PORT ORCHARD, WA—Port Orchard Football Club got a taste of what it’s like to host youth players in a soccer camp setting in 2024 by hosting “mini camps” in all three of July’s home matches. The one and a half hour sessions were held before kickoff with enough time for campers and players to get ready for the matches that followed.
POFC General Manager Sam Ironside was glad to see the club take this direction. “It has been such a great experience to incorporate kids camps into our club and develop our connections with the community even further,” he says. “The traction and popularity they gained from it being the first time we’d done anything like it was great to see and is definitely encouraging us to pursue it again in the future and make it bigger and better. The highlight for me was seeing the idea conceived and then run by players themselves and huge credit to Peter Radovich for carrying the idea on his back and making it what it was. Looking forward to seeing what we can do with it next year.”
POFC player Peter Radovich developed the itinerary as part of a summer internship. He was at every session leading the way. “I was the camp coordinator and got involved with the camps because of the impact the Port Orchard community has, Peter explains. “Growing up, playing under the guidance of players I looked up to was a great experience. We hoped to deliver a valuable day where the kids were able to play, and later in the day, watch POFC.”
Peter likes how the mini camp experience went.” The kids had a lot of fun and were enthusiastic about every activity we did. The sportsmanship and dedication was all there. Even talking with campers during water breaks brought about positive moments.”
Head Coach Patrick Leonard also joined in the camps. “I thought our camps went incredibly well for their first year, Loenard says. “Peter did a great job stepping into that role of planning and organizing. From there, it just allowed us to come out and work with the kids, which was great. I loved seeing how much the kids enjoyed it and enjoyed kicking the ball around with some of our players. You could see how they looked up to these guys, and Peter, Kolby (Juarez), and Mike (Divano) handled that role in such a great way.”
Port Orchard FC General Manager Tyler Brown was around behind the scenes, helping coordinate canopies as the temperatures soared. The shade they provided was important for the event to continue. “The kids camps really helped give our club that extra feeling of being a part of the community this season,” says Tyler.
“Connecting with kids to give them an opportunity for some top training with Peter, Kolby, Mike, Coach Pat, and even some solid goalkeeper work from myself and Sam Ironside. Not sure who had more fun with it, the kids or all of us! Credit to Peter for doing all of the legwork involved in getting the camps up and running. Looking forward to seeing what we can do next season!”
