English Soccer Player Brings Knowledge, Fun To PlunkettBy Patrick Ronan
iBerkshires Staff
02:00PM / Friday, May 28, 2010
 Michael Dalton gives instructions to a group of second-graders Thursday afternoon at C.T. Plunkett Elementary School.
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ADAMS, Mass. — Atop a hill on the south side of C.T. Plunkett Elementary School, a soft chant grew loud.
"Soccer game! Soccer game! Soccer game!"
Mrs. Tanner's second-graders had 10 minutes remaining in their physical education class on Thursday afternoon, but clearly the children didn't want it to end. They hoped for more time with their guest from overseas, Michael Dalton of Birmingham, England, who has been leading the gym classes at Plunkett all week.
Dalton is a certified BEST English Soccer Training instructor, and he's making his second weeklong visit to Adams; he also came to the elementary school in 2007. Besides teaching children, from kindergarten to sixth grade, the fundamentals of Europe's most popular sport, he's also introducing kids to a foreign culture.
Principal Kristen Gordon said C.T. Plunkett doesn't have a very diverse student body, which makes Dalton's return that much more of a treat.
"We try to get as much diversity awareness as we can, so it's wonderful for them," she said. "Any opportunity to expose the kids to a different culture, we'll grab it in a heartbeat."
Of course, the primary language spoken in England is the same as the U.S., but there are some differences. Dalton said it's been fun conversing with the kids and differentiating the terminology associated with soccer. For example, he said that cleats are referred to as 'boots' in England, while the word 'scrimmage' isn't used at all in his homeland; it's simply referred to as a 'game.'
 Students participate in a game of 'Cowboys and Indians,' one of the games Dalton created to teach the fundamentals of soccer.
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Despite slight differences in word usage, Dalton has found an effective way to engage the students. In the various games and drills he's concocted for the kids, he'll use "Finding Nemo" and "Star Wars" characters to make the activity more fun, especially for the younger students.
Dalton is a semi-professional soccer player back in England, and he teaches the sport full time. In the U.S., his skills and experience have made him quite the novelty in C.T. Plunkett's hallways.
"I feel like a bit of a celebrity going around the school," he said. "I'm not used to this sort of thing."
The Parent Teachers Group has funded Dalton's services and provided him a host family to live with. Fran Cariddi is the full-time gym teacher at the elementary school, and he said the students are savoring their time with their British visitor.
"Especially the older classes have enjoyed him because of the difference in speech," Cariddi said. "They have him say different words just to hear how he says them. They don't usually meet too many people from out of the country."
Dalton has led clinics in other towns in Massachusetts and several in Connecticut. While the sport doesn't garner much attention at the professional level in the U.S. — as compared to American football, basketball and baseball — he has witnessed a surge in popularity at the youth levels. Because of its appeal to both boys and girls, and the fact that it can be played with just a ball with no additional equipment required, Dalton said it's the most universal sport offered to children.
He has been pleasantly surprised by the number of girls who have embraced soccer in America.
 Dalton said the C.T. Plunkett pupils have been treating him like a celebrity.
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"The children, especially the girls in this country, are very, very good," he said. "The guys are good as well, but it's very rare you see English girls playing soccer. We're used to seeing the guys playing good in England, so it's fascinating to see the girls play."
Dalton will return — along with several other instructors from England — in July for the annual BEST English Summer Soccer Clinic at the Valley Street Fields in Adams. The camp will run from July 26 to July 29 and is open to children ages 3 to 15. More information can be found here.
As for another weeklong visit to C.T. Plunkett in the coming years, Dalton said that if he's invited, he'll accept.
"This school has been excellent," he said. "I'll never regret coming to Adams or the U.S.A. to coach soccer because it's been fantastic." |
