MS Sports camps – from a coach’s point of view

Today I am on my way to Schaffhausen. One of the approx­i­mate­ly 1,000 sports camps organ­ised annu­al­ly by MS Sports in Switzer­land has been tak­ing place here since Mon­day. This week alone, 25 sports camps will be held.  Ten teams play simul­ta­ne­ous­ly on the five foot­ball pitch­es. I hear moti­vat­ed shouts in Ger­man and French, but also stern­er-sound­ing voic­es giv­ing instruc­tions. 20 par­tic­i­pants and three coach­es will stay overnight at Schaffhausen Youth Hos­tel dur­ing this camp. One of these coach­es is Patrick Schneuw­ly.

Footballer and coach out of passion

Patrick has been active­ly play­ing foot­ball since child­hood. Unfor­tu­nate­ly, he had to give up his pro­fes­sion­al career for health rea­sons. He now pass­es on his dream to his two chil­dren and the camp par­tic­i­pants with lots of tips and tricks. In real life, he is a sports coor­di­na­tor and event man­ag­er.

Patrick found out about the MS Sports camps by chance from an acquain­tance. His offi­cial­ly recog­nised coach­ing licence and the moti­va­tion to active­ly coach chil­dren led him to the train­ing camps four years ago. His flex­i­ble job allows him to do this. Many coach­es work part-time or have spe­cial arrange­ments with their employ­ers to engage in such activ­i­ties main­ly dur­ing the school hol­i­days.  

These are the aims of the coaches 

“The aim,” Patrick stress­es, “is to chal­lenge each child indi­vid­u­al­ly.” Going beyond one’s lim­its is active­ly encour­aged. Espe­cial­ly in the camps last­ing sev­er­al days, a bond can be built, says Patrick. 

Of course, I want to find out from Patrick what hap­pens when a child or teenag­er gets, shall we say, “cheeky”. The answer is sim­ple and apt: You get a yel­low card or a red card. The boys and girls are respon­si­ble for keep­ing their dor­mi­to­ries tidy. This area is out­side the play­ing field, so to speak.

The chil­dren are aged between six and fif­teen. Only about nine per cent of the 78 chil­dren par­tic­i­pat­ing in this camp are female. But the trend is ris­ing.  

The high­light of each camp is the clos­ing cer­e­mo­ny. These are touch­ing moments not only for the camp direc­tors and coach­es, but also for the par­tic­i­pants and the par­ents who are often present.

Lasting moments

And of course, there is the one or oth­er last­ing moment. Patrick imme­di­ate­ly remem­bers a small inci­dent three years ago. In a camp in Bern, Anto­nio, a six-year-old lit­tle boy with Ital­ian roots, is ter­ri­bly home­sick. When they have Spaghet­ti Napoli in the evening, all is imme­di­ate­ly right with the world again. From this moment on, he also enjoys the camp to the fullest. 

The inter­view part­ners on this sum­mer day in Schaffhausen: Patrick Schneuw­ly, 50, lives in Krat­ti­gen and is a pas­sion­ate foot­baller and father of two chil­dren.

Have you or your chil­dren ever been to an MS Sports camp and do you have a spe­cial mem­o­ry? Let us know in the com­ments.

Even more MS Sports Camps

Here we intro­duce our part­ner in more detail.

Read more