Football continues to attract among highest numbers to its summer camp

With well over 400 plus youngsters registering for the two weeks of summer camps being offered by the Gibraltar FA, there was clear optimism that the sport still continued to lead in its attraction of young sports people.
Although organisers were unable to give a full figure on how many had applied when first approached, they were able to indicate that over 396 were known to have registered over a week before the camp had started, with the numbers increasing steadily as they approached the final days of registration.
The football camp was to be hosted at the Europa Sports Park, providing the Gibraltar FA with an alternative venue whilst the main pitch at the Victoria Stadium was in use with the UEFA competitions.
Structured to provide session to differing age groups at different times during the morning, the camp was aimed at focusing on the different youth categories and providing a chance to gain new skill sets and contacts away from the club structure most players were accustomed to during the season.
Although rivalled by the fact that basketball, padel tennis, beach volleyball, ju-jitsu and Brazilian Ju-Jitsu camps were also taking place at the same time, football continued to attract one of the highest number of participants.
The high numbers, however, did not have a significant impact on the other camps as Gibraltar’s youth now settle into a more focused pathway where those interested in football continue to follow their route, whilst those seeking to find an alternative sport to the more popular one have started to find their way to the alternate sports.
The football camp itself saw a mix of boys and girls, with the number of girls involved very evident. Among the coaches and volunteers used now seeing a larger number of females providing a more familiar and mixed scenario.
Like other sports camps that took place last week, the football camp saw an immediate jump for youngster from being in a school environment on Monday and then a football camp the next day.
With the sport using Europa Point as its venue, it was one of the furthest ones away from the main city centre. However, the use of Europa meant that there was a lower traffic flow to content with making it easy for parents to transfer their children to the venue. A quick verification of registration by personnel waiting by the gates, with smaller numbers than usual, due to the split in year groups, also allowing for a quicker processing time when children were being dropped off.