Soccer Clinic Fosters Kids' Creative Side

Coach Paul Kitson has taken what he’s learned from his years on the soccer field as both a player and a coach and has developed a teaching program that is helping young soccer players get the most out of their game while having fun in the process.

The Heights resident has recently introduced Varsity Soccer 365, a soccer clinic offered to the children of the community conducted at . The 10-week program teaches these young athletes basic skills of the sport while helping them to build confidence and creativity.

Kitson, who has coached at Bergen Catholic, and has also done one-on-one training says he realized  that the focus is much better when the coach to athlete ratio is smaller. Moving away from large session coaching down to smaller groups was the basic premise in developing this clinic.  He credits the parents of the athletes he’s worked with who got behind him to offer this type of clinic.

Coach Kitson who has brought along a number of qualified coaches he has grown up with and worked with over the years says the program is offered to kids interested in soccer as young as pre-school age up to grade 8.  The clinic is offered in four groups – pre-K and Kindergarten, also known as junior varsity, and the varsity groups of grades 1 and 2, grades 3 and 4 and grades 6, 7 and 8. 

For the younger children at the pre-K to Kindergarten level, the clinic is designed to serve not only as an introduction by helping them form the fundamental skills like coordination but it can also give them some other valuable lessons as they also will learn about discipline, teamwork and respect, Kitson explained.

Most of the older kids are already taking part in soccer, playing with the Hasbrouck Heights Soccer Association, and want to improve their game. In this environment they don’t have to focus on winning but rather on their own game play development, Kitson says. He strives to teach them about creativity and to think outside the box as there is more than one way to make a play.

An afternoon down at Woodland Park finds Kitson and one of his coaches Phil Robinson working one on one with a group of kids in the 6,7 and 8 grade group. They start out with some stretches, a run around the field and then all take part in working on their skill with their coach, each one getting a chance for some personal coaching from Kitson and Robinson.

Kitson says he has found that when a kid has built up confidence he or she has so much more fun out there on the field. Enjoying the game is what it’s all about, he says.  

The spring session is currently wrapping up this week but the fall session will begin in late August, Kitson says. More information can be found at www.varsitysoccer365.net.

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