved that potential conflict easily.
"We've got boys here with their fancy cell phones, and they check the scores for us," Sewell said.
