On the fields of Indian Mountain School’s beautiful campus, the FC Sarum Soccer Camp quietly spent its 22nd year of existence this summer teaching the area’s youth about the “beautiful game.” Starting in 1991 at Salisbury School, Directors Steve Griggs and Joe Cleary opened the camp offering two weeks of soccer where the aim was to give kids the chance to learn basic skills, sportsmanship, and have fun playing in a competitive atmosphere.
 
After the summer of 1997, Salisbury School started their construction of two new academic buildings, which pushed all the fields across Route 44. IMS graciously worked with Griggs, and became the new host for the program. “Immediately, it was clear that Indian Mountain was going to be the perfect fit,” says Griggs.
 
Over the next 15 years, FC Sarum grew into a three-week program starting just after the Fourth of July where about 200 kids–ranging between five and 16 years old–come to Lakeville for a fun experience. Every year, familiar faces come back to hone their skills and then try to take on the “Pele Course” at the end of the week.
 
The 2012 coaching staff saw a large compliment of familiar faces. More than three-quarters of the staff were former campers, and the new faces joined the ranks with a relative seamless transition. During the opening week of the camp–officially known as “mini” camp–all six coaches had been with the camp before. Indian Mountain’s own Julianna Pecchia and Caddie Jackson completed their week with the 5- to 8-year olds. Mitch Trainor (Head Girls’ Coach at Bethel High School, CT), Maggie Yahn (rising senior at Quinnipiac), Brianna Ongley (HVRHS, Class of 2012) and Colin Griggs (Head Girls’ Coach at Hebron Academy, ME) began their three-week coaching stints with the mini camp.
 
The second and third sessions saw many familiar campers return with smiles and hopes of enjoying the game of soccer again. The camp also saw many returning coaches ready for two weeks of work. This included: Jessie Griggs (Assistant at Shippensburg University), Casey Ftorek (All-American and National Champion at Middlebury College), Matt Matteo (Webutuck), Andrew Giordano (Webutuck), Nancy Palmer (IMS, Hotchkiss, and Williams College), and Robert Carter (IMS and Northwest Regional). The camp also saw Buddy Drew (Marianapolis Prep) return for his second straight year as FC Sarum’s Athletic Trainer.
 
New to the coaching staff this year were Patrick Donovan (Head of Residential Life at IMS), Hawk Blumert (HVRHS) and Myles Clohessy (HVRHS and Central Connecticut). There were also the familiar faces who were only able to return for one week of coaching, which included Peter McEvoy (All-American at UMASS and current Head Men’s Coach at Randolph-Macon College), Andrew Strumolo (IMS, Taft and Middlebury College), Chris Matteo (Webutuck High and Guilford College), and Matt Luckett (Georgetown).
 
Steve Griggs (Camp Director and the winningest coach in Yale’s history) stated, “The beauty of FC Sarum is that since it is such a family-oriented system, we get coaches who return and they are truly part of the FC Sarum family year in and year out. It also helps to be able to spend time with our kids and their friends who join us on the staff.” Colin was the Assistant Athletic Director at IMS for three years, and he is heading back to Maine for his third season as the Head Coach for the Varsity Girls’ team at Hebron Academy. Jessie will be in her third season as Assistant Coach of the women’s team at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania. She has also started FC Sarum PA where she runs clinics and sessions for kids of all ages throughout central Pennsylvania.
 
The family atmosphere looks to continue its efforts again in 2013. The dates have already been set, and the fields will be relined and ready for action starting on July 1, 2013. The mini camp will once again run from Monday-Thursday from 9:00-12:00 and then the second sessions will be from July 8-12 and 15-19 from 9:00-4:00.