Six players battle for possession of the ball during the Princeton High School Youth Soccer Camp last week. Photo by David Wolman / C&S Media

By David Wolman

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World Cup fever has reached Princeton.

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the middle of group stage play last week across 16 cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico, Princeton head boys soccer coach Kent Ackmann has been a fan and has watched the games on television. But he’s also taken in all of the tactical aspects that he’s seen from each of the participating countries and incorporated them into teaching lessons at Princeton’s annual youth soccer camp for young hopefuls entering first through eighth grade.

“It was just great to be able to use the World Cup matches and performances of some of the players as teachable moments to our campers,” he said. “It’s relevant and has immediate references to what we were teaching each day.”

With more than 180 campers participating in the four-day camp – held June 15-18 and lasted from 9 a.m. to noon each day – Ackmann and the 10 other coaches as well as a dozen current players ensured all of the campers received personalized instruction.

Each day had a specific emphasis, followed by small games to promote the emphasis of that day. Ball control was the emphasis on June 15, dribbling on June 16, passing on June 17 and shooting on June 18.

Ackmann said that the structure of the camp helped balance the learning and technical aspect of soccer with the fun and competitive parts of the camp.

“For the younger campers, it’s all about fostering a love of the ball at your feet,” he said. “Giving them a foundation which hopefully leads them into getting more touches on the ball this summer is the goal, which gives them competence through just the sheer volume of touches. That competence leads into confidence, which then leads into more enjoyment playing the game.

“For the older campers, it was just refining their skill such as ball striking, spatial awareness and raising their overall soccer IQ.”

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