LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Women’s Cup, an inaugural event bringing the best teams in the world to Louisville’s home turf, is coming to a close. Players from the teams competing for the cup hosted a youth soccer camp, where children ages 6-17 could learn from the pros.
What You Need To Know
- Champions Park hosted a Women's Cup youth soccer camp
- Best friends Ella and Whitney got to learn from the pros at Women’s Cup youth soccer camp
- The Women’s Cup final features Racing Louisville FC and FC Bayern Munich
- Campers learned new skills and had a meet and greet with Women's Cup team members
Two of those campers, Ella Kaylor and Whitney Cooper, are best friends with only one goal on their minds: making it big.
“I'd like to play professionally and for a D1 college,” Cooper said. “I definitely want to go to UofL, I love going to their camps, I love getting to know the players and then after that I really want to play professionally, really for any team but I really want to play for Racing,” Kaylor said.
The 7th graders are one step closer to their dreams. Both signed up for the youth camp where they trained with the pros participating in the four-game, four-team tournament that included FC Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Racing Louisville and the Chicago Red Stars.
“We just get to share the moment together,” Kaylor said.
The one-day camp at Champions Park had more than 100 players sign up for the once in a lifetime opportunity.
Coaches talked with campers about the game and provided drills and stations to work on possession, shooting, ball coordination and other soccer skills.
“It's really exciting, I think this is a great opportunity to get better at soccer,” Cooper said.
The duo have been best friends for nearly a year after meeting through the Racing Louisville FC Academy tryouts in July 2020.
“It just feels amazing to be able to get to meet them and we get to train with them and they get to help us become better soccer players,” Kaylor said.
Both Ella and Whitney got the chance to be on the sidelines and serve as the ball girls for the inaugural Women's Cup.
“I feel really lucky to have this opportunity because most people only dream of seeing them play and watching it on TV but I get to actually be there,” Cooper said.
When signing up, campers received a Women’s Cup t-shirt and got photo and autograph opportunities with the players competing in the Women’s Cup.
The Women’s Cup final features Racing Louisville FC and FC Bayern Munich with the third place game featuring Chicago Red Stars and PSG. The championship game takes place Saturday, Aug. 21 at 6 p.m. ET.