CARLSBAD — Chances are if you’ve grown up in Southern California, you’ve tried your hand, or rather your foot, at soccer. While some of us owe our dribbling skills to leagues such as Lightning or Surf, others have opted for Rec. To up our game, summer soccer clinics are often attended. Coast to Coast, or C2C, soccer camps, however, are not bent on turning kiddies into Beckhams and Hamms over night. C2C wants to “let the kids play” and play they did Aug. 15 at Poinsettia Park.

When you take away the need to be the best and add fun and Irish accents, children won’t be cringing in their cleats when it’s time to go off to camp. “All our staff come directly from Ireland, and we bring over the philosophy of fun and entertaining methods,” Nick Telford, owner, said. “We want the kids to leave on Friday afternoon wanting to come back and play soccer.”

In with the fun are the fundamentals. “We teach three learning points a day,” Telford said.

But why come from the Emerald Isle to the Golden State? Telford and Chris Murphy, fellow owner of C2C, went to college in Dublin and summered in the U.S. coaching at various soccer camps. The pair noted that there were many British soccer camps offered but no Irish camps. They reasoned that there would be a good market for an all-Irish-coached camp what with Telford called America’s fascination with Lucky Charms and cartoons based on rainbows. C2C thus came about in 2005.

As far as California goes, Murphy and Telford substituted the rainy hills in Ireland for the SoCal sun, because soccer is played year-round here, Telford said. “It’s the perfect lifestyle.”

Camps are located in 16 cities, including Carlsbad and Encinitas. The typical age range for the campers is 4 to 8, though those as old as 14 are welcome to play. The coach to child ratio is kept small at 1-to-12. The recent camp had an above average turnout at around 60 to 70 youths, Telford said. “It builds year to year.”

Parent Veronica Williams, for one, said her boys keep on coming back. When asked why C2C, Williams cited the influence of Irish players. “My husband and I are both Irish, and we wanted to do something different.” Williams and her husband are quite familiar with soccer as both played for some time, but her 4-year-old son Solomon said, “Mommy, I don’t like you coaching.”

“He (Solomon) was not into soccer.” Williams said. “But after camp there was a big turnaround. He was all about it. They have different ways to engage the little ones.” This is the fourth time Solomon and 6-year-old Tobias have gone to the lads and lasses of the Land of the Saints and Scholars for instruction.

Visit www.c2csoccer.com for sign-ups and testimonials.