ROCKINGHAM — For the first time in its history, the Athletic Club of the Sandhills is coming to Richmond County to work with the Rockingham Parks and Recreation Department on the Rockingham Spring Break Camp.
The camp will be held at Browder Park from March 28-31 and will run from 5-6:30 p.m. Camp is targeted for ages U8 through U14 (birth dates July 31, 2008 through Aug. 1, 2001).
“I think it’s fantastic that we are bringing a program to an area that has massive potential when it comes to soccer,” camp director and coach Hunter Pages said. “AC Sandhills has had a boys team based here in Rockingham for the past few years, so we knew the interest was here.”
Even though Pages knew there was interest, he didn’t know how much it had grown until last year.
“I came down over the summer and saw the three-vs.-three event that was being put on by the Richmond Rush. Seeing all the players out there that day playing in the tournament and enjoying themselves was awesome,” Pages added. “That’s why I’m excited about this camp. I’m thankful for the Rockingham Parks and Recreation Department for helping us make this possible because I’ve seen that there really is a want for soccer in the area.”
The camp features three coaches, Julio Penalillo, Luis Pages and Hunter Pages, from the AC Sandhills coaching staff.
Penalillo, the assistant director of coaching, played professional soccer in his home country of Peru and on the international level.
Luis Pages played soccer at Elon University and represented the United States at various international tournaments while growing up in northern Virginia. As a coach for AC Sandhills, he has won two North Carolina State Presidents Cup Championships, a USYS Presidents Cup Regional Championship and finished third in the National Presidents Cup Final Four.
Hunter Pages played club soccer through Sandhills Youth Soccer League, which became AC Sandhills, before attending the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where he competed as the goalkeeper for the club team. He began his coaching career as a coach for the UNC-Greensboro girls club soccer team and is now the staff travel and goalkeeper coach for AC Sandhills.
Registration can be found online at www.acsandhills.com.
The camp fee is $100 but using the discount code “52675” while registering reduces the price to $75.
“A good turnout for this camp means that we can go back to the club and show them that there is a desire for our type of programs here,” Hunter Pages said. “Then we could start looking at putting more camps and programs in Richmond County and really start cultivating the sport of soccer in the area.”
For more information on the Rockingham Spring Break Camp, contact Hunter Pages at [email protected] or at 910-944-9042.