Junior Academy Team Camp 2023 Preview

We’ll kick off the 2023-2024 soccer year with our Junior Academy Team Camp.

The camp runs from Monday, July 31st through Thursday, August 3rd, 5:15 – 6:45 PM each day. We’ll be at United Quest Park field 7 on Monday and Wednesday, and at the Metro North Park TOPS field on Tuesday and Thursday. Players attend all four camp sessions.

Team camp quick links:

Daily schedule:

All players should attend all four sessions, whether their home park is Metro North or United Quest. We’ll combine girls from both parks during our fall season game days, so team camp gives us a big jump on helping players get to know all of their future teammates.

Registration and fee:

  • If you’ve already registered your daughter for the NTH Junior Academy Girls program through the NASA Tophat web site / PlayMetrics, you are automatically registered for team camp.
  • Our team camp is part of the Junior Academy program, and it doesn’t require a separate registration, payment or paperwork.

Weather info:

thunderstormsTeam Camp is normally a “rain or shine” event, but thunderstorms or lightning will stop us from playing. If we have a lightning delay or driving rain, we’ll take shelter in the clubhouse or cars and wait for the storm to pass.

How will we notify parents about weather-related schedule changes?

We’ll post updates to our Junior Academy Girls Twitter account:  https://twitter.com/nasajracadg.

Weather message details:

  • If weather is an issue, we normally post an update by 4 PM.
  • You don’t need a Twitter account of your own to check our Twitter feed. You just need an internet connection and a web browser. Just click our Twitter account link (https://twitter.com/nasajracadg) and you’ll see our feed in your web browser.
  • Our Junior Academy Girls messages apply to us only, not to any other NTH groups.
  • Our Junior Academy Girls messages override NTH club-wide messages unless we state otherwise in our message.
  • If we don’t post an update, that means we’re still on our regular schedule.

Camp checklist:

Healthy kids are happy kids, and happy kids will enjoy camp! Please be sure to take advantage of the following tips and advice to help ensure that your daughter stays in peak condition and has a great camp experience. Link:  quickie checklist (lists items only, without descriptions)

Practice jerseys:

  • Players should wear standard practice attire, including their NTH practice jersey (gray shirts Mon/Tue, white shirts Wed/Thu). If your daughter is new and has not yet received her practice jerseys, she should wear a light-colored shirt. Tight fitting shirts are OK if they are made of moisture-wicking technical fabrics, but tight cotton shirts aren’t a good choice.

Shorts:

  • Girls should wear regular soccer shorts (no jean shorts or cheerleader shorts).

Shin guards:

  • Shin guards are required for all practices and games. See Foot care for notes about stirrup-style shin guards.

Socks:

  • Girls should wear regular soccer socks over their shin guards. Depending on shin guard style, players may also want to wear a thin pair of socks under their shin guards. Check the Foot care section below for more info.

Soccer shoes:

  • We’ll likely be on natural grass at Quest Park, so regular soccer cleats will work fine. We’ll likely be on a carpet-style surface at Metro North Park. “Turf” shoes work best on that surface. Some kids are OK wearing cleats on the carpet, while others may struggle keeping their footing. If your daughter doesn’t have turf shoes, bring sneakers as a backup in case she isn’t comfortable with cleats. Check the Foot care section below for more info about turf shoes.

Slides / sandals:

  • Bring a pair of slides, sandals or flip-flops for after camp. See more in the Foot care section below.

Soccer ball:

  • We use a size 3 ball for the Junior Academy ages. Your daughter is welcome to bring a smaller ball, but we don’t recommend size 4 or 5 balls for our age level. Link:  more about soccer balls

Sunscreen:

  • Store this in a zip-lock bag to avoid leaking onto other stuff.
  • Spray-on sunscreen etiquette:  Please check the direction of any breeze or wind, and apply spray-on sunscreen downwind from your group.

Hair:

  • Girls with longer hair should wear a headband or “scrunchy” or something to keep hair out of their faces. Pre-wrap works well for this.

Water jug:

  • water bottlesBring a large insulated water jug (minimum half-gallon, labeled with your daughter’s name or initials and uniform number), filled with ice and water or sports drink.
  • Bottled water is not recommended unless your daughter brings a cooler containing ice along with the bottled water. Bottled water may be convenient, but without a cooler and ice, it’s not practical for the camp environment. The water won’t stay cold, so girls won’t want to drink it.

No-nos:

  • No hanging or climbing on goals or nets.
  • Leave jewelry at home.
  • No gum.
  • Electronic devices should stay in players’ bags except for after camp or an emergency.

Hydration guidelines:

There are two important benefits to proper fluid intake:

  1. You minimize the risk of heat-related injury or illness.
  2. You enable your body and mind to perform at a higher level for a longer period of time.

Fluid choices:

  • Good fluid choices include water or sports drinks that contain sodium and carbohydrates such as Gatorade and Powerade.
  • Fruit juice and milk aren’t good pre-camp choices, but are fine for the after-camp hours. Recent studies rate chocolate milk as an excellent post-workout recovery drink.
  • Avoid caffeine-laden “energy drinks” such as Red Bull, Monster or Rockstar. (Nutritionists raise red flags about young kids drinking these types of beverages.)
  • Avoid carbonated drinks such as sodas.

A few days before camp:

Start increasing fluid intake 2-3 days before camp begins; if you wait until Monday, you’ll be fighting an uphill battle.

Each afternoon:

  • Drink a pint (16 ounces) before coming to camp.

Bring to camp:

  • water bottlesBring a large insulated water jug (minimum half-gallon, labeled with your daughter’s name or initials and uniform number), filled with ice and water or sports drink.
  • Bottled water is not recommended unless your daughter brings a cooler containing ice along with the bottled water. Bottled water may be convenient, but without a cooler and ice, it’s not practical for the camp environment. The water won’t stay cold, so girls won’t want to drink it.

During camp:

  • Drink 4-8 ounces every 15 to 20 minutes during camp (two gulps is about an ounce). We’ll provide frequent water breaks to give the girls a chance to keep up their fluid intake.

After camp:

  • Drink 24 ounces in the first 1-2 hours after camp ends each day. Recent studies rate chocolate milk as an excellent post-workout recovery drink.

Using weight loss as a guide:

  • If you have a scale at home, weigh your daughter before and after camp each day. If your daughter loses weight, have her drink 16 ounces of fluid for each pound of weight loss.

Foot care:

Some recommendations to avoid blisters and other foot problems:

“Turf” shoes?

Caterpy "no tie" shoelaces

Our Metro North Park camp sessions are usually on the TOPS field. The surface is padded carpet, not grass or artificial turf with infill. Standard soccer cleats don’t have a chance to dig in and grip. Some players who wear cleats aren’t affected, but some may stumble around.

Turf shoes (called “turfs” for short) are ideal for this surface. (For many young players, turfs also work well on natural grass fields.) If your daughter needs new shoes, start with turfs and hold off on buying cleats until she gets a chance to experience turfs. Links:  basic info about soccer shoes  /  detailed info about soccer shoes

New shoes:

If your daughter has new shoes, she should break them in before wearing them to camp. She can accomplish this by wearing them around the house for a few days, and also wearing them for a few 15-30 minute soccer sessions in the yard or park.

Stirrup style shin guards:

If your daughter has “stirrup” style shin guards, she should wear a thin pair of socks underneath them to prevent the stirrup straps from directly rubbing her feet or ankles. Moisture-wicking sock liners (like those worn by hikers and skiers) work well for this purpose.

Slides / sandals:

Your daughter should bring a pair of slides, sandals or flip-flops. When camp is done for the day, she can take off her shoes, socks and shin guards, and switch to slides. Her feet will be thankful!