West Branch Soccer Camp: fun and skill development for kids

WOODWARD TOWNSHIP, PA – The 43rd annual West Branch Soccer Camp is up and running this week, 163 boys and girls from kindergarten through eighth grade learning the rudiments of soccer and having fun at the same time. Camp director Abe Stauffer told The Record the 163 participants is a new record for the camp at the West Branch Soccer Club Fields across the river from Lock Haven.

Camp director Stauffer, a head coach at the high school level for 35 years and holder of the USSF “B License” and the NSCAA “Advanced National Diploma,” has been part of the camp for 41 of those 43 years; the late Lock Haven University coach Karl Herrmann started the camp.

Stauffer said he enjoys his role with the camp, what he called part of “trying to improve soccer in the area…. gives me a lot of pride.” “Just seeing the kids out here having fun, the enjoyment they get out of it.”

And fun is part of the camp running each weekday morning this week. The director said, “If they have fun, they’ll keep playing.” As an example, Wednesday was Wacky Wednesday where players were encouraged to wear wacky soccer attire, the wackiest recognized for each age group.

Camp staff includes Central Mountain High School coaches and many former or current college and high school players. Stauffer said the camp “is a great way to get ready for your fall season, be it West Branch Travel, in-house, or junior high.”

Stauffer explained that the camp emphasis is to create a learning environment where the camper is introduced to the skills, techniques and tactics associated with the modern game of soccer. “Older, more advanced players will work on more advanced skills and tactics to challenge them.”