STELLARTON – The term ‘play like a girl’ used to have a bad connotation.
A daylong soccer camp for girls next month should further erode that antiquated point of view.
The Play Like a Girl female camp, to be held May 26 from 8 to 4 p.m., will take place at Northumberland Regional High School in Alma and is for females ages eight to 12.
“The whole idea behind this is to get young girls out and show them where the sport has taken some of them,” said Jackie Fitt, who is head coach of the women’s soccer program at the Dalhousie Agricultural University in Bible Hill, Colchester County.
“We want them thinking that sports are a lifelong thing and they can take you places and give you experiences.”
The free event for players registered with Northern Nova United or Highland Football Club, and will highlight some past and present soccer players from the Highland Region who have had positive experiences with the sport; Katie Walsh, Melanie Hill, Shanice Maxwell, Bailey MacDonald and T-Anna Fraser have volunteered their time for the camp. Also taking part will be youth volunteers from the NNU and HFC programs.
“The goal is to show young players how their passion, dedication and hard work can truly make a difference in all aspects of their life,” said Fitt.
There will be a skills session, a lunch break provided by Subway, more work on soccer skills and then tournament games, with a Q&A period to follow. That will give the girls and their parents an opportunity to ask questions of the university-calibre players.
She said the camp will focus on the positive aspects of females who play sports, such as higher levels of confidence and self-esteem and a more positive body image.
“There’s no question there’s a gap in Canada, when it comes to girls playing sports versus boys playing sports – and how girls stop playing earlier.”
A Stellarton High School grad, where she was a keeper for the SHS Warriors, Fitt later was an Atlantic University all-star at University of New Brunswick. She now teaches and is athletic director at NRHS, in addition to her work with the Dal-Rams program.
Registration began on April 15 and there are still spots available. To register, email: [email protected].
