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June 13, 2006

Tatu’s camp? It’s ‘Good! Good! Good!’

By Jayson Larson



“Les go, les go — faster!”

With temperatures rising at the Trinity Valley Community College practice field, soccer legend Tatu is kicking into high gear. And let the record shot that the native Brazilian has yet to shed a visible drop of sweat.

“Don’t stop the ball! Don’t stop the ball! Ahh — that’s good. Now we’re ready to play!”

Maybe Tatu isn’t as intense when he is at lunch with friends, or, say, when he’s sleeping — maybe. But on the field, he speaks in choppy phrases — complete with his thick Brazilian accent — which would be done an injustice without an exclamation mark. Go ahead, ask him. He’ll tell you he’s the loudest coach on the field.

The Tatu All Star Soccer Camp is in town this week for its 15th year, and the field is packed with players who aspire to one day chisel their skills to the level of the camp’s namesake, maybe even better.

This year’s camp has a little something more — for only the fourth time, it coincides with the playing of the World Cup — an every-four-year event won by his native Brazil twice during the 15 years. Brazil finished second in France in 1998.

“This is a perfect time for us to take advantage of this event to teach the kids,” he said. “You can tell there’s just a little extra something.”

Not that they needed it. Tatu said the participants at the camp now are so much better at a younger age. The 10-year-olds walk onto the practice field with more skills than he ever had at that age.

Still, the coaching is what can make a good player great. Tatu and his camp counselors, consisting of current and former players and coaches and even some former campers themselves, use different styles to accomplish this goal.

For his part, Tatu plays the role of the motivator. For all the times he blurts out, “No, no, no!” he probably hollers out a “Good! Good!” twice as much. One camper continually missed a step in a drill. Rather than let it go after two and three missteps in a row, he persists.

“Too slow! Too slow!” The admonishment is stern, but never condescending.

And moments later, he is seen giving praise to the same camper.

“That is the key to any sport, to teach the kids and criticize to make sure they become better players,” he said later, “but at the same time you have to motivate him.

“Our job is to polish them a bit,” he said. “We believe inside the rock, there’s a diamond. Our job is to polish that rock and bring the diamond out.”

———

e-mail jlarson@athensreview.com

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