Every year plenty of young athletes participate in one if not more summer sports programs.

One issue with all of this availability is keeping those athletes focused on the sports they play during the school year. Some summer activities are solely meant for offseason training, which present opportunities for the athletes to stay focused and improve their games during their time off.

One such opportunity is within the Kaw Valley Soccer Association, which has many selections of offseason activities to keep soccer players focused on soccer in the summer months.

“We try to keep the kid’s focus on soccer even when their season is over, we provide several different approaches to offseason training in fun ways that also tone their skills,” said Mauro Nobre, the director of the KVSA.

Nobre and the KVSA have different levels of camps, as well as summer leagues for youth athletes, depending on their age and skill level.

“The higher your skills grow, the more things begin to open up for you,” Nobre said. “In our advanced classes, we have three versus three tournaments during the day to begin to teach them the competitive edge since their fundamentals is more experienced.”

The Kaw Valley league is also open to creating traveling summer teams, for offseason games and tournaments for players wanting to join. The league determines in advance the potential of the working athletes, and gives some the option to pursue summer tournaments to help prepare them for their season.

“Three versus three tournaments are growing nationwide,” Nobre said. “It has a faster pace, keeps the players endurance in check, and has other extremely beneficial qualities.”

For those who just wish to stay in the camps and work more toward their fundamentals and other traits, the KVSA can accommodate them. Each camp has a different theme, a theme designed for each specific position the athlete wishes to excel.

Each camp also has a competition built in for the players to keep track of their progress, as well as stay in competition with the other players.

One of the KVSA members, Tanner Williams, an upcoming eighth-grader at Southwest Junior High, has been apart of the association for many years. Williams also is one of three Lawrence athletes to make the Kansas Olympic League, which only selected 36 players in the state. These players are chosen to compete nationally in tournaments

“We go to practices and other scheduled events,” Williams said. “College coaches watch us play and pick out the best players to travel to Chicago to compete for the regional team for the state of Kansas. It’s really cool.”

In order to keep his focus on soccer the entire year, Williams participates in several camps in the offseason through the KVSA.

“We work on skills, fitness, and just about everything else,” Williams said.

“We have drills and exercises to work on our abilities and our endurance out on the playing field.”

In many cases, athletes have the issue of balancing two sports at once, especially in the summer. Williams is also involved in tennis, and already plans to balance all of the different camps he will be involved in this summer.

“It works out for me this summer because all of my soccer and tennis camps are at different times, so there is no need to have to choose between them,” Williams said. “I’m just glad I can still do both and still be focused on soccer.”