DEMOPOLIS &8212; Area youth soccer players descended on the SportsPlex this week to participate in a soccer camp featuring instructors from Great Britain.

The camp, Challenger British Soccer, brings instructors from across the pond, where soccer is the sport of choice for most, to instruct U.S. youth in the intricacies of the game. The camp builds skills on all levels from basic passing to advanced foot skills, while at the same time trying to make learning enjoyable for its students.

Bull said the camp provides young players with the rare opportunity to receive high-level soccer coaching from a team of international experts right in the heart of their own community. Each British Soccer Camp provides players of all ages and abilities the appropriate program and level of curriculum.

Each day includes individual foot skills, technical drills, tactical practices, small-sided games, coached scrimmages, and a daily tournament. Bull said the Challenger coaching staff also provides participants with lessons in self-discipline, good sportsmanship and respect for others and for the game and builds cultural links both between players and instructors.

Bull said he gets as much out of the program as the children he coaches. He said as a soccer player from England it gives him an opportunity to experience communities across the United States.

Bull, who is on a soccer scholarship for Chesterfield Football Club, said he was called in for an interview and skills assessment, which he had to pass to receive training as an instructor. After all that, Bull said instructors are given a summer of work, which can last up to 12 weeks, all over the United States.