Phoenix soccer scores with youth clinics
Kristin Simonetti / Reporter
It’s dusk on a Friday, and the lights are on over the
soccer fields at Joe C. Davidson Park. Minivans and SUVs pull
into the parking lots and out of them jump kids clad in
shorts, shin guards and cleats. They jog onto the field
where, waiting for them, are their coaches: the entire Elon
University men’s soccer team. The coaching staff waits
five more minutes, and then meets with the entire group
before sending them off in smaller groups to focus on skills.
Approximately 60 boys and girls ages 4 through 12
participate in these weekly clinics. 2004 marks the second
year of the partnership between the Burlington Area Youth
Soccer Association and the Elon men’s soccer team.
During his first year as an assistant coach for the Phoenix,
Dustin Fonder decided he wanted to share his soccer knowledge
with the children of the greater Elon-Burlington area. So he
picked up the phone and called the Burlington Soccer Club.
“We talked about some things I could do to help expand
soccer in the area,” Fonder said. “One of the
things we talked about was the local travel club, the
B.A.Y.S.A. They got me in touch with Burlington Parks and
Recreation. So, rather than helping one and not the other, we
decided to co-sponsor a thing where Elon’s expertise
could bring soccer training to both Burlington travel soccer
and Burlington rec soccer.”
Fonder inaugurated the B.A.Y.S.A. weekly soccer clinics in
the spring of 2003. But instructing 30 participants proved a
challenge for Fonder, who was the only coach for the program.
This year, he enlisted his players to help. And so far, the
experience has been as beneficial for the Elon players as it
has been for the kids they coach.
“I remember when I was their age and we’d be out
at practice, and it was so much fun, just goofing off,”
junior goalkeeper Kyle Ostendorf said. “It’s a
lot of fun to play against them and see the smiles on their
faces.”
Junior midfielder Brandon Hayes said, “When we leave,
everyone talks about how they feel good about it, and the
kids say that they had a good time.”
The Friday night clinics are not the first foray into public
service for the Phoenix soccer team. Last spring, the team
participated in the “lunch buddies” program at
local elementary schools, in which each player took an hour
out of his week to join a local student for lunch. The
clinics, though, have been so successful that Fonder plans on
making them an annual spring program for the Phoenix.
“Our guys have been really good ambassadors of the
game, because they got really good training when they were
young and this is their way of giving back to the
game,” Fonder said. “It’s community
service, and a way to generate a fan base among the local
kids and parents.”
Ostendorf agreed.
“It creates that link, that instead of just being a
university, we’re connected to the town,” he
said.
Each member of the team shows up for the clinics and leads a
different group of kids. The Elon players instruct their
younger counterparts in the finer points of shooting,
dribbling and defense, with the occasional game of
“Sharks and Minnows” thrown in for fun. The
clinics conclude with a 10-minute scrimmage among the Elon
players.
“This is how they (the Elon players) got
started,” Keith Price, one of the program’s
coordinators, said of the clinics. “This has gotten
them to the collegiate level. Are there college players in
these kids out here? Maybe. But this is how they
start.”
Hayes added, “We’ve had a pretty decent showing
for the practices. If we can start making a connection, and
keep doing this every week and every spring, it’d be
great.”
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