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NATCHEZ — Cathedral Alumnus Nic Waycaster returned to the Miss-Lou this summer to offer a soccer camp for players in grades 8 through 12.

Waycaster currently lives in Austin, Texas, and is a coach in the T and C Sports Austin Soccer Club academy. 

Waycaster is working on his class C coaching license and is running the Magnolia Soccer Academy camps for schools in the area. This week, he has been in Natchez working with Cathedral’s soccer team. It is the fourth camp he has done this summer and he has four more camps to go. 

While some schools have already set up a week to do the camp with Waycaster, they will have a camp open to any high schooler in Vidalia July 12 to 14 for girls and July 19 to 21 for boys. They will meet from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. those days and the cost of the camp is $75. 

“We are focusing on having a closer touch and being confident with the ball,” Waycaster said. “We are getting the kids to become more confident with the ball because it shows in how they play. It takes time on the ball and we put kids in a position where they have the ball and a player to attack in a 1v1 situation so the objective is clear. We give them plenty of reps.” 

He is also working with the kids to develop better autonomy while on the ball. With class c coaching, they focus on improving a player’s autonomy and having the kids be accountable for repetition. 

Waycaster has split the camps into meeting times for girls and meeting times for boys each week because he wants to be more focused on the players. The fewer kids the more he is able to be specific with his coaching. 

He said he wanted to work with kids in Mississippi because he knows the athletic talent is here, but the kids just need some more development. A player can be developed by having the drive to do better and keeping an open mind. That is what they will need for the camp. 

“A player has to be willing to make mistakes. If you get someone who is good but they aren’t persistent it won’t do any good,” Waycaster said. “I rather have someone who is persistent. It is all about mentality.”

To sign up for the camp in Vidalia visit https://forms.gle/P2tQJEaBEoVQcvz68.