Kids Play Beach Soccer in Chatham

CHATHAM – The setting is about as idyllic as it gets for a soccer pitch: the beach on a sunny afternoon.

Last Monday at Harding’s Beach, several kids played soccer on the sand as part of an all-new beach soccer youth program organized by the Chatham Recreation and Beaches Division.

More than 30 kids, split up into two groups of grades one to two and grades three to five, had signed up to play, according to recreation assistant Nick Delande. They kicked a yellow ball around a rectangular playing area set up towards the back of the beach, a stripe of blue ocean glistening nearby.

“It’s nice to do all these things around here,” Delande said.

The first and second graders, about 15 of them, started off with “World Cup,” a type of free-for-all soccer game where the kids played in pairs trying to score on the same goal. Then they split up into two teams to scrimmage.

The program meets Mondays until August. There’s a waitlist for the grades three to five group, according to Delande. 

The proceedings seemed to be going well, with kids barely wanting to stop playing for a needed water break at the bright, picturesque beach.

“I loved it,” Delande said.