Summer belongs to them!

“Our camp helps children develop modern techniques for professional sports like soccer, American football, tennis or kick boxing. The children are coached to discover their potential and abilities”, says Enrique Fidalgo, coordinator and co-founder (with Hugo Valladares) of the camp. When these two established the L’Île-des-Sœurs sports camp in 2001, the first goal was to convey to the children a passion for sports. “Seven years ago, sports camps resembled day care centers. In our sports camp, specific methods were developed to adapt them to the children’s skills. For example, the sports discovery programme for young children aged four to five enable them to learn good movements of the sport they choose. They learn these methods through games or songs”, Fidalgo added.

The sports activities are categorised into three age groups: four to six years old, seven to nine years old and 10 to 14 years old. “Soccer is played differently by five-year olds and nine-year olds. There’s a whole pedagogical approach to the programme. For young people, there is a lot of emphasis on motivational strategies. With the older children, the emphasis is on developing endurance and the acquisition of techniques”, Fidalgo explained, who insisted that among the 14 teachers and monitors of the camp, there are five specialists and/or professionals in one or several athletic disciplines.

For the first time this year, the camp is offering two weeks exclusively to learning soccer for those who are interested. “Soccer concentration was a programme designed by specialists who wish to teach the real strategies of the game to children. In our camp, monotony is unheard of”, Fidalgo pointed out, who was visibly enthusiastic about having introduced an innovation. Another new activity for 2008: climbing for children. “We’re going to build a horizontal climbing wall which is a safer approach”, said the young man, a devoted sports fan for the last 25 years.

A weekly outing is also part of the vacation programme. This year, the kids will get the chance to attend the Rogers Cup and participate in Laser Quest in downtown Montreal. Moreover, several athletes from Les Alouettes will be visiting the young scouts. “Here in the camp, the kids are in direct contact with real sports personalities. This way, our camp serves as an interactive camp”, Fidalgo explained. He has two young children who will be joining this exciting summer adventure. The camp stretches over a period of nine weeks, beginning June 23 to August 22. Parents are free to register their future sports protégés for any number of weeks they want and for the sports they prefer. Golf, soccer, swimming and basketball are again on the sports agenda to be given on a weekly basis which will be offered in a supervised programme.

Registration is going on at the moment at the IDS gymnasium. Interested parties can call 514 766-1236 or visit the camp’s web site at www.campsportifids.com.

An open house is planned for May.