The finest young soccer players in Squamish will have an opportunity to keep their skills intact with the announcement that the QU Soccer Academy will run camps in the spring and summer.
The academy, which began last fall, invited nine- and 10-year-old boys and girls for the first time in the recently completed winter session and executive director Chris Cerroni was happy with the turnout.
"We were really pleased with how the winter session went," he said. "We had 70 kids turn out for our sessions and I think they had a really good time. I think the word of mouth of our elite soccer academy is picking up and we hope to have a great spring session."
Questionable weather in the winter caused the most recent camp to stretch all the way to April 20. Thus, the new spring session will be cut from the normal 10 weeks to a condensed five.
Cerroni said that former Quest Kermodes men's soccer head coach Adam Day is still heavily involved in the QU Soccer Academy, despite keeping busy with his new job as the head coach of the Arsenal Elite Soccer Academy in Greece.
"Our program at the QU Soccer Academy is still shaped by myself and Adam," Cerroni said. "Adam is still heavily involved but with his commitments in Greece, he's more behind the scenes and I've become more hands on. When his commitments in Greece come to an end, he's expressed an interest in returning to B.C. and the QU Soccer Academy will be a big part of that."
The goal of the academy is to help young soccer players advance their skills and prepare them to play soccer on a professional and/or collegiate level. Cerroni said that the academy still has a working relationship with Quest University but said that he and Day can help provide players with contacts in the soccer world around the globe.
"The original goal of the academy was to move them onto Quest and we will still certainly do that," he said. "We will let Jonas [Worth] and Martina [Franko] know when we have a strong player but we can go wider, too. Adam and myself have links in America, Britain and in this country to help players pursue their soccer dreams."
A typical camp sees players work on their technical skills such as dribbling, shooting and passing, working from more basic to more advanced as the camp progresses. The final lesson will see a mini-World Cup tournament put together, with camp attendees being placed on different teams.
For the spring, the camp will also move from Quest University field to Garibaldi Highlands Elementary. Cerroni said he plans to move the academy to several fields around Squamish to become more visible in the community.
"We're no longer working out of Quest, so we're looking to go around the community and let everyone know we're still here for Squamish," he said. "We're branching off and want to let people know our camps will continue."
QU Soccer Academy spring sessions are scheduled to take place on Wednesdays at Garibaldi Highlands Elementary from May 11 to June 8.
Nine- to 12-year-old boys and girls will hit the field from 5:30 to 7 p.m. while 13 to 16 year olds are scheduled for 7 to 8:30 p.m.
To register or for more information, visit www.qusocceracademy.com.
