Spectacular summer weather, 45 energetic kids, and the beautiful new Kingston High turf field was the perfect combination for Bayside Church’s first ever Run to Win Soccer Camp.

Run To Win was founded in 1992 by University of Washington chaplains Mike and Karen Rohrbach. It exists to encourage leadership, character, and Christian faith in young people by providing 52 sports camps each summer, reaching out to over 2,500 kids annually.

“This really became an instant community event,” said Joe Bridger, the children’s pastor at Bayside Community Church. Out of the 45 kids who registered, 18 had never attended a Bayside event.

Terrance Rathbun brought his son Trevon because the advertisement said “they were teaching real skills.” Rathbun shared that his son talked a lot about all he learned and now he hopes to try out for the soccer team at his school. He learned skills and gained the confidence he needed to try out for school sports.

Jonathan Foster, one of the local assistant coach volunteers, said the camp was “fun, well structured, and really good.” In the small group “team time” the coaches talked about the importance of being inspired by God, motivated by love and other faith-based themes. Many Run to Win coaches are sports career minded and play or coach at schools like University of Oregon, University of Washington and Gonzaga.

To learn more about Bayside kids’ ministry or Run to Win visit the Web site www.baysidecommunitychurch.org and click on the page “parent 2 parent.”