The success of this year’s Indiana Soccer camp was in no way reflected by Thursday morning’s miserable weather. For over 30 years, the camp has allowed students the opportunity to play soccer during week-long sessions with a vast variety of world-class players and coaches.
This year’s program continued the tradition by featuring two sessions and attracting over 650 players per session. Unlike most soccer clinics, the Indiana Soccer Camp gives students intense one-on-one instruction, averaging a 10-to-1 player to coach ratio.
Class of 1995 Hoosier and current University of Alabama Assistant Men’s Soccer Coach Ernie Yarborough has attended the Indiana Soccer Camp for 12 summers overall. “It’s always great for at least one week each summer to come back and give back to the program that gave so much to me,” he said. “The camp accentuates what Freitag does now and Yeagley did before by allowing so many young people the opportunity to interact with a class organization. Whether or not that makes them better soccer players or better people, at the end of the week, everybody walks away with a better experience for having been here.”
The camp includes seven divisions based on skill and allows entry for students ranging in age from 11 to 19. Columbus North High School player Andy Kaplan has attended the camp for six years and appreciates the individual attention he has received from the coaches every year. “The coaches are really great about making sure everything runs like college practices and everything,” he said. “It’s definitely helped me become smart about the game, learning where to be and when. It’s all soccer all week, so you definitely improve your skill and fitness.”
First-time camper Ben Haas of Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa agrees. “The individual attention that we each receive from the coaches is really beneficial, I think. And the amount of time we spend on the field training – I mean, I get really tired—but it’s really great too,” he says. “I could always receive skills training, but I think this camp specifically, since it’s so centered on college readiness, gives me a better perspective about what college soccer’s going to be like.”
Skill level is important, but the Indiana Soccer Camp also offers students a vast network of players and coaches from over 25 different countries. “You’re talking about a college soccer program that’s nationally renowned, and in some cases because of the game, internationally renowned,” Yarborough said. "One of our coaches is Spanish. Spain’s playing in the Euro Final the other day, so you’re getting a bunch of ‘Olés.’"
That global network wasn't always available. Former Indiana University Men's Soccer Coach Todd Yeagley started the camp in Indianapolis in the early 1970s (the official date is disputed) with only 20 campers his first year. The turnout was so small in the first years that Yeagley would personally drive around local neighborhoods and recruit any kids who wanted to play.
“It adds to the flavor of the camp," Yarborough added. "Soccer is a very passionate sport and people take it very seriously. For the kids to see some of the staff members and the kids around them feel for the game the way they do lends to the atmosphere and the enrichment of the camp.”
The campers appreciate that international “flavor” and consider it a privilege to be offered such an experience. “With this being one of the best schools in the nation—probably the best school in the nation – it’s an honor,” said Haas. “But it’s still like, am I good enough to play here?”
The “college readiness” is offered for players of all skill levels and prepares players for whatever their pursuit in the sport may be. “I was a former camper,” said Yarborough. “You could probably go down the history of IU’s roster and see that one-third to half of the players at one point were campers and really started their experience in the program through some of their experiences in the camp.”
With practices in five locations around campus every day for the past two weeks, Yarborough was able to summarize the Indiana Soccer Camp’s purpose perfectly. “At the end of the day, are the kids having fun? Have they had a very safe environment to play and develop in? And at the end of the day, are they better soccer players? I think the answer to all three of those is ‘yes.’”
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