Hartford, CT
While carrying out our programs in Mexico, I continued to stay in contact with Coach Kenniel, the founder and president of Hartford Lions Soccer Academy. I love working with this program to inspire kids right in my backyard.
Coach knew their beneficiaries were excited to get back on the field, after very successful summer and fall sessions in 2020. With COVID rates surging this winter, they struggled to return to programming because they wanted to be sure it was done safely with a calculated approach.
A few weeks back, Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin announced youth sports were allowed to resume, provided COVID safety measures were in place, such as distancing, masking and holding the programs outside.
Coach Kenniel got straight to work, setting up a six week program for the HLSA players. Last year, every player received a new HLSA t-shirt, but now they were getting an even cooler kit. New jerseys, shorts and socks were given to all players. It is awesome to see all of our friends growing like this. Not to mention, the kids were swagged out in their matching kits!
Thanks to our sponsors and donors, every participant in the younger age group for kids three to six years old received their own soccer ball to use at all practices. Parents were so excited– they began writing the kids’ names on the balls right away, while the kids proudly modeled their new gear.
“This is my ball! See my name on it, right here!” they said eagerly.
It was clear the kids were excited to take the field and run around with their friends. It was also an opportunity for them to learn together about the beautiful game we all love. Naturally, many of the kids and coaches were cooped up in their homes for an extended period of time due to the pandemic. This was a safe opportunity to exercise and socialize, which was a very welcomed time for all.
I arrived 15-minutes early, just like the kids from last week in Puerto Vallarta!
As I waited in line for my temperature to be taken before entering the field, I saw a bunch of familiar faces from our past collaborations with HLSA, including coaches, former clinic participants, other volunteers. It was a blast from the past and a welcomed sight. You know that feeling when someone has a mask on but you can just tell they’re smiling big underneath it? That was them. That was me too!
I passed off a bag of ten more soccer balls to Coach Kenniel and ran over to Coach Kamar to run through the session’s curriculum
“These kids have a TON of energy” he said. “Today we’ll just focus on some basic movements, dribbling, and maybe… maybe, some passing if we feel they’re ready,” he said.
Coach Kamar led the young ones through some stretching and other fun games just to get their little legs moving. These games often came at the expense of us coaches, since they usually involved the kids chasing us, throwing soccer balls at us, kicking us, and more – but the smiles far outweighed the pain, as always.
After this, we broke into groups of eight. We were working on basic ball control, trapping the ball with the bottom of the foot, controlling the ball with one’s thigh, etc.
As I said before, the kids had a ton of energy, so we all tried our best to keep things orderly but fun for everyone. They were excited to show off their ball control.
“Watch, coach I can do it!” they exclaimed.
“Great job that’s perfect! Now with the left foot?” I’d say. Perfect yet again!
After this, with a few water breaks scattered in between, we broke into some childhood games that brought about their own wave of nostalgia. Simon Says, red light green light, foxy foxy what time is it were some fan favorites. They were backyard classics from recess and the neighborhood we all once enjoyed as kids, and admittedly, as adults now! Coach Kamar would put his own fun spins on red light green light, adding other colored lights with their own instructions, such as blue light where participants had to hit their very best dance moves and white light where participants had to roar like a lion – obviously because Hartford Lions Soccer Academy.
As we all huddled up before concluding practice, Coach encouraged the kids to practice three main techniques we had worked on today from our dribbling and ball control drills. Noticing there were a bunch of cones scattered across the field, he stopped his pep talk to pose a question.
“Hey lions, who do you think can gather the most cones and bring them back here?”
“Me!!!” yelled several participants.
This was an awesome way to encourage community ownership and cleanliness through a fun game.
As parents picked their kids up after the session, we had an opportunity to connect with familiar faces yet again. One parent was quick to share “My daughter still has the soccer ball you guys gave her last season!”
That same parent continued “We were wondering where you were during yesterday’s session, she was excited to see you again and so are we!”
With the Easter holiday, I decided to take a quick break to be with my family, but I was excited to see these familiar faces again. It renewed my belief that our program is impacting people around the world, encouraging them to play, learn and dream together.
