British invasion as Challenger Sports hosts soccer clinic

For the United States, it’s soccer. But for Ryan Elsbury and just about every other country in the world, it’s football.

Elsbury, a native of Bristol, a city in south west England, was in Vandalia last week coaching the Challenger Sports Soccer Clinic. In addition to trying to say soccer instead of football, Elsbury worked with groups of kids 9 and under and ages 10-14 on soccer skills.

For the second straight year, Challenger Sports has held a clinic in Vandalia. However, this was Elsbury’s first time in the town, which is still trying to establish a soccer base.

“The kids have been superb everywhere I’ve been,” he said. “There is a lot of potential in the area. I came in thinking it was going to be a really small camp and being a more (American) football or baseball town, but I’m extremely pleased with the progress so far.” Even on the second day of camp, he was starting to see improvement.

“They’re really, really into it. I mean, a lot of them really surprised me by saying they’ve been playing soccer since they were 4, which was incredible.” Elsbury said. “I didn’t expect that at all. There’s a really good standard of soccer players in the area.”

Despite being just 22 years old, Elsbury has been coaching for six or seven years and has been playing soccer since he was a toddler.

“I absolutely love it,” he said.

Challenger’s clinics not only teaches kids the game of soccer, it also helps cultivate soccer coaches. Elsbury, a recent graduate of the University of Worcester, with a degree in sports science, has spent the last six weeks in the states traveling all over Indiana, Michigan and Illinois, coaching at camps as large as 130 kids with five other coaches, to smaller camps like in Vandalia

“[At the] small camps, which are completely different, you’re all on your own. It’s a different sort of coaching, where kids get more one-on-one time,” Elsbury said.

Vandalia’s group of ages 9 and under had seven participants, while the older age group had nine.

After coaching the clinic here, Elsbury still has four more stops left before returning home to England.

“I’ve come over to the States to get some experience and experience a different culture,” he said. “I’ve had an absolutely fantastic time so far.”

At the end of the summer, Elsbury will take his knowledge and experience back to England and try to get into professional coaching back home.

He also has the option of continuing to work for Challenger. In the fall, he could be a Challenger Club Trainer (CCT). He would be placed in an area for up to 12 weeks and coach an area team or a small group of players. This would give him the opportunity to stay with a group of kids longer and get some in-game coaching experience.

Elsbury left Vandalia this past weekend headed for another town to stay with another host family, and this weekend he will move on to another town.

If Elsbury’s plans to coach don’t come to pass, he’d still like to work in sports in the field of sports development, working for the local councils and setting up programs in the area.

As for his week in Vandalia and his summer in the States, it’s been “brilliant.”