Before the Orange Thunder U8 boys soccer team takes the field, coach Dan Grover makes sure to lead his players in a chant.
“What’s rule No. 1? Have fun,” the cry goes out. “What’s rule No. 2? Have fun! What’s rule No. 3? Have fun!”
The message never changes. In fact, it was amplified during the Northwest Arkansas Kohl’s Jamboree, which brought 75 teams to the Sugar Creek Soccer Complex this week for some fun.
“I’m not sure what to expect,” Grover said. “But with this age group, it’s about the fundamentals. We’re trying to teach them their positions and get them to understand the concept of soccer.
“But we also want them to have fun and have a great time.”
In addition to local teams, there were teams from areas such as Eureka Springs, Harrison, Fort Smith, Mountain Home and Russellville. That allowed teams to see a little different competition during the event.
“This is going to be an interesting tournament,” said Gayle Smith, executive director for the Arkansas State Soccer Association. “For some of these teams, it’s the first time to experience a tournament atmosphere. But this format will allow kids to experience it and have a good time.”
The format also gives teams and players an opportunity to try something they may have to experience down the road. Such was the case as the JRG Pearl, a U13 girls team from Bentonville.
The JRG Pearl chose to play in an older age group, spending Saturday morning playing the U14 Blitz from Siloam Springs. Coach Chris Davenport said his team would get to experience some things that will help them down the road.
“We have a couple of girls that are getting really close to that age group,” Davenport said. “We’ve been used to playing 8 v 8 and on a smaller field, so we wanted our girls to know what it is like to be on the bigger field.
“Because we have only 12 players on our team, we had to go and find three players that used to play for us in order for us to have some subs. I thought we played very well, but we did start to get tired there in the second half.”
The adjustments made by the Razorbacks, however, were a little different. The Razorbacks, a U10 girls team from Bentonville and Rogers, played their Saturday match on a field designed for U8 teams.
“It was difficult for our girls to adjust to the smaller field,” said Christy Seidle, one of the Razorbacks’ team mothers. “But our girls did a good job. They still went out there and competed and had a really good time out there.”
The jamboree continues from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. today at the Sugar Creek Soccer Complex.