FeedsGreat Scots, Part 2
Celtic football returns to Canton
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Canton Soccer Club participants took part in a camp with a range of activities run by the Celtic Football Club out of Glasgow, Scotland last week. This was the second consecutive year that the Scottish soccer club visited Canton.Rab McNab walked among the 10- and 11-year-old girls like a jolly giant clad in green.
“R-A-B M-C-N-A-B, Rab NcNab,” he repeated to the girls in a thick Scottish accent.
“What?” was the response he heard each time. After a few smiles and laughs by all parties, the exchanges didn’t matter because it was back to soccer—or football, rather— where nothing was lost in translation.
After receiving positive feedback following last year’s successful soccer camp with the Celtic Football Club—a Scottish soccer team from Glasgow, Scotland—it was inevitable the Canton Soccer Club would invite the Celtics back for part two.
“We were hoping when we did it last year that it wouldn’t be a one-time type of deal,” said Pete Alexander, the director of the Canton Soccer Club. “The feedback that we got back from the parents and the kids was tremendous.
“When you run a huge camp like this you expect a fair share of criticism or negative comments. We did a survey and, to be completely honest with you, we did not receive one negative comment on the camp last year. The response from the kids was that they pretty much demanded these guys come back.”
Last year’s participants got what they asked for and 11 Celtic players—male and female—converged on Independence Park in Canton Township last week to instruct a series of clinics for more than 400 participants this year.
For the Celtic Club the advantages are two-fold, according to Celtic Player Mark Reid. They have the joy of teaching youth a game they love with hopes of gaining fans for the Celtic club along the way.
“It gives us a chance to show the youth in America a European style of play,” he added. “Hopefully a lot of these kids will become Celtic supporters and follow us and watch our games. And maybe we can help pass on a few things and help them get a scholarship or go and play for a club team and maybe help Canton win a competition somewhere.”
Despite the thick accents, when it comes to soccer little is lost on the field between the different cultures.
“I think football is a universal sport—it’s a simple game,” Reid said. “Along with the explaining, there’s also showing them. And the kids just pick it up. If you show them, they will absorb it. They are doing well with the accents and I think some of them are adopting some Scottish ones as well.”
The camp usually caters to club participants up to the U14 age group but because of the success of last year and the build up to the camp this year, a squad of U16 boys joined the camp, hoping to learn from some of the best in the world.
“We heard the Celtic players were doing it and thought that it would be a good learning experience,” said 16-year-old Nick Schreiber. “Celtic is a well-known club and they sponsor us and we thought that it would be very cool to learn from them.”
Schreiber’s teammate, Chad Osier, 16, noticed a difference between American and European play right away.
“The play is much quicker than we’re used to,” Osier said. “It’s more two-touch. We’ve been learning the basic skills of soccer, which will help us in the long run to make us better players. We’ve also learned to work together and better as a team—to build the chemistry.”
After a strong second-year of Celtic camp it looks like the relationship will continue to grow, according to Alexander.
“We hope that we can do this every year,” Alexander said. “They (the Celtics) have been great. They’re just a wonderful group of coaches. I think it is a great kick off for the year. For us it’s really the beginning of the soccer year.”
“I just think that it is a great experience. Kids walk away from this week and they’re ready to play; they’re fired up about the game again.”
