The Pierce County Rec Department’s recent Brazilian Soccer Camp brought two instructors from south of the equator to coach local youth.
Soccer is king in Brazil. The two coaches, Caio Carius and Arthur Soares said their goal was to build on what the kids might already know, and use fun games to review rules and hone skills. Both coaches spoke English fluently with Soares being more of a jokester and running interference with the high spirited campers while Carius took time to discuss the goals and methods of the program for which they work.
After drills, Blackshear’s visitors from Brazil divided the campers up into teams each day and conducted lively scrimmage games in what Carius called a “mini-tournament”. The goal was to have the most points by the end of the week. However, points were earned not just by getting the ball past the opposing team’s goalie but also by learning more about the Brazilian soccer tradition at home.
Campers like Roman Boatright could research a Brazilian soccer team at home out of the heat and then turn in a drawing of a team’s logo or soccer flag before heading out into the broiling heat of Tiger Field to practice their footwork.
Each day the coaches focused on a different skill including dribbling, passing, receiving and more. Fun was the key component, said Carius. explaining how he learned more English from TV shows and popular music than he did from books and classwork.
“If you make it fun, they will learn,” he said.
That is an approach he will be weaving into his lessons back home. A coach in Brazil for the last three years, Carius will return home soon for graduation, having completed the necessary studies to become a physical education teacher.
Both Carius and Soares had their hands full as much with keeping their campers cooled off and hydrated as they did with drilling down on soccer fundamentals. Pierce County was in the middle of a torrid heat wave during the camp last week.
Regular breaks were mandatory and a large shop fan waited for the kids under the shelter of the concession stand to provide a powerful breath of cool air.
Carius and Soares said they run similar soccer camps on a route that takes them from Maryland to Illinois then Texas and finally Georgia. The pair will be in the Peach State for about four weeks and while coaching kids in Pierce they stay with a host family in Brunswick.
Asked how they like Pierce, Carius said, “I like the time I am spending here.”
Both praised the hospitality of Georgians with Carius drawing the comparison, “The parents and community here are very receptive and welcoming. For instance, the people in Illinois are a little more cold.”
Asked how our climate compares to Brazil, the coaches said, of the four states they worked in, humidity and all, Georgia was the most like home. “Here is near to Brazil in terms of weather.”
Of course, there were plenty of other differences. Back home, soccer is everywhere. In the U.S., kids play a variety of sports, including “American football” , basketball and virtually unknown in Brazil, baseball.
Carius also described American culture as “very global”, saying there are all sorts of people from all over the world living together here. In Brazil, Carius says they mostly see other Brazilians plus many Mexicans, Argentinians and Colombians.
The one constant between all cultures? “Kids are kids,” Carius says, nodding toward Soares breaking up an impromptu water battle between two campers who are supposed to be using their bottles to hydrate, not as squirt guns.
“The first day or so of this week was different. They are scared to talk with each other, but they communicate much better now,” said Carius. “The evolution is good. They make friendships and their playing gets better.”
