- April 28, 2024
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Coach Eli Freidus (back right), assistant coach Christine Goebel (back left), the Seabreeze soccer team camp counselors (back row) and the summer campers. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze girls soccer coach Eli Freidus picks out players for the next game. Photo by Michele Meyers
Camp counselors Kylie Watson (left) and Hannah Howell battle during a game of "handball" at the Seabreeze soccer camp. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze girls soccer coach Eli Freidus held the second annual youth soccer camp at the high school on June 19-21. Thirty kids participated, an increase from last year’s numbers even though the weather was stormy and the players were relegated to indoor activities part of the time.
Assistant coach Christine Goebel, along with 13 Seabreeze soccer players, joined Freidus to help with instruction and organization. Rising senior Kylie Watson imparted knowledge about her experience as a high school soccer player for the second year in a row. She and her teammates were excited to participate when Freidus proposed the idea last year.
“We had camps when we were little, and they were so much fun,” Watson said. “Now we get to be the counselors. It came full circle.”
Have fun and enjoy your sport while you can. Also, have confidence. Grab a ball and work on the little things as you can. That will take you a long way. — Morgan Long, Seabreeze soccer player
One of the most important lessons she would like the kids to take away from the camp, she said, is to have fun. She remembers being stressed out and worried about performing well in front of coaches when she played at their age. Watson said that the stress can ruin the sport for kids. Teammate and fellow rising senior Morgan Long agrees.
“Have fun and enjoy your sport while you can,” Long said. “Also, have confidence. Grab a ball and work on the little things as you can. That will take you a long way.”
Carly McNerney was part of the first camp. She knows a lot of the kids from last year and has built relationships with some of them. She is excited to see that they have been using the skills instilled in them last year.
“In order to play soccer, you can’t just think about yourself,” she said. “You need to be able to think about what every other player is doing. There’s a whole bunch of chemistry in the sport, and if you’re not one with your team and all wanting the same goal, you’re not going succeed as well as you think you’re going to.”
Senior Hannah Howell appreciates what Freidus brings to soccer. She believes he is the one that pulls everyone together and ensures that all players fully understand even the smallest skill. Being at camp brings back memories of when she started playing the sport.
“This is like an image of myself when I was this age, and I just had love for this sport,” she said. “I just enjoyed it so much. It wasn’t so much about the pressure or the competitiveness, it was more of ... I love to play, and you can really see that when all the little kids are playing.”
