Kentridge girl’s soccer team hosts mini Charger’s camp
Published 12:50 pm Tuesday, June 30, 2026
The Kentridge High School girl’s soccer team hosted its first mini Charger camp, where kids from grades one through eight went out to school’s field and worked on their soccer skills.
It was a brainchild of junior Natalia Krall-Cruz and her mom Taylee. They saw other programs that had established youth camps and wanted to get Kentridge soccer in on the fun.
“I think it’s so cool having a big group of girls and have them all see how Kentridge soccer is,” Krall-Cruz said. “It’s so cool to see all of them coming together from different clubs like Cascade and PAC out here. It’s so cool to see everyone come together.”
What developed was a camp that had over 25 kids come out and receive a Kentridge soccer T-shirt and a soccer ball provided by Maple Valley-based West Coast Goalkeeping. Krall-Cruz wanted to make sure every kid felt welcomed and was valued as they went through drills.
“They can come out, play soccer and get something out of it,” she said. “They are getting to play with their friends, making new friends too. It’s great bonding for everyone.”
There wasn’t a camp before this season that was held consistently, but Krall-Cruz hopes that based on the success of this year’s camp can continue in the foreseeable future.
Not only were current Chargers working with the kids during the camp, but also previous players who played in college. Seeing that generation return and care about the program they were a part of means a lot to Krall-Cruz who will be a four-year starter for Kentridge this fall.
“We have Kaitlyn (Moody) and Sierra (Wallace), coming back to take time out of their college to come out in support. Jenae (Stephenson) as a captain, we have Regan (Wallace), Theresa (Winmill) and Lanie (Lagerquist), it’s just so cool to have them out here and wanting to help,” Krall-Cruz said.
Spending time together coaching, outside of playing, will hopefully pay dividends when Krall-Cruz straps up the cleats this fall.
“It’s a good thing to get us closer together because we are taking time to get close together before the season starts. The returning freshmen are getting more of a feel to what it is to be like with the upperclassmen,” Krall-Cruz said. “It’s a very good, fun experience for us.”
