How To Keep Children’s Football Skills Up During The Summer
The summer break is now upon us, which doesn’t just mean school’s closed, but it is also the end of the football training season.
If you want to keep your kids’ footy skills up over the long break, here are some suggestions.
Enrol in football camps
Summer camps are a must for working parents, as they can access childcare for their little ones for as many days as they need.
Football camps, in particular, are incredibly popular among children, as they can practise their skills, learn new tricks, and just have fun with the ball for several hours a day.
Many kids enrol with their friends, creating already-made teams to play matches with. However, summer camps are also a great opportunity to make new pals, and team sports are great at encouraging this.
A great thing about most football camps is they cater for differing levels, so you don’t have to be Harry Kane-standard to join. Typically, children are divided by their age and ability groups, so they will be playing with others at a similar level.
Obviously, football camps give youngsters the chance to wear mesh training bibs as they play matches all day long.
They also get them out in the fresh air, taking part in exercise, and being sociable, all of which can be challenging over the long summer holidays.
Go to a football museum
To inspire your little ones to keep practising their kick-ups, you could take them to a footy museum.
The National Football Museum in Manchester, for instance, makes for a great day out.
Here they can come face-to-face to memorabilia from over the years, learning more about the history of football and its cultural importance.
There are around 2,500 items on display, including posters, playing kit, photographs, handbooks, transfer lists, programmes, and of course, trophies.
Over the summer, many events are being held at the museum, including Women’s World Cup Heroes Day on July 29th, during which visitors can enjoy live music, crafts, stories and face painting.
Football equipment
The great thing about playing footy is the only equipment you need to hone your skills is a football.
However, if you do want to keep your kids busy over the coming months, it might be worth investing in a goal, slalom poles, goalkeeper gloves, cones, a skills belt, and a target sheet to go over the goal and help with scoring.
All they then need is to invite friends over so they can put all that practice to the test.
Players don’t always need teammates though, as there are plenty of exercises they can do solo, including dribbling around cones, shooting at a goal with target holes, and – the classic – wall passes.
Don’t forget to get a football pump, of course, because there’s nothing worse than wanting to have a kick around and realising your ball has completely deflated!