×

Continuing to improve

When Tim Storch arrived in Alpena in 2011, he arrived with the goal of transforming the local soccer landscape to allow Alpena compete with the rest of the state.

What he found to start with was a program that was lacking in numbers and ability.

“When I first got here, the TBSA (Thunder Bay Soccer Association) was a league that just played games,” Storch said. “When I first got here, there were roughly 300 kids that played soccer in the TBSA that played soccer. But very few of them were soccer players.”

Five years later, Storch has made some great strides with soccer in Alpena from the youth level on up and part of that stems from the Storch Soccer Academy; a week long camp Storch holds every summer for players of all ages.

The camp kicked off again on Monday and nearly 100 soccer players of varying ages are participating. Storch said the camp allows novice soccer players to develop skills and experienced players to fine-tune skills they already have.

“It’s (a) two-fold (benefit). For a lot of the players it’s a matter of trying to develop the skills necessary to play the game at a higher level,” Storch said. “For the ones who are skill proficient, trying to learn new skills that they can do quicker, at game speed and then incorporate those skills with game tactics.”

The camp runs through Friday and every day focuses on different skills. On Wednesday, campers were put through various drills focused on passing and receiving. One station focused on long passing and another focused on tighter, more precision-based passing. Another focused on wall passing, where players are taught to pass through and around opponents.

On Thursday the camp focused on shooting and headers as part of an overall theme of finishing. Today the theme will be nuances of the game such as tackling and throw-ins.

In Storch’s first year of running the camp, he estimates 60 players participated, but that number has grown since then and the abilities of those players participating have improved. Players taking part in the camp now come in with a basic framework of skills to work with and Storch credits the dedication of coaches and players of the TBSA as part of that improvement.

“We’re now beginning to get a handful of kids you can look at and say, ‘He’s a soccer player. That kid’s got the ability to be a real good high school player and possibly go on to player soccer at a high level,'” Storch said.

One such player is Alpena senior Evan LeTourneau who has attended the camp for several years. LeTourneau, a speedy striker, netted nearly 20 goals for the Wildcats last season and said the camp has been beneficial for improving his skills.

“It’s been pretty good and it’s helped me a lot, just getting the practice,” LeTourneau said. “Just knowing what attacking moves and feints (fakes) to do and some agility and speed.”

LeTourneau was one of several varsity players who is taking part and showed up voluntarily for the week long camp. Storch, who ran a similar camp during his successful tenure at Troy Athens, said his Alpena camp has also drawn kids from Alcona and from a few downstate schools.

Such dedication from players during the offseason has helped Alpena’s teams close the talent gap on their Big North Conference rivals and helped soccer make big strides locally.

“The more soccer players we build, the better we’ll be,” Storch said. “Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. It’s the most popular sport in the country and more kids participate soccer than any other youth sport. It’s not yet that way in Alpena, but it’s getting that way.”

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today