Malta Soccer Camp

Malta Parks and Recreation hosted it's second annual Malta Soccer Camp instructed by local MHS senior Kendrik Wright.

The three-day camp started on Tuesday, June 16, and concluded on Thursday, June 18. The camp featured children ages four to 14.

"It's pretty fun teaching the campers," Wright told the PCN. "I really like it because I went to a lot of camps when I was younger. I just think that it's really cool that I am doing it now."

Wright said that campers worked on dribbling, passing, and attacking the ball throughout camp. Campers participated in various drills throughout most of the camp.

"We played Lightning," Wright said. "For the younger kids, we play Bumblebee. We also played red light, green light."

Wright explained Lightning like the basketball game of knockout, where a camper has a chance to score a goal, and if they miss, the camper behind them can score a goal, knocking the camper ahead out of the competition. If the goalie is scored on, they then have to go to the line of kickers and can be eliminated.

Prior to day two, the PCN caught up with five-year-old Connor Oxarart.

"I played last year," Oxarart said.

This year, Connor felt that he understood the game of soccer better and he felt more comfortable playing.

His favorite part of this year's camp was playing Bumblebee.

"He says bumblebees go!" Connor said. "And you gotta kick the ball."

Wright said to play Bumblebee, campers were asked to get in a circle; each had a ball to dribble. Every camper pretends to be a bee.

"The coach comes into the circle and acts like a bear and they all have to kick the ball at the coach to get the bear out of the beehive," Wright said.

Connor also said that he enjoyed passing the ball to his friends and that he enjoys playing with his friends John Milican, George Milican, Fletcher Spencer, Jake Simonson and River Simonson.

He said that he was having fun playing soccer but football is his favorite sport.

For the older age group, things get a little more advanced, Wright said.

"For the older kids some advance drills we do are Ladder drills and we have targets that we put on the goals to better the kids' targeting skills," Wright said. "We also have a parachute to help the kids run faster."

Wright typically travels with a soccer team called the Lewistown Futbol Club in Lewistown, making the trip even on school days at MHS. This year due to the COVID-19 virus, soccer was canceled around the state.

"I'm probably going to do it next year," Wright said.