World-class soccer kicked off the month of July at Storm King with the Arsenal FC Soccer School. From July 1 – 6, one of the United Kingdom’s favorite soccer brands welcomed boys and girls ages 10 to 16 at their summer residential camp which took place on the scenic campus of The Storm King School. Forty-three campers came from as close as Cornwall, NY to as far as the Midwest and Trinidad to hone their soccer skills and work with some of the world’s finest youth coaches.

Faculty child, Easton Pramuka—with her hair in a ponytail and wearing a green penny—enjoyed her time at the Arsenal summer camp and is looking forward to attending next year.

During the week-long session, young players of all levels trained with a combination of on-field instruction and daily workshops based on the latest findings in sports science – a method called the Total Player Concept®. As the campers learned similar drills and tactics used by the Arsenal’s first-string team, they covered a wide range of subjects including Arsenal FC history, tactical and video analysis, sports psychology, nutrition and fitness, motivation and performance, and more – all while living communally on Storm King’s beautiful campus.

Daily training was led by official coaches from Arsenal FC and consisted of two training sessions and a scrimmage. Goalkeepers were integrated into small-sided games and full matches in order to hone their decision-making skills. Coaches were overseen by experienced technical directors and worked with players on all aspects of the game: technical, tactical, physical, and psychological. During the evenings, campers attended workshops and participated in fun activities. The camp concluded with an awards ceremony featuring the sports world’s renowned motivational speaker Gian Paul Gonzalez.

Two Storm King students, Maddy Mendlewski ’22 and Noah Mendlewski ‘20, attended the camp and gave it rave reviews. “It was a great experience and I think the skills I learned will really help me with my play throughout the soccer season at Storm King,” explained Noah, an SKS junior who will play varsity soccer this fall. Freshman Maddy also had positive things to say about her week at the camp: “I feel that the Arsenal camp helped me improve my soccer skills in areas I didn’t even know needed improvement. I learned many new things and I feel a lot more confident and comfortable with my soccer skills now.”

Faculty child, Easton Pramuka—on the left—receiving the player of the week award.