First week of DC SCORES summer camp brings youth from across the city together

Written by Kyndall Brown
Communications Intern

Last week, DC SCORES kicked off 14 combined weeks of summer enrichment with a five-day soccer camp at Kelly Miller Middle School. Despite temperatures in the high 90s, close to 100 youth from across Washington, DC, took part in soccer drills and games each day.

Participating in a week-long soccer camp gives participants a great opportunity to focus on core skills like passing, dribbling and shooting. The camp also allows for campers to receive one-on-one attention that they may not get the chance to receive throughout the school year.

Along with working on skills, campers also get to develop friendships outside of their comfort zones. The DC SCORES camps are open to youth all over the city. Campers get to play with other kids they have possibly once played against as well as others they have never been on the field with.

“Camp has been great because we have a huge number of kids from all over the city, kids from far in NW, Columbia Heights, NE, and SE,” said camp director Libby Watkins. “I can tell the kids are making friends.”

Emily C. works on her soccer skills at Kelly Miller camp.

Emily C. and Ariana R. came to Kelly Miller representing Chavez Prep and are both in the seventh grade. They, along with 50-plus other kids, were shuttled to Kelly Miller from Lincoln Middle School in Columbia Heights. At Kelly Miller, campers got the opportunity to develop their skills with new and different players. Emily said she only knew one of the 12 girls in her age group prior to camp.

Emily and Ariana were both very excited about being at soccer camp and expressed their enthusiasm about attending other DC SCORES camps as the summer continues. Emily specifically talked about how her summer playing soccer was going to make her a better player for the fall season.

This week, two more DC SCORES camps have begun – Soccer & Arts Camp at Marie Reed Elementary School and soccer camp at Bruce Monroe Elementary School. Next week, the 10-day Tubman Elementary School soccer camp kicks off. Stay connected to an action-packed month of summer enrichment for DC youth by following us on Twitter @DCSCORES, on Instagram at @dc_scores, and by viewing our summer camp photo album on Flickr HERE.