Soccer training on Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island comes with one obvious problem: there isn’t a club on either island. If your kid plays, you’re already driving over the connector or the causeway a few times a week, and adding a private session on top of that can feel like one more trip you don’t have room for. So I come to you instead. I’m Olly, I run Olly on the Ball out of Mount Pleasant, and the islands are a ten-minute drive for me.
I play for Surf and volunteer with the Charleston Battery. This page covers where I train players on the islands, what a session looks like, what it costs, and the one thing island kids get that nobody inland does.
Where I train players on the islands
Nothing here needs a club membership or a booking system. A few options that work well:
- The Isle of Palms Recreation Center fields. Flat, open, and usually quiet outside league hours. Best all-round option on IOP for technical work.
- Sullivan’s Island Elementary field and the open ground near the fire station. Plenty of space for ball work and small-sided reps.
- Your own yard. Honestly, half my best sessions happen in a backyard. Ball mastery, first touch and 1v1 work need a surprisingly small area. If you’ve got a patch of flat grass and a wall, that’s a session.
- The beach, for specific work only. More on that below — it’s useful, but not for everything.
If you’d rather come to me, I train all over Mount Pleasant too. I’ve written up my favourite places to train and play soccer in Mount Pleasant if you want the full list.
Training on sand — what it’s actually good for
Beach training gets talked about like a magic trick. It isn’t, but it does two things genuinely well.
It builds strength and balance fast. Every stride on soft sand costs more. Twenty minutes of movement work on the beach loads a player’s ankles, calves and hips in a way that a grass field doesn’t. That’s real, and it carries over.
It forces a cleaner touch. A ball on sand dies in odd ways and bobbles off lumps you didn’t see. A player who can control that will find a true grass surface easy.
What sand is not good for is anything requiring precision at speed — passing patterns, striking technique, realistic 1v1 footwork. The surface lies to you. So I’ll use the beach for a movement block and then move onto grass for the technical work. Most island sessions end up as a mix.
What a session looks like
Sessions run an hour. A typical one:
- 10 minutes — ball mastery warm-up, both feet, constant movement.
- 20 minutes — technical block. First touch, turning, striking, whatever that player needs most.
- 20 minutes — live 1v1 reps with me defending properly.
- 10 minutes — finishing and a competitive challenge to end on.
I coach players roughly 5 to 14. The structure stays the same; the content and the language change completely depending on age.
What it costs
One-on-one sessions are $45 for the hour. Semi-private sessions — your player plus a friend, neighbour or teammate — are $30 per player.
On the islands, semi-private makes a lot of sense. Kids here tend to already have a group of friends within a couple of streets, and splitting a session two or three ways makes weekly training realistic instead of occasional. It’s also just more fun, and a player who enjoys it turns up sharper. Here’s how semi-private sessions work in more detail.
There’s no travel surcharge for IOP or Sullivan’s. It’s a short drive and I’d rather more island kids trained than fewer.
The advantage island kids have — and the gap
The advantage is space and time. Island kids generally have somewhere to kick a ball and fewer reasons not to. The players who improve fastest are almost never the ones with the best coaching — they’re the ones who touch a ball most days on their own. That’s easier here than it is in a neighbourhood with no yard.
The gap is competitive reps. Without a club on the island, a lot of players here get plenty of touches and not much pressure. They look comfortable in the garden and then tighten up against a real defender. That’s the exact thing private sessions are good at fixing, because I can put a body in front of them every single rep.
If that sounds like your player, the agility and quick-feet work is usually where we start — not because they’re slow, but because moving under pressure is a different skill from moving freely.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a soccer club on Isle of Palms or Sullivan’s Island?
No — there’s no dedicated youth soccer club on either island. Families generally play through clubs and rec programs in Mount Pleasant and the wider Charleston area, which means a fair bit of driving during the season.
Do you travel to Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island for sessions?
Yes. I’m based in Mount Pleasant and both islands are a short drive. There’s no extra travel charge.
Where can my child practise soccer on the islands?
The IOP Recreation Center fields are the best open grass option. Sullivan’s Island Elementary field works well too. For solo practice, a flat patch of yard and a wall is genuinely enough — a wall is the most underrated training partner there is.
Is beach soccer good training for kids?
For strength, balance and touch, yes. For anything needing precision — passing, shooting technique, realistic footwork — the surface works against you. Use it as part of a session, not the whole session.
What age do you coach?
Roughly 5 to 14. Younger players do best in semi-private or small groups where there’s more energy and more fun. From about 8 upwards, one-on-one starts to make a real difference.
What should my child bring?
A ball in the right size for their age, cleats for grass, water, and shin guards if we’re doing live 1v1 work. If you’re on the beach, bare feet or trainers — not cleats.
Get in touch
If your player is on Isle of Palms or Sullivan’s Island and you’d rather not add another drive to the week, message me. Tell me their age, where they play, and the one thing you’d like to see improve. I’ll come to you.
Train with purpose. Confidence comes from reps.
About Olly: Oliver “Olly” Sovenyhazy is a 16-year-old soccer player with Surf and a volunteer with the professional Charleston Battery. Through Olly on the Ball, he coaches private, semi-private and small-group soccer training for young players across Mount Pleasant, Isle of Palms, Sullivan’s Island and the wider Charleston area.
