Soccer in the summer is a lot like ice cream. Kids love it year after year.
So, news that Andover Soccer Camp, housed at Phillips Academy for the past 33 summers, will no longer be housed there is dripping with disappointment for those involved. The upscale facilities at Phillips Academy are perfect for this program, which attracts kids from several communities, including Andover, said founder Bill Tarbox.
"I'm very disappointed," said Tarbox, who continues to manage Andover Soccer Camp. "Hundreds of kids have attended over the years."
In a press release sent out Tuesday, Feb. 2, Phillips Academy blamed the economy for its decision.
"Phillips Academy regretfully announces that it has decided to suspend the operation of the Andover Soccer Camp this summer. The decision comes in part as a response to the economic downturn, which has caused the academy to reevaluate its budgets and streamline its administrative operations while preserving its academic core," the press release reads.
"The number of lives that have been positively affected by this camp are simply too many to count," Steve Carter, PA's chief operating and financial officer, said in the press release. "In the end, this decision was made based on declining camp numbers and the larger financial climate."
A telephone call to Steve Porter, who handles academy press inquiries, was not returned before Townsman deadline.
Tarbox said last summer had 525 kids in the program, down from about 650 kids the summer before.
PA reported that the camp had more than 750 kids from 60 local communities at the height of its popularity. Andover Soccer Camp started at Phillips Academy in the summer of 1976. The one-week program serving 103 local girls and boys ballooned from there.
"To not have this program at PA will be very disappointing to many people...but we're moving on," Tarbox said.
He learned of PA's decision in December and has been working with local recreation directors to find new locations for soccer clinics this summer.
One of the first to respond was Andover Recreation Director Kim Stamas, who says soccer continues to be very popular for kids who enjoy John Smith's soccer school and a soccer clinic run by Megan Madsen, who coaches soccer for girls at Andover High School.
"We start them at age 2 and offer soccer programs all the way to high school," she said. "Interest is there."
Tarbox and Stamas have two summer soccer clinics established so far. The clinics will be held at Bancroft Elementary School from June 28 to July 1 for ages 5-7 and from July 26 to 29 for boys ages 8-12. Both soccer clinics will run from 9 to 11 a.m.
In addition, Tarbox said three soccer clinics have been set up in North Andover.
"We're not at PA but we're not gone," he said. "We're still around."
