Challenger camp brings British soccer to Mountain Home youth

Several Challenger players shown here during Silly Hat Day.

Legacy Park played host to the Challenger British soccer camp held last week.

The camp, in association with the Mountain Home Parks and Recreation Department, brought in 20 local youths (6-14 years old) for an opportunity to improve their skills and be provided a unique cultural experience.

The camp was led by coaches Stephen Speak, a resident of Mountain Home who has worked with the camp for many years, and Stuart Norris, a coach who flew here from Nottingham, England.

"We got a really good group of kids with really good manners and very well brought up. It's just a really good mix of kids this week," said Speak.

"The camp has been exciting, all the kids have been great. We haven't had one problem child during the camp. Everybody has been good," said Norris.

The camp, according to Speak, is unlike a traditional soccer camp that focuses on drills. During the Challenger camp, the coaches introduces a skill, then implements the skills into such games as "Lightning" and "Austin Powers."

"Lightning" is an elimination shooting game, where players play the role of both offense and defense. "Austin Powers" is a dodging game based on the popular films starring Mike Myers, where the kids play the role of Powers and Speak plays the role of Dr. Evil.

"We're not only building fun games, but we're building fundamental skills at the same time," said Speak.

During the week-long camp, in order to increase the level of fun for the players, the players took part in such days as Silly Hat Day, Water Fight Day, Paint Your Face Day and a day that Speak admitted is not his personal favorite, Dress The Coach Day.

Each day, during the last hour of camp, the players are divided into four teams for a mini "World Cup" tournament. The four teams represent the countries of Italy, Brazil, Mexico and England.

On the final day of camp, the camp invites the player's parents for a closing ceremony, where the camp awards the World Cup, which, according to Speak, is not necessarily who won the most games but to the team that took part in all of the camp's activities and displayed the best of the camp's values -- Respect, Responsibility, Integrity, Leadership and Sportsmanship.

At the end of the camp, the players are each presented with a report card, that rated each student in such categories as individual footwork, first touch control, shooting, teamwork and attitude/effort.

The players who signed up for the camp, 45 days in advance, were presented with a Challenger sports jersey. The players are also given a soccer T-shirt, soccer ball and a poster that features the top players from across the pond: Steven Gerrard, Theo Walcott, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney.

During Wednesday's camp, several of the kids shared their thoughts about being a part of the camp.

"It's great. I liked the Austin Powers game the most, because it is really fun," said eight year old Dalliyn Phipps.

"It's really fun to hang out with everybody and play soccer. It's the best," said 9-year-old Ryan Floyd.

"It's real fun to play soccer with everybody and learn the games like Austin Powers. It was my favorite," said 8-year-old Emily Cruser.

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