Summer youth soccer camp kicks off

Portuguese coach Filipe Peres teaches student players during a training session for the summer camp held in south Beijing's Gaoxing Youth Training Base, July 10, 2017. [Photo/provided to China Daily]

Featuring tailor-made training under experienced coaches, a youth soccer summer camp is expected to help a group of Beijing students improve their skills as part of the city's campus promotion plan.

The summer camp, which kicked off on Monday and run through Thursday, will provide theoretical courses, on-field training sessions and soccer-related extracurricular activities to 80 primary and secondary students selected from 16 districts in Beijing, organizers said today.

As the core of the camp, a Chinese-western coaching team consisting of seven former national coaches and players, as well as trainers from Europe, has customized the program to cater to the unique physical and mental status of student players at their age.

"We try to bring the best facilities and training curriculum we can to the kids with an experienced team. Hopefully, they will leave the camp as better students and players," said Ma Yuan'an , the camp's head coach and the ex-mentor of China's women's national team.

Joining Ma on the coaching staff are Portuguese trainer Filipe Peres, a UEFA coaching license holder, and the Llompart brothers, Daniel and David, who have been coaching at local schools in Beijing and were hired by the city's education authority.

Students will be divided into different age groups and have to pass technical tests in dribbling, passing and shooting at the end of the camp after intense training sessions.

Lectures focusing on tactics and formations will be provided by trainers, while exhibition matches will be organized during the four-day period to examine the effects of training.

The camp is approved by the city's campus football leading group office, an affiliate of the Beijing Municipal Education Commission, and operated and promoted by Beijing-based agency Ray Sports.

It's the third edition of the event after similar camps were organized during winter school breaks in early 2016 and 2017.