No products in the basket.
Summer in Edinburgh means one thing for junior Hibs fans and aspiring footballers: Hibs Heroes Summer Camps.
This summer HCF offered a raft of camp options for junior footballers in the Hibernian Community, running from the second week of school holidays in early July right through to the last week in August. In total the five weeks of camps hosted over 440 players aged 3 to 13.
With such a wide range of ages taking part, it’s important for HCF to offer different activities to keep everyone engaged whilst making sure they are still having fun. This year saw the introduction of two new camps, Girls Only and Goalkeepers, to great success with the highest number of girls participating ever.
“Unfortunately, the trend is for girls to drop out of sports as they get older as there aren’t appropriate programmes for them,” said Samantha Windram, HCF Football Development Officer.
“We want to curb this and encourage more girls to stay in sport and specifically football. By offering the Girls Only programme for them we can tailor their experience and give them something for them to be comfortable in.”
This personalised approach is something that parents have noticed as well, and is a big reason for them to keep sending their kids.
“We have been to other camps where it is not as tailored,” said one parent. “The coach was great at getting all children involved and the staff are wonderful with kids. It’s great to see more girls attending as well.”
Sam and her fellow coaches strive to offer something new at each camp, keeping kids energised and giving parents more reasons to keep coming back to Hibs Heroes.
Another new initiative that was introduced earlier this year over Easter was the Player of the Day and Player of the Week awards, proving to be a massive hit with camp participants. Over 60 high performers were given the honours throughout summer camps, giving them something extra to take home.
“Since we introduced the Player of the Day and Week awards the kids have been all over it. It’s not just about the skills on the pitch, but their behaviour and discipline off it. We want to not only make better footballers but also better people.”
Not only are the camps specialised for those with keen interests, they also act as a cheaper alternative to childcare for the summer; with the added benefits of staying active, keeping healthy, learning new skills and making new friends.
A further element of the camps this year was the addition of attendees from HCF’s Extra Time, offering 80 spaces for participants. Extra Time is a programme that runs throughout the school year to provide extra time for under-privileged families to support children with physical activity, predominantly football, whilst giving extra time back to parents to increase or maintain working hours, daily tasks and increase their mental wellbeing.
“This year it was important that Extra Time continued beyond the school year,” said Niamh Westwood, HCF Football Development Officer.
“The school holidays can be a really difficult for parents who need to continue to work full-time but need to provide care for their kids. Through the Extra Time funding we were able to provide spaces for our regular participates and alleviate some of the child-care stress for their parents.”
After such a successful summer, the Hibs Heroes teams are already hard at work preparing for the next round of camps in October, looking to find new ways to make it fresh and exciting all over again!
