For an event called the New Westminster police 30th annual soccer camp, it's surprising to hear Const. Bruce Ballingall describe what the week-long activities at Queen's Park are all about.

"It's not about soccer if you think about it," he said. "It's about fun, it's about making connections with the community and seeing these kids have fun. ... If they learn a little about playing soccer, that's almost like a bonus."

To illustrate his point, Ballingall tells the story of skiing at Big White in the Interior when a young man approached him.

"It was a kid who had attended soccer camp, and he just wanted to thank me for treating him so great and making the week so fun," said Ballingall.

That young man had gone through a tough childhood, and the soccer camp showed him that there was good in the world, said Ballingall.

"He became a ski patroller at Big White, and I think he's married with kids now," said the officer known to kids as Chicken Legs and to colleagues as the Legend.

"When you hear stories about how this camp has really affected kids, you realize that soccer is only a very small part of what this camp is all about."

Ballingall has participated in every camp since 1986 - he joined the New Westminster force after a stint in Winnipeg - and the only person who has more camps to his credit is deputy police chief Dave Jones.

"I've been to 24 of these, and I don't see the day when I won't be here," said Jones. "It's weird looking around and seeing that everybody is relatively new compared to Bruce and myself."

Jones has seen a lot in 30 years, and he loves the look on the faces of the younger officers when he tells them what the soccer camp was like in the early days.

"When we had the camps at Mercer Stadium, they were three weeks long, and it was five-hour days (from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with a lunch break)," said Jones.

"The first week, everybody was full of enthusiasm, the second, it was still OK, but by the last week, everybody's feeling like the camp's never going to end."

As the camps changed with the times, the focus changed from turning out better soccer players to turning out better citizens.

While the camp was never in jeopardy of closing, the police force did have difficulty having enough officers to run a three-week-long camp.

"You have to remember that a lot of guys use their time off to volunteer at the camp, and to volunteer three weeks of time is very hard," said Jones.

And that's why the camp became a week-long camp, with the soccer being surrounded by an endless supply of fun activities that have little to do with the beautiful game.

Det. Rob Boyd has participated in the last eight camps, and he can't believe the camps were once three times longer.

"I can't imagine how much work that would have been," he said. "I've got four kids, and two of them have gone through it, but the other two still have a lot more years to do this."

Boyd's four children, Mennlee, 14, Bobby, 12, Jimmy, 4, and McKenna, 1, are a big reason why Boyd participates in the camp, and he couldn't be prouder of the one who is his assistant coach.

"Bobby came to the camp for four years, and now he's a second-year coach," said Boyd. "On the first day, I do lead, but by the second day, Bobby is dong a lot more, and by the end, it's almost like he's the head coach of our squad."

"It's different being a coach," said Bobby. "Being a player is a little funner because being a coach, you have a lot more responsibility and it's a little more tiring."

That's a lesson that 10-year-old Lliam Magee may learn next year.

With 10 as the cut-off age, Magee is attending his fifth and final soccer camp, but he expects to be back next year as an assistant coach.

"I've had a lot of fun doing this, and I do want to come back," said Lliam, who couldn't attend the last activities on Friday morning because he was going with his parents to Hawaii. "I think it will be pretty fun to be a coach, so I hope they accept me as a volunteer next year."

On Wednesday, while kids leisurely kicked around their balls, the Air 1 helicopter landed on the lower field, with pilot David Brolin eager to show all 320 camp participants the latest and greatest tool in the police's crime-fighting arsenal.

"All the kids love seeing the helicopter, and we love showing it off," said Brolin.

Even before Brolin showed up, the big hit was the Tim Hortons coffee and doughnuts that were handed out to all the kids and volunteers - and some parents who needed their java fix.

"We couldn't do this without our sponsors," said Sgt. Chris Mullin, one of the key organizers of the camp. "This is a community event that local businesses support, and that's why it's so successful."

Another key organizer is Const. Shari Gulliver, who's been at the camp for the past 14 years.

"We start planning for everything in March, and everything starts coming together in April," she said. "It has gotten easier over the years, but there are always things that come up."

For example, this year's complement of 320 kids is much younger than in previous years, with more of the four-, five- and six-year-old set than before.

Leading Team 1, Team Canada, is first-year-volunteer Roselle McQuillan.

"Now I know why I got Team 1," she said with a hearty laugh. "Working with the little ones is a lot of fun, but I can see that it's a lot more work with them than the 10-year-olds."

By the time the camp ended on Friday afternoon, each of the kids, along with a select crew of about 25 volunteers, had received the 30th anniversary commemorative medallion that the police service had specially made.

"Every five years, we give out medallions," said Jones. "We had 350 made this year. All the kids get one, and we choose some of the unsung volunteers to get the ones that are left. With the volunteers, we mount them and we'll present them at a ceremony."

And to think it's only 51 more weeks until the 31st annual New Westminster police soccer camp.

For more photos, video and an inside look at some camp highlights from over the years - including photographer Larry Wright's close encounter with a helicopter - see our website at www.royalcityrecord.com.