Day 10: Friday, August 19th

It's our last full day of the trip. We have toured the stadium, been to professional games, visited sites, trained hard, played tough local competition and while that seems like a lot, the time has flown by! This is my third group I have spent this trip with and have actually been here in England for 20 days and I must say the time has flown by. Some of it is the amazing weather, in 20 days we only had one true rain out day, and the rest of it has to do with how great the kids are.. all away from home and parents and stuck with everyone 24 hours a day..They remain polite, cheerful and respectful which makes everyone's trip so much more enjoyable.
This morning both the boys and girls played their last round of matches and got to see their Brighton & Hive Albion coaches for the last time. The boys played their games at the Ardingly College fields against Premier United. It was another hard fought battle against some large aggressive good competition.

The girls traveled 40 minutes to play against a local club Mile Oak at the Brighton & Hove Albion training ground.

They continued theoretical of great play retaining possession and passing. For a group of ten girls that all did not know each h other ten days ago, they have really come together and started playing g good soccer. The coach and pare t-shirt from the opposing team were well impressed with them.

A quick ride back and both the girls and boys teams rushed to change and reboard a coach bus headed for London to see the Fulham vs Sheffield Wednesday Championship game. Craven Cottage is the home stadium for Fulham Football Club since 1896.
After a two hour bus ride, everyone was eager to get off the bus and stretch their legs and eat their packed lunch before entering the stadium. Before entering the stadium, the kids all piled into the Pro Shop. Mostly scarves and backpacks and jerseys were snapped up as this is the last shop to buy team memorabilia.

We piled into the stadium, found our seats and bought snacks before settling in for the match. The group is sitting in the Putney End of the stadium under the Cottage.

It was a great corner for the kids to sit and view the entire field and also be able to go to the corner field exit/entry tunnel to get up close and personal with the player's.

 

Back on the coach for a two hour Coach bus ride Ardingly College, we went straight into dinner and then back into the dorm to settle in for our last night. Everyone chipped in for pizza and watched movies and played FIFA Soceer.

Tomorrow we will be up for breakfast as normal and then have some pool time to burn off energy before packing and cleaning our rooms and then a closing ceremony by the CMT staff before lunches and heading to the airport. 

Tomorrow night, ready or not, you get your children back.