Roughly 100 area international children wrapped up the final day of the 3rd Annual FCA Goal Camp on Wednesday, and every one of them had a smile from start to finish as they played games and learned skills from local volunteers.
The camp — hosted by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes — is a free program offered to international children in the Owensboro area. The young athletes get a free school bus ride to and from the soccer fields at Bellevue Baptist Church, and they get free snacks and T-shirts thanks to sponsors in the community.
FCA area director Erica Houston said the participation has been steady since the initial camp, though the amount of help continues to grow. In addition to adults from various churches and organizations in town, athletes from the local schools help each night.
Women’s players from Kentucky Wesleyan came Monday, Apollo players helped Tuesday and Daviess County players were on hand Wednesday. Houston said they all go through a training on Sunday to prepare for the event.
“All of these athletes, even though they know a lot about soccer, maybe they don’t know great games to play with the kids,” she said. “There is an itinerary for every night for the kids. There’s fun games that allow them to learn passing and dribbling skills.”
From playing a game of keep-away to taking penalty kicks against a handful of goalies to small scrimmages, the children rotate through several drills before ending the day by hearing a Bible story.
The idea for the camp was brought to Houston by two people at roughly the same time three
years ago. Danny Gray and Marcia Tomes each wanted to create an opportunity for international children to come together in the summer.
“Both approached me and said they had an idea for a soccer camp,” Houston said. “They said it was going to sound crazy, but it’s for international kids. They have a common love for soccer.”
Gray is the director of missions at Bellevue, and Tomes is a teacher with Daviess County Public Schools.
“They had this same mirrored idea,” Houston said. “Neither of them knew each other, and they approached me within a week’s time of one another. I said it wasn’t crazy and it sounded amazing.”
