COLUMBUS — Golden Triangle Elite, the area’s newest youth soccer club, is co-hosting its first soccer camp this week at the Roger Short Soccer Complex. The camp, which runs through Thursday, is geared toward younger players and aims to instill an understanding of the game from an early age.
Jason Spears, founder and director of GTE, was there alongside Tupelo Futbol Club and Starkville High coach Evinn Watson to oversee mini-games and exercises for the young group.
Things are moving quickly for the young club, which formed last month.
“We just finished our tryouts and formed several teams for the upcoming fall and spring seasons,” Spears said. “This is our first camp this week…and we’re really excited. There’s a lot of kids out here learning the basics of soccer and as we go through the week they’ll learn more technical skills.”
With the addition of GTE into the local soccer scene, Spears welcomed an official partnership with TFC with player development in mind.
TFC’s outreach with other programs in northeast Mississippi provides resources and training for coaches and players. It’s a good support system for a club like GTE that is just getting off the ground, and players of all ages get opportunities to work with experienced coaches..
“With GTE starting a new club out here TFC wanted to lend a hand, and really just help grow the game,” Watson said. “That’s the biggest thing is pushing the game out to more cities, and we’re showing we can do that and help expand the game of soccer.”
Watson’s experience stretches far beyond the high school level, and he knows an emphasis on fun is key with younger groups.
“With younger kids you just want them to fall in love with it and have fun, and while we’re having fun you can also add in techniques and tactics,” Watson said. “Then when they’re associating having fun with playing soccer it starts developing a love and understanding for the game and it becomes something beautiful.”
GTE is planning additional summer clinics for strength training and skills development. In a May interview with The Dispatch, Spears detailed some of the more advanced metrics and methods the group plans to offer, including artificial intelligence-powered cameras and monitoring systems fitted to players.
While plans for pioneering new training methods are exciting, the focus for now is providing more chances for its players to compete, and GTE’s partnership with TFC is key to that.
“I think the partnership we have with TFC allows our kids to meet, greet and develop with a larger population of players throughout North Mississippi with camps like what we’re doing here,” Spears said. “Today it’s more local, but with different clinics and the Tupelo developmental league it’ll really help the kids here have more opportunities than they would’ve had before.”
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