Port Elgin

Our first week together as a team. Friday and Saturday we spent at Redeemer for coaches training.

Early Sunday morning we got up and left for Port Elgin. We were there for their morning service so that the congregation would know who we were and what we were doing throughout the week. We went up, introduced ourselves, talked a little about AIA – its growth in Ontario, its mission – and why we love being part of AIA (combines everything I love: soccer, working with kids, and most importantly God). Then we taught the congregation how to juggle, and that it’s about their own record, not a competition between everyone else. We also talked about the week, how we were going to be teaching the kids not only soccer skills and sportsmanship, but also about God. Then they came up and prayed for us. It was pretty cool.

Monday was a little bit weird for me. It was a new church for me, but not for Nate. Everyone knew who Nate was and was excited to see him again. I felt a little out of place. But then camp started and I soon forgot my worries about camp. It was amazing to be back.

The campers were awesome. We had 54 campers; it was half and half between church and non-churched. Everyone was excited to be there, and ready to learn. There were Liam and Rachel, brother and sister who came down for the week and were staying at their grandparent’s. Liam was 6 and wasn’t sure if he wanted to be at camp because he never played soccer before. Liam didn’t have too much confidence in himself the first day, but by Friday his confidence had shot up. He was being aggressive during world cup, willing to try out every position, and was always practicing whatever we had taught that day. It was amazing to watch him develop throughout the week.

Kayla and Teigan were our cheerleaders for the week. They had a cheer for everything. It was great. They may have been tiny, but they did not let that get them down. There were right in there, not backing down on any challenge.

Makenna wanted to share a story in front of the whole camp. When she asked me, I asked her to share it with her small group so that Coaches Corner wouldn’t be affected. Thinking that if I let her talk then everyone else would want to. But her small group got distracted every easily, so she was never able to tell them. So I let her talk before we started Coaches Corner on Friday. She had every single camper’s attention. I couldn’t even get them that quite. She talked to them about her pets that had died and how she carries a stuffed animal to remember them by. Then she encouraged us to always remember that Jesus is Lord. Faith like a child is amazing to see.