They don鈥檛 call it football in most of the world for nothing.聽
For Martina Franko, when teaching soccer skills, it鈥檚 all about the footwork.
She launched her Peak Soccer Academy for kids in 麻豆社国产last week, hosting about 50 young players between the ages of five and 14 at Brennan Park from Monday to Friday.
Through the course of the week, she and the other coaches worked with kids broken into four different age groups, which rotate at set times of 30 minutes to work on other skills.
鈥淚 just wanted to start a camp that had consistency,鈥� she said.
Franko is a former Olympian and member of Canada鈥檚 national team.
Her other coaches include: Othman Kabbadj, a Moroccan international and French third division player that has coached for the Vancouver Whitecaps; Riad Issa from Syria, who also has coached for the Whitecaps; and Jamey Lyn-Horth from 麻豆社国产who played at Quest University. Charles Impey and Kyle Kirkegaard, both from Quest, will join for the next camp. 聽
鈥淓ach coach works on a different skill,鈥� she said.
Much of what Franko emphasizes with the kids is around controlling and moving the ball.
鈥淭hese players are always dribbling the ball for at least 80 per cent of the practice,鈥� she said.
At one station, the youngest kids work on simply moving with the ball by playing a series of games, like a sharks-and-minnows tag-style game where the sharks try to steal the ball from the minnows, and if the minnows lose their ball, they become sharks.
At midfield, the group at the next level work on a drill in which teams of two chase a ball that coach Lyn-Horth has thrown in between them to try to possess and work toward a small practice goal.
On the far end of the pitch, the oldest, more developed players are working on one-on-one drills of dribbler versus defender. The group then switches to a shooting drill in which the defender races back to the net to try to stop the other player鈥檚 shot.
On the Friday, Franko and the coaches ended the session on a lighter note, with players breaking into teams of three, with each representing a different country and all on the pitch at the same time. The aim was to score, and then celebrate as if they had just won the World Cup, or stay on the field if they don鈥檛.
鈥淚 want to hear a real celebration,鈥� she told the kids.
Last week鈥檚 academy was the inaugural one, but Franko will be running sessions next month, from Aug. 22 to 26, again between 9 and 11 a.m. at the turf at Brennan Park.
Alongside the skill development, she hopes to create a fun, supportive environment in which to introduce the sport to young kids.聽
She hopes, however, that it will be come a fixture on the calendar for young soccer hopefuls in the academy. Ultimately, she would like to see a community in which many kids pick soccer 鈥� or football if you like 鈥� as their favourite sport.
鈥淚 really, really work on foot skills,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t seems to make a big difference.鈥�
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