Junior Academy Team Camp 2020

We’ll kick off the 2020-2021 soccer year with our Junior Academy Team Camp.

The camp runs from Monday, August 3rd through Thursday, August 6th, 5:00 – 7:00 PM each day at Metro North Park on the TOPS field.

Players attend all four sessions.

Quick links:

Daily schedule:

Camp runs 5-7 PM each day at Metro North Park in East Cobb.

One change from recent years:  all camp sessions take place at Metro North Park (MNP), rather than us having sessions alternate between MNP and United Quest Park UQP. All players should attend all four sessions, whether their home park is MNP or UQP. We’ll combine girls from both parks during our fall season game days, so team camp gives us a jump on helping players get to know all of their future teammates.

COVID-19 policies:

The theme is “Keep kids playing — wear a mask!”

  • Coaches will wear masks during the sessions.
  • We’ll encourage players to practice social distancing during breaks.
  • We encourage parents who attend the sessions to wear masks.

Registration and fee:

  • If you’ve already registered your daughter for the NTH Junior Academy Girls program through the NTH web site, you are automatically registered for team camp.
  • Our team camp is part of the Junior Academy program, and it doesn’t require a separate registration, payment or paperwork.
  • If you have not yet submitted a notarized medical consent form and / or a copy of your daughter’s birth certificate, please submit by the start of camp. (We’ll have a notary at Monday’s camp session.) You can scan the documents into PDF files and e-mail them to your age group’s coach (preferred), or you can hand deliver the documents on the first day of camp. (These documents go to the team coach, not to the NTH registrar.)

Weather info:

thunderstormsTeam Camp is normally a “rain or shine” event, but thunderstorms and lightning will stop us from playing. In past years, if we had a lightning delay or driving rain, we would take shelter at the clubhouse. That’s not advisable right now (think sardines in a can), so we recommend that parents (or guardians) stay for the camp sessions. If we have a lightning delay, we’ll send the kids to their cars to wait for the storm to pass.

How will we notify parents about weather-related schedule changes?

We’ll post updates to our Junior Academy Girls Twitter account and phone hot-line.

Weather message details:

  • If weather is an issue, we normally post an update by 4 PM.
  • You don’t need a Twitter account of your own to check our Twitter feed. Just click our Twitter account link (https://twitter.com/nasajracadg) and you’ll see our feed in your web browser.
  • Our Junior Academy Girls messages apply to us only, not to any other NTH groups.
  • Our Junior Academy Girls messages override NTH club-wide messages unless we state otherwise in our message.
  • If we don’t post an update, that means we’re still on our standard schedule.

Camp checklist:

Healthy kids are happy kids, and happy kids will enjoy camp! Please be sure to take advantage of the following tips and advice to help ensure that your daughter stays in peak condition and has a great camp experience. Link:  quickie checklist (lists items only, without descriptions)

Hand sanitizer:

  • Each player should bring her own hand sanitizer and use it as needed during breaks and at the end of each session.

Practice jerseys:

  • Players should wear standard practice attire, including their NTH practice jersey. If your daughter is new and has not yet received her practice jersey, she should wear a light-colored shirt. Tight fitting shirts are OK if they are made of moisture-wicking technical fabrics, but tight cotton shirts aren’t a good choice.

Shorts:

  • Girls should wear regular soccer shorts (no jean shorts or cheerleader shorts).

Shin guards:

  • Shin guards are required for all practices and games. See Foot care for notes about stirrup-style shin guards.

Socks:

  • Girls should wear regular soccer socks over their shin guards. Depending on shin guard style, players may also want to wear a thin pair of socks under their shin guards. Check the Foot care section below for more info.

Soccer shoes:

  • Turf shoes:  We recommend “turf” shoes for camp. Check the Foot care section below for more info about turf shoes.

Slides / sandals:

  • Bring a pair of slides, sandals or flip-flops for after camp. See more in the Foot care section below.

Soccer ball:

  • We use a size 3 ball for the Junior Academy ages. Your daughter is welcome to bring a smaller ball, but we don’t recommend size 4 or 5 balls for our age level. Link:  more about soccer balls

Sunscreen:

  • Store this in a zip-lock bag to avoid leaking onto other stuff.
  • Spray-on sunscreen etiquette:  Please check the direction of any breeze or wind, and apply spray-on sunscreen down-wind from your group.

Hair:

  • Girls with longer hair should wear a headband or “scrunchy” or something to keep hair out of their faces. Pre-wrap works well for this.

Water jug:

  • water bottlesBring a large insulated water jug (minimum half-gallon, labeled with your daughter’s name or initials and uniform number), filled with ice and water or sports drink.
  • Bottled water is not recommended unless your daughter brings a cooler containing ice along with the bottled water. Bottled water may be convenient, but without a cooler and ice, it’s not practical for the camp environment. The water won’t stay cold, so girls won’t want to drink it.

Snack:

  • Bring a light snack: fruit, veggies, crackers or something low in fat. (No nuts, please—potential allergy issues with teammates!) Link:  snack ideas

No-nos:

  • No hanging or climbing on goals or nets.
  • Leave jewelry at home.
  • No gum.
  • Electronic devices should stay in players’ bags except for after camp or an emergency.

Hydration guidelines:

There are two important benefits to proper fluid intake:

  1. You minimize the risk of heat-related injury or illness.
  2. You enable your body and mind to perform at a higher level for a longer period of time.

Fluid choices:

  • Good fluid choices include water or sports drinks that contain sodium and carbohydrates such as Gatorade and Powerade.
  • Fruit juice and milk aren’t good pre-camp choices, but are fine for the after-camp hours. Recent studies rate chocolate milk as an excellent post-workout recovery drink.
  • Avoid caffeine-laden “energy drinks” such as Red Bull, Monster and Rockstar. (Nutritionists raise red flags about young kids drinking these types of beverages.)
  • Avoid carbonated drinks such as sodas.

A few days before camp:

Start increasing fluid intake 2-3 days before camp begins; if you wait until Monday, you’ll be fighting an uphill battle.

Each afternoon:

  • Drink a pint (16 ounces) before coming to camp.

Bring to camp:

  • water bottlesBring a large insulated water jug (minimum half-gallon, labeled with your daughter’s name or initials and uniform number), filled with ice and water or sports drink.
  • Bottled water not recommended:  This may be convenient, but it’s not practical for the camp environment. The water won’t stay cold, so girls won’t want to drink it.

During camp:

  • Drink 4-8 ounces every 15 to 20 minutes during camp (two gulps is about an ounce). We’ll provide frequent water breaks to give the girls a chance to keep up their fluid intake.

After camp:

  • Drink 24 ounces in the first 1-2 hours after camp ends each day. Recent studies rate chocolate milk as an excellent post-workout recovery drink.

Using weight loss as a guide:

  • If you have a scale at home, weigh your daughter before and after camp each day. If your daughter loses weight, have her drink 16 ounces of fluid for each pound of weight loss.

Foot care:

Some recommendations to avoid blisters and other foot problems:

“Turf” shoes?

Our Metro North Park camp sessions are usually on the TOPS field. The surface is padded carpet, not grass or artificial turf with infill. Standard soccer cleats don’t have a chance to dig in and grip. Some players who wear cleats aren’t affected, but some may stumble around. Turf shoes (called “turfs” for short) are ideal for this surface. (For many young players, turfs also work well on natural grass fields.) If your daughter needs new shoes, start with turfs and hold off on buying cleats until she gets a chance to experience turfs. Links:  basic info about soccer shoes  /  detailed info about soccer shoes

New shoes:

If your daughter has new shoes, she should break them in before wearing them to camp. She can accomplish this by wearing them around the house for a few days, and also wearing them for a few 15-30 minute soccer sessions in the yard or park.

Stirrup style shin guards:

If your daughter has “stirrup” style shin guards, she should wear a thin pair of socks underneath them to prevent the stirrup straps from directly rubbing her feet or ankles. Moisture-wicking sock liners (like those worn by hikers and skiers) work well for this purpose.

Slides / sandals:

Your daughter should bring a pair of slides, sandals or flip-flops. When camp is done for the day, she can take off her shoes, socks and shin guards, and switch to slides. Her feet will be thankful!