8-12 Aug: FAI Camp

It's M. I had a soccer camp in Muff. Muff is in County Donegal. I got a football and my second sun watch and my full Ireland kit/uniform (right). The camp was very fun. I played in goal 3 times (below). We learned a type of fake shot called the Crove Turn. We also practiced heading. They had a Champions League, League of Ireland and World Cup. Here are the teams I played for and what place we came in: in the Champions League, Liverpool (1st) Athletico Madrid (2nd), and Inter Milan (4th), in the World Cup, Nigeria (4th), and in the League of Ireland, Derry City!! (3rd).

It is especially cool that I played for Derry City because we are going to see them tonight (Aug 12). I am going to wear my Candystripes jersey.

1-5 Aug: IFA St. Columb's

Hi. It's M. My camp at St. Columb's was very fun. We were in the Derry Journal!! Some of the boys were also at Old Clondermott (4+me in my group). I liked the drills. When we tried to shoot through the hoops, no one did it! I scored 2 goals, 1 on shooting practice day and 1 in the World Cup.

Coming up next week...

1-5 Aug: Soccer Camp at St Columb's Park

M did another week of IFA (Irish Football Association) Summer Soccer School. This one was at our local park and we walked to camp each day. M wants to write a post about it, so I am just sharing some photos.

The IFA posted a photo from M's first week of camp on their website and the Derry Journal had a few photos from this week. I am including them here.

After the last day, we walked into town and heard some music. A student at the Foyle Harp School played traditional music and a rock band played at Guildhall Square. After the music, we walked to the mall and M ran into a boy who had been at both of the soccer camps. Later, we met Steve for dinner in town and walked home.

Click here to view these pictures larger

27 & 29 July: Northern Ireland "Milk Cup" soccer

Each summer, the Northern Ireland Dairy Council sponsors a week-long soccer tournament for U-14, U-16, and U-18 players. The tournament is called the "Milk Cup." The U-14 and U-16 teams come from counties around Ireland and from youth teams associated with English Premier League teams. But in the U-18 tournament, 5 national teams from around the world are invited to join the Northern Ireland team in the competition.

And that is how we got to see the US play Mexico in Coleraine (about 45 minutes from Derry) last Wednesday night!

The game was close and ended 1-1. The draw plus an earlier win over Israel last Monday night put the US team in the game for 3rd/4th place on Friday. Steve couldn't take the time off, but M and I drove to Ballymoney to see the US play again on Friday. We arrived early enough to catch the second half of the 5th/6th place game between Mexico and Israel, which ended regular time at 0-0. M and I got to see our first penalty shoot out tie breaker and congrats to Mexico for winning the shoot out 4-3. The US played Georgia and won 2-1. M and I were surprised at the low attendance for the game; I don't think that there were more than 100 spectators!

Friday evening BBC Sport Northern Ireland broadcast the final game between home team Northern Ireland and Denmark and we all watched it from the comfort of our living room. In a disappointing loss for the home team, Denmark won 1-0.

8 July: Recap of Soccer Camp

Hallo, it's M! I had a great time at soccer camp! We played the Mini World Cup today to end it all.

My Career Stats:

Goals: 3

Assists: 3

World Cup Assists: 1

Matches: 35

Starts: 32

World Cup Matches: 5

Club: Oranges=7 matches

Greens=23 matches

National Team: Holland=4 matches

Northern Ireland=1 match (sub on)

The Mini World Cup was made up of Argentina, Northern Ireland and Holland. I think either Northern Ireland or Holland won it all.

I got a Nutty Krust goodie bag for participating. Along with some other things, it had a loaf of bread and a funny sticker that said "Do you know the Muffin Man?"

4 Jul 11: M talks about soccer school

M here. Today I started soccer camp. I was put with 13 other boys between the ages of 8-10 and we kicked off by practicing dribbling skills.

Then we got to the really fun part: matches. I was wearing my USA jersey. I was picked by the Oranges, so I was just wearing the orange bib after that. The Oranges lineup was this: M (me), M (a different one), L, A and J. L was the tallest person on the team. A is from Vancouver! We played 7 matches and we won 5 and drew 2. Our record was almost 5-1-1, but I slotted a last-second goal to keep us at 5-2-0. Here is how it happened. I had the ball from a cross. I used my new Nike T90s to boot the ball up. Too high, I thought. The goalkeeper thought so too. He stayed on the left. The ball went and went - and flew into the upper-right hand corner! Goal!!!!! And there's the whistle! 2-2. A draw!

My Nike T90s (pictured below) are fabulous! They fit me perfectly and are worn by EPL stars Wayne Rooney and Fernando Torres plus Yaya Toure, who scored the FA Cup winner! Can't wait until Tuesday for another day of camp!