Not your average Football Camp

Media Invite

(Daddy kicks)

Even if you are not an avid football fan, you would most probably have heard of Real Madrid Football Club. The silky skills of Xabi Alonso, Sergio Ramos, Mesut Özil and of course, Cristiano Ronaldo, are just among the many football stars that have made Real Madrid one of the footballing powerhouses today.

And come June 2013, Real Madrid will be bringing its brand of football and making its first inroads into the Asia-Pacific region with the first Realmadrid Foundation CampusExperience Summer Camp at Raffles Institution (RI).

Organised by the Realmadrid Foundation, which serves as the corporate social responsibility arm of the Spanish football club,  the CampusExperience is a five-day programme for youths aged between 7 and 17 years that is more than just your usual holiday football camp.

Perhaps you can get a clearer idea of what the Camp entails from the following video.

At the media conference to officially launch the CampusExperience programme, I found out that the upcoming Realmadrid Foundation CampusExperience Singapore is actually a part football training and part values education camp.

For sure, youths would benefit from the top-level football training with experienced coaches from the Real Madrid Sports City on one end, as demonstrated by coach Ivan Garcia Sacristan from the Realmadrid Foundation. He was in town recently to conduct a series of coaching clinics for Singapore students so that they too can sample learning football the Real Madrid way.

But things get a little bit more interesting at the other end of the yardstick.

The CampusExperience also seeks to educate these youths on both personal and social values - values that are associated with Real Madrid and integral to the youths' development as well.  In addition, the five-day camp will touch on the importance of nutrition in the development of an athlete so that the participants improve their eating habits and get used to maintaining a healthy diet from a young age.

Here's a summary of what values the Real Madrid brand stand for:

Our Values: The CampusExperience is here to help parents educate on values critical to their development as sportsmen and individuals. These values are inextricably linked to the famous name and illustrious history of Real Madrid, and they are categorised through three essential perspectives:

"Me": values that form the personality of the individual - Leadership, Self-control and Humility
"We": values relating to being a team player and a sociable person - Fellowship, Effort and Teamwork
"They": values relating to how one treats those outside of his group, such as his opponents and competitors - Respect, Tolerance and Solidarity 

(Click here to find out more about the CampusExperience values on its blog!)

For me, I have always believed that the best way to learn about life values is through sports. Winning or losing can teach us a thing or two about dealing with successes and failures, but it is the process of playing in a sport, especially team sports, that can strengthen our understanding in the behaviour of such values and cultivate good habits for continued personal development in the process.

Three sessions of the Realmadrid Foundation CampusExperience Holiday Training and Learning Camp will be held over this coming School Holidays in June, with each session lasting 5 days. Here's how a typical day at the CampusExperience will look like:

8:20    Arrival at training facility

8:30    Football Training Session

10:00   Hydration Break

10:15   Experiential Activity

12:30   Technical and Tactical session

13:00   Lunch and Fellowship

13:45   Dental Hygiene

14:00   Experiential Activity

14:30   Technical and Tactical session

15:00   Football Training Session

16:30   Football match and tournament

17:30   Showers and personal hygiene

17:45   End of the training day 

*The above schedule is provided as an illustration and may be subject to change.

Unlike the usual football holiday camps which last a few hours each day, this camp will be a full-day affair with football training sessions interspersed with Experiential Activities -  fun and exciting learning activities designed and delivered by experienced educators that will educate the CampusExperience participants on the values of Real Madrid.

For more details on the camp programme, kindly visit http://www.frmsingapore.com/en/programme/

Each session (5 days, 8.20am - 5.45pm daily) is priced at S$1,088 per person. But for you readers, there is a special promotion!

Quote 'cheekiemonkies' at the point of registration and you pay only S$1,033 (about 5% discount). Rope in another friend and each of you pays S$980 instead. For readers who want to sign 3 or more friends together, kindly email CampusExperience@frmsingapore.com to obtain a further discount!

More than 100 registrations from Singapore and abroad have been received to date, so do register early as spaces are limited! To register, please visit: http://www.frmsingapore.com/en/registration/


Useful Details:

Realmadrid Foundation CampusExperience Holiday Training and Learning Camp
Dates: 10-14 June, or 17-21 June, or 23-28 June 2013
Venue: Raffles Institution
Time: 8.20am to 5.45pm daily
Website: http://www.frmsingapore.com

About the camp
The CampusExperience is designed for youths aged between 7 and 17 years who are passionate about sports, especially football, and wish to learn, train and have some experience of how Real Madrid players develop as sportsmen. With two training sessions a day, the CampusExperience represents a unique opportunity for youths to experience a more active and healthy lifestyle than any sports fan in Singapore has ever dreamed of.

The CampusExperience should also appeal to parents who wish for their children to adopt and live by the values that Realmadrid Foundation represents and imparts to youths around the world, on and off the pitch, and to also lead more active and healthy lifestyles beyond the CampusExperience.