Everton’s International Soccer Schools programme is set to return to the United States of America this summer.
The Club aims to build on a positive inaugural year in 2021, which saw thousands of youngsters attend a series of camps across 15 states in the Midwest and Northeast regions of the USA, by broadening the programme to reach more children in more states.
These include new locations in California and Florida, with plans to further expand the offering to other target countries, as part of the over-arching global growth strategy.
The Soccer Schools Programme offers the Club a unique first-hand opportunity to take a version of the Club to the United States and engage with many current Everton fans and followers of the Premier League.
Everton already hosts a wide variety of Soccer Schools in the US, including Junior Toffees for younger fans, and courses at both Development and Advanced levels for older children.
And in a welcome addition to the programme, a series of Goalkeeper Soccer Schools, guided by a curriculum directly from the Club’s prestigious training ground at USM Finch Farm, will be made available this year following a successful pilot scheme in select locations across the nation.
Paddy Byrne, International Academy Technical Lead at Everton, said: “We are really pleased and excited to be expanding our International Soccer Schools offering across the United States and teach them the ways of our great football club.
“Despite the Pandemic, we successfully launched our programme last summer and delivered successful camps to thousands of young players in more than 15 states and we’re looking to significantly increase this over the coming months.
“Our soccer camps and our affiliate club model are vital components in our International Growth Strategy – a long term strategy to deliver engagement in our target regions and through positive experiences turn awareness of Everton into affinity to Everton.”
The Soccer Schools Programme follows the trail-blazing Everton International Academy Affiliate Programme, launched in 2020, which has so far partnered with Columbus United (Ohio, USA), Schulz Academy and FC Highland (Florida, USA), Joondalup City FC (Perth, Australia), Western Pride (Queensland, Australia), Everton Vina Del Mar (Chile) and Sligo Rovers (Ireland).
This year’s activity will again be led and shaped by Everton coaches, supported by US-based Community Athletic Solutions, as an ongoing plan to develop the programme across the US in the coming years.
Byrne explained: “In 2021, we came up with a plan to take Soccer Camps Stateside and designed a series of authentic programmes to be delivered by coaches, using the six core techniques used here at Finch Farm.
“The uptake and feedback we received was fantastic and now we want to build on that this summer, by widening the Soccer Schools programme offering.
“The UK coaches will be onboarded here at Everton, given the best training at Finch Farm and then be accredited to head out to America and deliver these carefully co-ordinated programmes across a series of camps.”
The 2022 International Soccer Schools Programme, available to children aged 5-18, features the following tailored programmes.
All camps include an Everton jersey, gift and evaluation, and bookings can be made at the following link: https://www.evertoninternationalacademy.com/soccer-schools/usa
We'll be adding more camps in due course, so if one isn't available near you, check back soon!
Junior Toffees
Aimed at 5-7-year-olds, these 90-minute sessions guide players through a variety of fun activities, technical skill-building and small sided games that encourage maximum touches on the ball. The Junior Toffees Soccer School allows players to learn the foundational skills needed to develop into a competitive soccer player.
Development Soccer School
Aimed at 8-14-year-olds, these sessions vary from 3-6 hours, around a developmental curriculum where players engage in daily ball mastery and turning & awareness techniques. Each day, players will be introduced to a daily technical theme which follows the Everton academy core techniques, followed by small-sided games to put these techniques into practice. A developmental camp is a progressive way to improve a wide variety of soccer skills, under the guidance of our EISS coaches.
Advanced Soccer School
An intensive 5-day camp for competitive soccer players aged between 8-18. These sessions are designed to provide competitive soccer players with a competitive edge before the youth soccer season. The advanced curriculum is mirrored to the Everton Academy coaching curriculum and includes a number of daily technical and tactical themes.
Goalkeeper Soccer School
This new offering for 2022, aimed at 8-18-year-olds with sessions lasting between 3-6 hours, guide goalkeepers through a range of Academy curriculum practices that will develop into game-related skills. Train and develop your goalkeeping skills through position-specific practices and team games developed and used by our goalkeeping coaches at USM Finch Farm.
