This past Tuesday, June 23, the Sporting Club Network and FC Kansas City teamed up to host an All Girls Mini Clinic at the Swope Soccer Village, the home training grounds of Sporting Kansas City and FC Kansas City. The event was a tremendous success as close to 100 girls, ages 6 to 13, attended the clinic, which was free of charge to both SCN members as well as players for clubs in partnership with FCKC.
After splitting into smaller groups based on age and skill level, the players rotated through six different stations during the hour-and-a-half session. Activities included drills focused on passing, dribbling, shooting, and foot skills, followed by a question-and-answer session that afforded the girls an opportunity to ask professional players whatever questions may have come to mind, soccer-related or otherwise.
On field, the Sporting Club Network coaches were joined by Sporting KC players Servando Carrasco and Jalil Anibaba, and FC Kansas City stars Erika Tymrak and Leigh Ann Robinson, each of whom did a great job imparting beneficial instruction and advice whenever possible. Lastly, once the rotation through each station was completed, participants lined up for autographs from and photos with Carrasco, Anibaba, Tymrak, and Robinson.
On a basic level, the host organizations—SCN and FCKC—planned this exclusive clinic with the intention of its coinciding with a much larger celebration of women’s sports. More specifically, it was no coincidence that the date of the mini clinic fell on the 43rd anniversary of Title IX, the law passed in 1972 that prohibits financial discrimination based on gender in education activities that receive Federal financial assistance. In other words, Title IX ensures that women are given the same, equal opportunities as men when it comes to college sports and scholarships.
What’s also interesting about the timing of this event is that it overlaps with the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada. The US Women’s National Team, complete with 4 FC Kansas City players on its roster, has advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament and takes on China at 6:30pm on Friday night in Ottawa. Plenty of Tuesday’s mini clinic participants indicated their interest in this year’s World Cup, so we’re glad we were able to supplement that fandom with some real soccer instruction.
Thank you to all who helped make the All Girls Mini Clinic a great success! Click here to check out the photo album. The Sporting Club Network looks forward to putting on more events like this one in the future, so be sure to stay tuned on Facebook and on our website for the links to register.
If your club or organization is interested in joining the Sporting Club Network to gain access to these exclusive events, please contact Alex Firchau at afirchau@SportingKC.com.
