Soccer at Schools! Featuring: Shu Ren International School
If you are a strictly weekend park site family, you may not know that Soccer Shots is active all week long at daycares, preschools, and elementary schools doing enrichment and after school programming. And likewise, our families who have soccer at school may not know that we offer the same classes their children love at parks in Oakland, Berkeley, and San Francisco on the weekends.
Shu Ren International School is one of the few elementary schools that Soccer Shots serves compared to dozens of preschools and daycare centers. But, they are one of our most dedicated! We are at Shu Ren 4 days a week and recently added on their preschool campus as well. Our classes there reflect the full span of the Soccer Shots curriculum with ages 2 all the way up to 8 and 9. They are also an “All Play” site, meaning the school signs up and handles all enrollment, as opposed to “Elective Sites” where Soccer Shots handles communication with parents and parents sign up their children individually for each season.
At school sites we make virtually any space work, whether it’s a classroom, gym, playground, or field area. Shu Ren happens to have a dedicated enclosed soccer field with turf right next to their playground, so the kids are getting the true soccer practice experience! The biggest difference between schools and park sites is that on the weekends, parents and family members can watch the classes and oftentimes are involved in the games and skills, especially for the Minis. But at schools, it’s just the coach and their class.
Sometimes our coaches will have the same children at a school site and park site. Children can have very different energy levels, participation levels, and personalities between schools and park sites due to the presence of their parents (or lack thereof) and the different environments. Usually at school they are much bolder, more talkative, and more curious! It’s fun to see them on “their” turf and be invited into their world even for a short amount of time.
All of our sessions, no matter the age, are 45 minutes at this school site. This means extra games, more time spent on skill review and scrimmaging, and for the Minis, some extra effort to keep them focused on their soccer balls!
We sat down with Shu Ren International School’s Auxiliary Programs Coordinator, Coco Kelete, to ask about the school’s experience with Soccer Shots and to give some insight on what it is that we do when we’re on site.
Coco says Shu Ren has continued with Soccer Shots as a staple in their after-school programs because the children are “full of energy and life and they need somewhere to release all that energy… and Soccer Shots has been a hit, honestly.” She also says it’s important to “...give them a chance to see if this is their sport, if they like sports, and it may open doors for them in the future.”
When working with the same groups of kids each week, it’s important to establish trust and foster a sense of excitement when they see the coaches walk in wearing their orange jerseys. It may take them a while to learn (and pronounce) their coach's name at their age, but they always yell out “Soccer Shots!” when we see them. In that same way, Coco has done an amazing job establishing a relationship with our coaches and owners. While at the parks our relationships with the parents are a priority, at school sites it is very important that the school staff and coaches can trust each other to ensure the safety and enjoyment of the kids.
Coco says, “Soccer Shots has always been dependable, responsive, caring in the sense where we check in with each other and figure things out together… I always know it’s gonna be great with Soccer Shots!”
We serve about 30 schools each week, and Shu Ren is one of our most dedicated communities. We appreciate the trust and support from not just Coco, the directors, and the parents, but also the children who enter each session with imagination and enthusiasm.
Interested in having Soccer Shots come to your school? Email us at sfbay@soccershots.com!