Edina’s Summer Sports Clinics Spring into Season

Simone Vaillancourt, page editor

The Edina summer sports clinic season will kick off in June with the beginning of several practices, workshops, and training events. Sports clinics are short, skill-specific training camps that enable athletes to continue practicing their sport during the off-season. Here are some of the upcoming opportunities for Edina High School students looking to prepare for next year’s team tryouts over the summer:

Football

The Edina Football Association’s annual EHS Summer Football Program will begin on June 4. The program includes a mini-camp, practices, and speed, strength, and passing training. Open to grades 9-12 and comprised of 11 sessions total, the program offers students a fun way to stay in shape and brush up on their skills during the offseason.

Golf

Braemar Golf Junior Leagues will be available for students ages 10-18 at Braemar Academy 9 Golf Course in June and July. Depending on players’ ages, skills, and abilities, they will be grouped together to play 9 or 18 holes and will be supervised by the Braemar Golf Course professional golf staff.

Sophomore Maggie Kirchner, who took golf lessons at Braemar when she was younger, explained the value of the program: “The coaching staff was very helpful. You could either do a group lesson or a private lesson, and either way they paid full attention to you and helped you so much.”

Tennis

The Edina Community Center will host intermediate and advanced intermediate tennis lessons for previously experienced players in June and July. Lessons will be held at Countryside Park, and participants should bring their own racquets.

Functional Athletic Speed Training (F.A.S.T)

F.A.S.T workouts, which focus on speed, agility, quickness, and conditioning, are meant to bring athletes from different sports together as they work towards a common goal. This summer, F.A.S.T workouts for girls in grades 9-12 will be held at Pamela Park in June and July.

Basketball

University of Saint Thomas Assistant Basketball Coach Will DeBerg will host summer boys’ basketball clinics during June and August at Good Samaritan Church in Edina. DeBerg, an EHS alum and 5th all-time leading scorer in Edina Boys Basketball history, will give students tips on shooting, ball handling, passing, and physical conditioning.         

Junior Emma LaFrenz, a member of the Varsity Girls Basketball Team, does a similar program to the one run by DeBerg. Each summer, she participates in once-a-week clinics for the Varsity team, which are run by their coach Matt Nilsen. “[The coach] runs open gyms in the morning so we can go to scrimmage, work on skills, and then lift,” she said.

 

Summer sports clinics offer students a great opportunity to stay active and in shape over the summer. Students looking to participate in any of these clinics should visit the Edina Community Center website, or the Edina Activities website.