Kick, Lead, Dream Soccer Camp
August 25, 2009 by Rob
Filed under BLOG, Mentoring News, Sunnyvale
What can we do to impact our community? Over three years ago, the Nigam family talked about serving our community, and when Akash, their oldest son said he would do anything related to soccer to help others, their family began an incredible adventure. What started simply as a discussion question led to a dream that later became a reality.
Founded and directed by Akash and a few of his fellow high school soccer teammates, a FREE soccer camp for under-resourced and at-risk youth, called Kick, Lead, Dream Soccer Camp was kicked off in 2007 in partnership with the Mountain View Police Activities League (MV PAL). That first camp had some 30-40 campers and five high school coaches. Fast forward to June 2009 … and by all measures, this summer’s camp was a HUGE success!
For 9 days, over 240 campers gathered on the field of Cherry Chase Elementary in Sunnyvale and were coached by 42 high school soccer players from Mountain View, Los Altos, and Sunnyvale. The campers broke out into two camps (junior and senior) and worked on skills, participated in drills, competed on teams, and even had a giant water balloon battle. On several days, all play stopped in order for the campers to hear inspiring words from professional athletes from the San Jose Earthquakes, the FC Gold Pride and the San Francisco 49ers. Each of the athletes gave a positive message and encouraged the campers to stay in school, be diligent with their studies, respect authority, dream BIG, set goals, and to find good role models. There were also special talks by police officers who revealed their vocations at the end of the camp after interacting and playing soccer alongside the campers for nine days.
The success of the camp was due in part to strong cooperation between leaders from Mountain View and Sunnyvale. Months before the camp, MV PAL and the Sunnyvale Public Safety Department decided to join hands and provide significant resources to open the junior and senior camps to students in Grades 3-8 from Mountain View and Sunnyvale. As momentum was generated in the preparation stage, corporate sponsors, such as Kaiser, Sonitrol, El Camino Hospital, MVLA Soccer Club, and All«Star Soccer Store, jumped on board.
Personally, I had the privilege of volunteering for all 9 days, and the experience reminded me of the times I attended soccer camps in my youth. As a volunteer, I provided behind the scenes logistical support like set-up and breakdown, administering basic first-aid, preparing and distributing snacks and fruits, and mixing gallons and gallons of Gatorade! I am now an expert in the proportions needed to fill a 10-gallon jug of water, Gatorade powder, and ice!! It was a ton of fun interacting with the campers, encouraging the coaches, and connecting with parents, law enforcement, community leaders, social workers, and other non-profit workers in the community. At the camp, we saw kids playing, laughing, competing with sportsmanship, and just being kids and having a blast! Carlos, a camper who attended the camp for the third year, encouraged me when I discovered that the lessons he learned from the camps have helped him to stay out of gangs and in school. He is a good student, an excellent soccer player, and a role model for other students in his school. I heard that even the gang members respect him. That’s pretty awesome!
What can we do to impact our community? Some will dream BIG and move forward to define reality. But all of us can roll up our sleeves, reach out, serve a cup of Gatorade, smile, and touch another life.
By Steve Lo
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