In a previous blog post, “The BSA Beginning”, we mention how our founder Dan Zenkel struggled to find an adequate overnight soccer camp for his daughter; sparking him to create the Berkshire Soccer Academy for Girls. Compared to his experiences with traditional summer camps, he was disappointed by overnight soccer camps, as they exist today. He found that they typically operate at rented facilities, colleges or boarding schools, which pose significant challenges. Moreover, many are organized by coaches who have other responsibilities, which gives rise to additional challenges.
He found the following to be true of most overnight soccer camps:
* They are too short – 3.5 days on average – this not long enough to offer any real player development.
* They are unsafe due to poor supervision, especially off the field.
* Due to the intense schedule at most overnight soccer camps, players can experience burn-out, over-use injuries, and/or loss of interest in the game.
* They fail to teach young players the value of cross-training and soccer-life balance.
* They don’t strive to develop the total athlete because they simply focus on physical and technical aspects. They miss tactical, mental, and social altogether.
With the creation of the Berkshire Soccer Academy, Dan, along with camp directors Liza and Eric, dedicate themselves full-time, year-round to building an overnight soccer camp program that addresses these challenges and more, so parents feel confident about sending their daughters to BSA. In fact, we encourage parents and coaches to ask specific questions of overnight soccer camps they may be considering for their daughter.