Shooting Stars join with Passion Foot for soccer camp
The collaboration between North York's Shooting Stars Soccer International and Passion Foot, a France-based, government-funded coaching and scouting operation with ties to Toronto's soccer community, went off without a hitch again this year.
The soccer school, which caters to players aged nine to 17 who share a desire to play professionally in Europe, ran from Monday to Friday at York Mills Collegiate.
Sixty kids from across the province - from Sudbury to Toronto to Niagara Falls - took part. Some took up residency in North York with family to attend the camp.
Four well-regarded French coaches complimented the roster of coaches this year: Michael Greboval, Bertrand Delafosse, Guillaume Dumoulin and Luc Bernard.
Shooting stars director Clayton Rosario and founder Francois Glasman were also on hand for the camp last week. Glasman was credited with helping broker deals to send overseas the likes of Julian Deguzman (Olympic De Marseille F C), Mike Klukowski (La Louviere F C) and Calvin Rosario (Tours F C).
He also helped engineer the first-ever sold-out soccer game in Canada between the former Toronto Blizzard and Brazil, which at the time included Diego Maradona. The famous match was held at Varsity Stadium in 1990.
"For some kids coming from poor families, money is a factor," said Clayton Rosario. "For those that can't afford to go overseas, we're bringing these French coaches to their doorstep."
A lot of the coaching in Canada has more emphasis on getting players into shape and less on fancy footwork and finesse, he said, whereas the Dutch and French system utilizes more creative technique. "It's more of an entertaining game."
There continues to be a real need here, he explained, for coaching development at the grassroots level, something the camp's organizers are making an effort to address.
"What happens is our (Canadian) players get frustrated here, a lot of them get overlooked by the Canadian program, so they all leave the country to get better coaching," he said.
"If we had more coaches on the same page, then I think Canada would go a lot further," he said. "In Canada we're all working against each other... the Americans work together."
Rosario, who has made his name in soccer circles, not through his performance on the pitch but with his coaching skills on the sidelines, said the camp revealed several future prospects, including a 12-year-old, six-foot net minder.
"They (French coaches) were very surprised by the technique of our players. One goalie they are considering... they were astonished by his goaltending skills for his age. He'll get a try-out (with the French program) this year."
For further info on Shooting Stars visit www.shootingstarssoccer.net.
