T.E.A.M. Girls Soccer Camp

Granada, Nicaragua

T.E.A.M. stands for Trabajando en Equipo Aprendemos Mas, or working in a team we learn more. The T.E.A.M. camp brings together underserved girls from the Granada area and current female college players and coaches from the U.S. for two weeks of soccer learning and life-skills programming. The camp also offers coaches’ clinics, one designed especially for young coaches and adults interested in coaching youth, and the second for more advanced coaches who wish to better explore the role of a coach and effective coaching methods. 
The Clapping Game, 2009 Camp
Background Information: In 2008, Soccer Without Borders sent ten volunteers to Granada, Nicaragua to host a week-long girls’ camp and coaches’ clinic. The volunteers were all former college athletes and/or current college coaches, and all female. Schools represented include: Colorado College, Dartmouth College, Lehigh University, and Penn State University. The arrival of the additional volunteers marked the tail end of six weeks of outreach by three SWB volunteers living in Granada. The purpose of the camp was to bring together all of the girls SWB had reached through various forms of outreach, and expose them to female athlete role models, while at the same time provide positive opportunities to grow through sport in mind and body. 


Staff at the first camp in 2008The T.E.A.M Camp: Since the initial camp in 2008, the T.E.A.M. Camp has formalized and expanded. Resembling Habitat for Humanity’s spring break volunteer model, college student-athletes can volunteer to serve as camp staff for a week during their university's winter or spring breaks. Their responsibilities include acting as coaches for the youth camp, and demonstrators for the coaches’ clinic. College coaches can also volunteer their time to coach in the camp and administer the coaches’ clinic. Each volunteer brings at least 50 lbs of gently used equipment, providing an influx of gear for the Granada office as well as resources for the camp and coaches’ kits. 

Camp curriculum maintains a balance between basic soccer instruction and incorporating the overall theme of teamwork as well as the four rules of T.E.A.M. Granada: Respect yourself, respect each other; Dream big; Challenge yourself, challenge each other; Have fun. 

On a philosophical level for the volunteers, the camp will hopefully serve as a reminder that on a scale of women’s soccer around the world, US student-athletes are some of the most elite in their sport. In a post-title IX era, women who play soccer today have benefitted from the hard work of trailblazing women who came before, breaking barriers and challenging stereotypes. The power of role models cannot be underestimated as many of these same barriers and stereotypes are prevalent in Latin America today. The hope is that the experience of giving back to their sport, in such a way that their talents and love of soccer are the product, may inspire these young women to call upon this experience in future endeavors, perhaps shaping policy, perhaps enacting social change in their home communities. 

As for the girls of Granada, we hope that by encouraging a young generation of women to take pride in themselves, their talents, their bodies, their surroundings, and their friendships, these women will go on to lead their lives with the confidence to shape their own futures. 
Some of the campers at the 2008 camp
Logistics:
The 3rd annual T.E.A.M Camp and Coaches’ Clinic will take place from January 10-15, 2010. College volunteers are also welcome during our spring break activities, scheduled for March 14-21, 2010.  In the past, our camp staff has included volunteers from Penn State University, University of Nebraska, Dartmouth College, Lehigh University, Clemson University, University of Rochester, Williams College, College of William and Mary, and Colorado College.  If you are a college player, recent graduate, or college coach interested in volunteering, please contact us at granada@soccerwithoutborders.org.