Fortunately for Stauffer and the rest of his 30-plus helpers leading the more than 150 participants ranging from ages 5 to 14, they had plenty.

According to Stauffer the record turnout for the week-long camp held at the West Branch Soccer Club may be attributed to last year’s camp being canceled.

“We didn’t have camp last year because of COVID, and when the registration was coming in my mailbox early in May and I thought ‘wow, this is going to be incredible.’ I thought this was going to be a big one. It is, it’s the biggest ever,” Stauffer said. “We had 154 as of Sunday night and four people showed up Monday morning to register. Fortunately, I had enough soccer balls ready. It’s tremendous.”

Tucked into the camp’s brochure sent out prior to this week, it’s stated the emphasis is “to create a learning environment where the camper is introduced to the skills, techniques, and tactics associated with the modern game of soccer.”

Chase Bottorf/L.H. Express Youth soccer players run drills during the West Branch youth soccer camp this past week.

Fun is the name of the game and the top reason the campers elected to participate. Outside of entertainment, Stauffer said the campers are introduced to the game and taught key socialization skills.

“The goals are to have fun, introduce the game, and teach socialization skills. Especially if there were kids who weren’t in school last year and of course teach them soccer skills and develop a love of the game. It’s also a money-maker and fundraiser for the West Branch soccer club.”

Stauffer is not on his own in terms of leadership. The more than 30 staff members come from a plethora of backgrounds all stemming from some soccer connection to the area. Bill Hook, the Central Mountain boys coach, headlines the group. Former high school coaches and players are all over the multiple soccer fields laying back-to-back to another. Also instructing campers are a total of six LHU soccer players ranging from both teams.

During Thursday’s session, LHU men’s coach Patrick Long made an appearance to perform a demo for the group of athletes. Long is no stranger to the camp as he was once a camper himself.

The end of camp offers the opportunity to focus more on scrimmages and less on technical work.

Chase Bottorf/L.H. Express Youth soccer players run drills during the West Branch youth soccer camp this past week. More than 150 kids came out for it, the largest turnout ever.

In terms of next year’s camp, Stauffer anticipates an even larger turnout.

“We have 30 six-year-olds and we’re hoping the nucleus of them move up through West Branch and onto the high school and keep playing,” he said. “For next year’s camp I hope it’s the same or bigger. We have a lot of space still. All I have to do is order some more tee shirts and hire more coaches.”