Great Camp. Previously sent both my sons to Premier Soccer Camps which in my opinion is outstanding. No 1 Soccer camp measured up in every way. Highly recommend it.
I spent a good amount of time prior to registering my son for camp to ensure that as a GK, his position would not be overlooked at camp, and that he would not be spending his time at camp simply rotating in and out of scrimmages. Sadly, thats what it was. Of the three days he was at camp, one day he felt was productive, where they actually challenged the GK with drills. In addition, they cap the number of GK to 3 per team, which during an 11v11 match limited playtime of the GK to only 23 minutes. The remainder of the time they were riding the bench. Not as advertised, not as discussed with me prior to registration, and not worth the money. We will look for other options for next year.
Great Camp. Previously sent both my sons to Premier Soccer Camps which in my opinion is outstanding. No 1 Soccer camp measured up in every way. Highly recommend it.
Dr. Joe runs a fantastic camp. He has been in business more than 30 years. My son attended his camp. I would highly recommend it to anyone. A first class soccer camp.
I heartily recommend these soccer camps!
My children have attended No. 1 soccer camps for years and they are terrific! We've tried several others and the others cannot compare. No 1 soccer camps really deliver! They have optional "sunrise" soccer before breakfast, then soccer all morning, soccer in the afternoon, swimming in the late afternoon (at least at some locations), soccer fun games after dinner, and then optional review of soccer videos in the evening. The instructor/student ratio is small, and at the end, when their instructor writes out a really comprehensive review of the player, strengths, things they can work on, etc, you can tell that they REALLY got to know each student well. No "cookie cutter" comments here. Very individualized attention so each player improves their skills and game!
They may seem expensive, but it is worth every penny!
I spent a good amount of time prior to registering my son for camp to ensure that as a GK, his position would not be overlooked at camp, and that he would not be spending his time at camp simply rotating in and out of scrimmages. Sadly, thats what it was. Of the three days he was at camp, one day he felt was productive, where they actually challenged the GK with drills. In addition, they cap the number of GK to 3 per team, which during an 11v11 match limited playtime of the GK to only 23 minutes. The remainder of the time they were riding the bench. Not as advertised, not as discussed with me prior to registration, and not worth the money. We will look for other options for next year.
Signed grandson up for the Senior Striker residential camp. With tuition, travel, spending money, misc, the total was just short of $1,000. Sunday night, the day of arrival, they learned new things and knew we invested wisely.
By Monday the glow was gone. Nine year olds were "blended" into the training with the high school players. Really! The lead staff coach for the camp was really a non-coach, but he did manage to get an "E" license (the same u10-u12 license that rec coaches all over the US have). This staff coach was really a college assistant to the camp director (gosh, what a coincidence!) who's college duties included NO coaching. The evaluations were a joke and meaningless. I am going to request a full camp refund and would never recommend a Striker Camp to anyone.
Tip for consumers:
Don't sign up for any Striker Camps! They are just a money-mill with soccer as the third or forth thing of any relevance.
No. 1 Soccer Camps, the first national camp of it's kind, was founded by Dr. Joseph Machnik in 1977. Since then, over 85,000 soccer players and coaches have attended No. 1 Soccer Camps.
We take the organization and structure of The No. 1 Soccer College Showcase ID camps very seriously and appreciate any and all feedback with the goal of continual growth to serve our participants and provide the best possible experience. Our college showcase ID camp is an opportunity for campers to get identified by college coaches regardless of the position that they play. To that end, there will always be sessions which involve playing so that our college coaches in attendance can evaluate everyone in a proper match environment. With that said, our No. 1 Soccer College Showcase ID camp at The Phelps School consists of 6 total sessions. Two of these sessions were specific goalkeeper training sessions with Division 1 goalkeeper coaches. Both of these coaches played division one soccer and now coach goalkeepers at their perspective division one college soccer programs (Manhattan College and University of Maryland respectively). The last thirty minutes of these two goalkeeper specific sessions involved 8v8 games where all the goalkeepers received significant playing time in a small sided environment so they receive more realistic match type of decision making, additionally they could utilize what they learned in the goalkeeper specific training sessions they had just participated in. To further provide opportunities for the players in attendance and an important session for the goalkeepers and the college coaches, is a shooting/finishing session. This is another session that specifically benefits the goalkeeper’s exposure to the college coaches in attendance. During this session the players get to work with 4 different college coaches and participate in four different finishing exercises for over 90 minutes. This session is utilized so the goalkeepers can get some specific goalkeeper work and can be seen by the college coaches in their own environment. At a College ID camp, the majority of coaches in attendance want to see campers play in 11v11 games (both goalkeepers and field players). We structure the camp to be mutually beneficial to the players in attendance and the college coaches who are observing the players. To that end, 2 of the 6 total sessions are set up to have specific 11v11 games. These games are 75-90 minutes long. So, a team with 3 goalkeepers would be getting 20-30 minutes of playing time each, on average. Field players share similar amount of minutes. The last session was a 6v6 tournament. Due to severe thunder storms that took place in the evening on July 22, we were informed by the University that we could not go outside. However, the way we structured the session, four teams played at once and all of the goalkeepers were given significant playing time, and the college coaches had ample time to continue their evaluations. The camp schedule looked like this:
Session 1: Goalkeeper specific training session
Session 2:11v11 game
Session 3: Goalkeeper specific training session
Session 4: Shooting/finishing session (specific for goalkeepers)
Session 5:6v6 games
If participants are looking for a goalkeeper specific training environment every single session, then a college ID camp wouldn't be the best option for them. However, if players are looking for a dynamic player centric approach to the College ID Showcase event, then the No. 1 Soccer College ID Showcase provides that. We offer significant exposure to an impressive list of college coaches and to all players in attendance, as well as significant goalkeeper training at our Showcase event at the Phelps School.