[August 8th (Tue) - 9th (Wed) ANTLERS SUMMER CAMP] The "ANTLERS SUMMER CAMP" was held at Rapoppo Namegata Farmers Village. On the first day of the camp, participants made plastic bottle rockets, harvested vegetables, and cooked rice in mess tins and curry. For the plastic bottle rockets, everyone created their own original design rockets and launched them in the Farmers Village schoolyard! The children were very excited to see their rockets fly! For dinner, we all harvested potatoes, eggplants, and other summer vegetables and used them to make curry. Some children were trying to wash dirt-covered vegetables or cut vegetables with a knife for the first time, and despite struggling, they challenged themselves with various tasks! Some also said, "It tasted better than usual curry!" because they made it themselves. The second day started with a morning walk. We all checked the beetle traps set the night before, but due to the rain that fell overnight, we couldn't find any beetles... After that, it was summer homework time with the coaches, which was also a main part of this camp! The coaches supported the children with their summer homework (drills, calligraphy, painting, book reports, etc.), and some players even finished their summer homework. The coaches also enjoyed studying alongside them, remembering their own nostalgic homework assignments. After homework, we visited the Sweet Potato Factory Museum and had fun learning about sweet potatoes. For lunch, we ate yakisoba and enjoyed watermelon splitting! It was an event where participants could fully enjoy nature, which they don't often get to experience, and feel a sense of growth by staying away from their parents!
[August 19th (Sat) 1vs1 Strongest King Deciding Battle August Tournament] The "1vs1 Strongest King Deciding Battle August Tournament" was held at the Kashima Antlers Clubhouse Futsal Court. As the name suggests, the 1vs1 Strongest King Deciding Battle is a tournament to determine the strongest one-on-one player, and participants fought utilizing the skills they practiced daily. We saw many feints to get past opponents and plays where players used their bodies to steal the ball. The winners of this tournament were [1st Grade Division: Shuya Hagiwara, 2nd Grade Division: Hisashi Taguchi, 3rd & 4th Grade Division: Ryota Yatagawa] The winners were presented with an Antlers T-shirt and a shield as proof of their victory. Many winners showed joy and smiles, while some defeated players shed tears. I believe that players grow by seriously committing to competition and playing matches. I hope they will continue to use both their frustrations and joys as motivation to train harder!
[August 22nd (Tue), 23rd (Wed), 24th (Thu) ANTLERS SUMMER CAMP] The "Intensive Skill-Up School" was held at the Kashima Antlers Clubhouse Futsal Court. It was conducted over three days with themes of "dribbling," "passing & control," and "shooting." In the mornings, training was conducted according to the theme, and in the afternoons, games were played, utilizing the morning's training. It was impressive to see the players working hard to improve, undeterred by the heat, in an environment where they could focus on soccer all day long! During breaks between the morning and afternoon sessions, many players observed the top team's training and learned by watching! Some players were also seen overjoyed after getting autographs from their favorite players. We hope that players will utilize the training from these three days and continue to boldly challenge themselves in future matches and training, constantly honing their skills!
