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Challenger Sports and the National Association of Intercollegiate
Athletics (NAIA) have announced a partnership involving
the NAIA's Champions of Character programming in conjunction
with the 1,300 British Soccer Camps that Challenger
Sports operates in the United States.
"We are extremely excited at the prospect of integrating
the NAIA Champions of Character program into the British
Soccer Camp program." stated Challenger Vice President
Peter Arch.
"We have always had an underlying theme of character
development and sportsmanship built into our camps,
however the NAIA Champions of Character initiative provides
us with a structure of five clearly defined core values
that everyone here at Challenger firmly believes in.
We also believe that the elements that are championed
in this initiative; respect, responsibility, integrity,
servant leadership and sportsmanship are things that
are often lost in youth sports programs today."
The program will have camp coaches teaching character
traits through the game of soccer. Each day, campers
will be taught soccer skills as well as how a soccer
player can choose to be an athlete of character. This
will be done through daily themes being taught during
the camp.
"The Champions of Character message is a process
to intentionally teach character through sport. No matter
how young the athletes are, we can use sport to teach
more than physical skills." stated Rob Miller,
NAIA Director of Champions of Character Initiatives.
The partnership will begin with training sessions for
coaches during the winter and spring of 2004. Implementation
of the program will take place at the camps this coming
summer. Arch went on to say,
"Not only do we look forward to launching this
to some 55,000 campers on our 1,300 soccer camps throughout
the US this summer, but we also hope to encourage the
soccer organizations holding Challenger Sports British
Soccer Camps to adopt this initiative and build it in
to their year round league and practice programs."
For more information on the Champions of Character
initiative, contact the NAIA National Office at 913-791-0044
or www.championsofcharacter.org.
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