West Ham International ID camp feedback

I wouldn't think it would hurt, as long as you have the money. My son has gone to various different camps, some affiliated with national or international clubs, and the quality varies. Your motivation is exactly right, and that's the most important thing.

Remember that although there is a West Ham affiliation, don't expect anything that is not explicitly promised. Even if they use "West Ham" in their title, you are not guaranteed West Ham coaches unless they actually tell you that. From the pictures, it looks like many many kids go to the camps, so you'll have to ask your son if it is worth it if it goes.

At age 10, my son was barely past the "pick flowers or that black stuff out of the turf" phase. At 16, he is being recruited by D1 schools and has attended trials by invitation. Your job with a 10 year old who shows a lot of talent is to make sure your son NEVER gets discouraged. I know a prodigy who was amazing at 10, unbelievable at 11, attention from national scouts at 12, and quit at 13 because he was cut from his dream club (top five club for boys in the US). This kid used to destroy his house, practicing hours and hours each day, at 13 he quit cold.

I tell my son, even at 16, to "have fun and do your best". The first part is more important than the second. Everything else, the skill, the ability to compete with the best, the transition from local to regional to national player, will not come without the player enjoying the sport, day in, day out, no matter what.

 

not worth the money or worry. skip this camp.

 

I would disagree. My 8 year old attended a regional camp in early July, and was selected to go to the national camp at the end of July. Even if that's all he got out of it, it would have been worth it. Got to spend a good part of a week being trained by the actual West Ham academy coaches. The quality of the other kids at the camp was higher than any other camp he's ever attended(granted he's too young to do ODP, YPT , etc). If you can't afford to go overseas, it's a great way to get coaching by very high level guys. My son was selected to go to London for a week this spring, and while it is on me, it is not as expensive as I expected, and should be a tremendous experience. I'd actually intended to write the OP on here and thank him for posting the camp info, as that's how I found out about it.

 

$125 is a steal. Run at this opportunity and be thankful you don't have to drive 8 or 9 hours. Go for ODP as soon as possible if you can. Our coach dissuaded ODP and we listened to his poor advice. We didn't start hitting out of club events till he was 12. And ODP at 15. Wish we had started both earlier. Opportunities to "try out" for anything meaningful are hard to find. Our kid would love to go to different soccer clubs just to "try out". Meeting new kids, and perhaps playing with a group who "want's it" as much as your kid. Builds his confidence out of his regular environment. At ten you'll at least get a measurement of those precious Pavlovian skills too. Three days of new coaches, potential for a call back ! Sounds awesome. And a good time with new talented kids can help your son fall even more in love with The Beautiful Game. But a caveat exist ...It could suck and be horrible coaches. We have not yet had that experience in any trials or summer camps. Know what it would mean for your kid to get called back.... how cool is that? Or that teaching moment that gets presented of not getting called back? Been to both and those life lesson moments can't be bought or scheduled. Worth it for that alone. Plus....New Friends !! Woo Hooo!! Unless someone you trust says it totally sucks I'd give it the benefit of the doubt.

 

I wanted to add, that the one way I could see someone saying that this camp isn't worth it, is if you only attended the local camp. I think those probably vary a lot in terms of quality of other players. The local camp my son attended there were probably 40 or so kids there for his age group(u8-u12), and the level of play varied a lot. There were only 3 kids from that group invited to the national camp(my son, a boy that plays for the chicago fire academy 2002 team, and the best player from the club that hosted the camp). I think out of the 40 kids only my son, and the fire kid were the only ones not from the club that hosted it. I could definitely see how if you just went to that camp you might not think it was worth it, although the coaching was good. Very little downtime, lots of time on the ball, high level stuff. But, if you were just looking at the quality of other players it varied a lot. But the national camp was an awesome experience, and I'm definitely planning on doing it again. My son's group was coached by the head u12 and u11 west ham academy coaches the whole time they were there, and we received a written evaluation from the u12 coach in the mail a few weeks after the camp. My son can't wait to go to London, though I don't think he realizes what a cool opportunity it is. I would definitely recommend it.

 

I know I'm exhuming here, but my oldest was selected to go to the national camp in GA at the end of July. Any advice from those who've been before is appreciated, and, if anyone is still interested, I can report back with my impressions in August.

 

My son is also going to the GA camp at the end of July. I sent you a message via conversations

 

im doing my research on this as well as my son was also selected for the wolverhampton national camp end of july
would love to hear more from anyone that has already gone.

 

I can give you a basic overview of the camp if that's helpful. You've probably already read my comments so you know my son has had a positive experience. He has now attended the national camp in Georgia twice and attended the London experience twice. Someone we met there had also had a child attend the Wolvehampton national camp and it sounded as if their national camp was very similar to the West Ham camp. The basic schedule is: Day 1-arrive mid afternoon. Introduction with coaches. One training session in evening followed by dinner. Day 2 and 3: three training sessions one day and two the other(group is split in half. One group gets a couple hours in pool while other group does indoor technical session during afternoon). Day 4: training in morning. Closing meeting with coaches. Pack up and leave. Each training session is between 90 and 120 minutes long. Each group will have around 15-20 kids in it and will be lead by an academy coach. At least that is how our experience has been. While of course there is some variety in quality of players, in my experience all the players were at least good quality with the majority being very high level players. The facilities are very nice, but it is Georgia in July so it can be hot! Hope this helps.

 

thank you for the feedback.. my son is very excited to attend we are driving 14 hrs away and im glad that this will be a good experience for him, he will get to play and do what he likes and i will take his mom shopping
my son is looking forward to going to england lol, things we do for our children

 

We attended our first regional camp this past June and the experience there was incredible. Granted it was a mix of player talent at the regional camp but the coaching was unlike anything I have seen. Our two West Ham coaches were dynamic, energetic, encouraging, tough, high level. It was non stop for the two hour sessions and the most effective use of time of any camp we have attended. Both my kids had a blast and both were invited to the national camp in Georgia. We were hesitant given the cost and commitment but the thing I held onto was if it is anything like the coaching at the regional camp, it is going to be an awesome experience.

My daughter went earlier this week and my son is finishing up today. I watched all my daughter' sessions and I was blown away. The passion and energy the West Ham coaches have is absolutely awesome. Even those coaches from around the country who helped were all top notch also. The drills were high level, the campus location gorgeous and the camp was incredibly well run. My daughter has been to many soccer camps and she said it was the best things she ever did in her life! Have not heard the final assessment from my son but he has been loving it so far. Having Tony Carr there and right in the mix of things was a huge plus. In my opinion, attend the regional camp - well worth your money and if you can do it, the national camp is top notch.

Oh and the Georgia heat was something else but they really stress hydration and rest.

 

So I wanted to let the entire process play out, and let the "shine" wear off a bit, before commenting. Here are my thoughts...

• Regional Camps - My guess is that the regional camps are hit or miss. I heard from a few folks at the national camp that their regional camp seemed like a money grab. I'm thinking they are run mostly by a local club that has some affiliation with West Ham, but that affiliation might be tight or loose. So the regional camp is quite dependent on the quality of the local club. Our regional camp was tremendous. For the last two days of camp, my son spent quite a bit of time being trained by Julian Dicks, whom you can see these days on the sidelines of the West Ham first team matches.
• National Camp - Far and away the best camp experience we've had. The Darlington School is a top-notch facility. Spoke to parents who had recently attended the Barcelona camp in Orlando, and they said the West Ham camp beat the pants off it. Coaches were super-approachable, whether you were parent or player. The training was well-organized and conducted at a fast pace, but with ample breaks for hydration. The quality of player was what I would call truly elite. I saw things in scrimmages that would light up YouTube, including an over-the-head volley bicycle goal that would have made Luis Suarez's career highlight reel. Seriously, these kids were freaking good. And then there's the memory I get to keep of Tony Carr playing the thigh control / return volley with my son, the same Tony Carr who was running that drill with Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand and Jermaine Defoe twelve years ago. What a gentleman he was, even in, as uwhusky mentioned, that damn Georgia heat.

I won't presume to advise you on going to a Regional Camp, as YMMV in the extreme on those. If you know the local club and have faith, then go for it. If you get the opportunity to attend the National Camp - DO IT. Just a first class experience in every way.

Lastly, we just got word that my son was selected for the Elite Academy Experience. We will go next year and train at West Ham with a handful of other kids from various West Ham camps, culminating in a match vs. the West Ham Academy U12s. Proud does not even begin to describe it.

Please feel free to hit my inbox with any specific questions you have.

 

I have worked at the National Camp in Rome. I think ncsoccerdad gave a really good write up. If you have any other questions give me a shout and I'll try to help. FWIW in my completely biased opinion, it IS the best ID camp in the nation