By Nick Bear
CNHI
September 7, 2010 —
The First Annual Morehead Youth Soccer League Fun Day was held last Sunday at the soccer fields near Rodburn Elementary.
It was a free day of fun and soccer for the kids and the parents. During the fun day, many activities were scheduled for the kids, including obstacle courses, a giant blow-up slide, and lessons from the Rowan County High School soccer team. There were free food, T-shirts, and bracelets at the event for everyone. Team pictures were also taken at the event.
“It has been an awesome year,” says Tripp Holbrook, who manages the league. “We have the most players this year we have ever had.”
Altogether there are well over 300 kids playing in the Morehead youth soccer league, ranging from preschool to eighth grade. These kids make up 26 coed teams.
“This is an amazing way to get the community involved,” said Kevin Kett, who helps run the program. “We especially value the participation of the parents.”
The parents of the players help in every aspect of the program. They help coach and manage the teams, and run every game smoothly.
“We are really glad that Coach Evans came to help with the kids,” said the Holbrook. “He is teaching the kids a lot of skills important to the game.”
Head Soccer Coach Alan Evans and the RCHS soccer team showed the kids many fundamentals to the game of soccer as well as some tricks to make it more enjoyable. The kids were learning fast footwork, foot skills, juggling skills, and how to get the most touches on the ball as possible while dribbling. The team followed up on teaching these fundamentals with many trick demonstrations, including a flip-throw, where a player actually flips over the ball to put more velocity on the throw.
“This is one of the strongest youth programs I have ever seen,” said Evans. “It is awesome how the entire community supports the program.”
The RCSHS team only lost two games last year, but got beat out in the tournament. They are describing this season as “Unfinished Business,” hoping to win the Regional Tournament this year.
“The fun day is very successful,” said Holbrook. “This will be the first of many days like this to come.”
