August 10 -- If you have driven past the town hall this week you've probably seen soccer campers swarming over the town ball fields. Soccer Camp is a Recreation Department success. Led by Adam Heck for the past eight years, the program has grown from only 28 players to 150 this summer.

This year the program saw a jump in attendance from 135 in the last two years to 150. 15 coaches help Mr. Heck, a Middle School physical education teacher who coaches the Boy's Varsity Soccer team at Lansing High School. He also coaches Intramural Basketball, Handball, and Floor Hockey. "I love it," he said in a break on Wednesday. "A lot of the coaches are ex-players of mine, so it's great to have them back and spend the week with them."

Adam Heck leads Soccer Camp

Paul Tucci, who had interrupted a bicycle ride to watch the players, told the Star that a lot of the first group that went to this camp eight years ago were on the Varsity Soccer team that made it to the State Championship Class C Finals last season.

Dan Cheatham coaches his team

One of those players is Dan Cheatham, who is also coaching this summer. Mr. Cheatham, who will be attending Syracuse University this fall, said,"Being undefeated in the regular season and making it to the State Championship -- you can't ask for much more." While the Lansing team didn't win, it was the first time it made it to the Championships. "The final game was a tough battle," said Mr. Cheatham. We had a couple of bad breaks." But he said the regular season was outstanding. "We only allowed 11 goals all season. That's a credit to our goalie and our defense."

Soccer camp runs from August 8-12. Whether playing on a team or practicing there was constant activity and enthusiasm. With players from third through ninth grade, the campers attend instruction and demonstrations as a group, then break up into teams in three divisions: The coed NCAA division includes third, forth and fifth graders with some sixth graders. Seventh through ninth graders play in the Boys World Division and the Girls World Division. Players are assigned to a team for the week, which ends with a tournament. At the end of the camp each participant gets a camp T-shirt and the opportunity to win prizes in a raffle.

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