As a gift for his 11th birthday, Elijah Eatherly stepped into a whole new world, where for a day, he was coached by Major League Soccer’s best player.
Towering over his Station Camp Elementary classmates at 5-foot-7, the fifth-grader Eatherly was one of the first 450 youth to attend the inaugural Mukhtar Soccer Academy clinics on Nov. 25-27, held at Lipscomb Academy, run by Nashville SC forward Hany Mukhtar. Although Eatherly has begun to learn the basics at Gallatin Soccer Club, his world changed that Sunday, training with Mukhtar.
“Because I had never been to a soccer camp,” Eatherly said. “It blew my expectations out of the water. It was amazing how Hany Mukhtar is a striker and they had (coaches) working with people as goalies, so it wasn’t just limited to the strikers.”
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Mukhtar, the 2022 MLS Golden Boot award winner and Landon Donovan MLS MVP, can relate to Eatherly’s change. The 27-year-old from Berlin signed with Nashville’s expansion team in late 2019, unaccompanied by friends, family or much foreknowledge of his new home, which was felt most during the COVID-19 pandemic. In spite of that, Mukhtar has found a home in Nashville, met his fiancée here and he has already won a couple of trophies. All told, he’s paying it forward with the Mukhtar Soccer Academy.
“The city gave a lot to me,” Mukhtar told The Tennessean. “And I felt like, ‘OK, how can I give something back to the community? How can I give something back to Nashville? (By) doing what I’m really good at: soccer. That’s my passion. I love soccer. I love everything about soccer — coaching, playing. So I wanted to give something back.”
Mukhtar assembled a premier coaching staff: Nashville goalkeeper Elliot Panicco, assistant coach and retired 12-year pro defender Kosuke Kimura, former Nashville striker Dom Badji of FC Cincinnati — and for the culture — Soccer Moses, the renowned Nashville SC super fan. Mukhtar’s fiancée, Ashley, and mother, Ursala, were key cogs in launching the venture.
Together, the Mukhtar Soccer Academy “will offer elite, European flair training,” Mukhtar said.
“We want to train the next generation,” Mukhtar continued. “Our goal is to bring, hopefully, a couple of kids to the Nashville SC Academy, to give them an opportunity in life and give them an opportunity to become a pro.”
Priced at $125 per player, kids soaked up a two-hour clinic, designed by Mukhtar and four Under-17 and Under-19 coaches at Hertha Berlin, Mukhtar’s boyhood club that plays in the German Bundesliga. Ages 10-13 trained first, followed by ages 14-17 in the afternoon.
Notably, five children received Nashville SC Community Fund scholarships to attend the camp as representatives of Preston Taylor Ministries, the storied youth empowerment organization based in the Preston Taylor neighborhood.
After a warm-up phase featuring shooting, ball control and step-over dribbling skills, the clinic split into four quadrants: passing, finishing, small-sided scrimmages and rondos, a keep-away-style drill.
“He interacted with all the kids,” Eatherly said. “He was kind to everyone. He gave everyone opportunities to talk to him and one of the best (parts) while at the camp was getting a nice picture with him.”
Another highlight, between drills, was Eatherly and a few other players huddling around Mukhtar to stream clips of Germany facing Spain at the FIFA World Cup on Mukhtar’s iPhone — a cool and charismatic moment for Eatherly.
The Mukhtar Soccer Academy will grow in 2023. Mukhtar said his priority is expanding age groups to 7- or 8-year-olds. He wants a longer runway to prepare the next generation.
“With all the potential, it will be amazing to see what’s gonna happen here in Nashville in the next four or five years, with the World Cup coming up in 2026 (in North America),” Mukhtar said. “I will do my part and help the Nashville community grow the soccer culture here. We have big things coming and the soccer day clinics were just the beginning.”
For stories about Nashville SC or Soccer in Tennessee, contact Drake Hills at [email protected]. Follow Drake on Twitter at @LiveLifeDrake. Connect with Drake on Instagram at @drakehillssoccer and on Facebook.