Fulham Match Day

Last night, rain and wind swept across the South of England causing this morning's last games for the boys teams to be messy fields and difficult windy conditions.
Benfica played a local Lancing team; playing well and coming out victorious again.

The Northshore and Northern Maine teams played hard fighting the wind.

The girls play their final games tomorrow morning but came down to the fields to cheer the boys on.

After a quick shower and change, the entire group boarded buses for a trip back into London to watch Fullham take on the Blackburn Rovers in a EFL Championship game.
The Stadium, known as Craven Cottage, is on the banks of the River Thames and is the oldest football stadium in London. It was originally a royal hunting lodge and that cottage still stands in the corner of the stadium where the owners and important Club personnel sit.

We had great seats close to the field.

The kids tried classic meat pies from the stadium vendors.

They also saw a great match with Fullham winning 2-0 fielding a team with ex Premiership player Mitrovic and current Premiership Club Brighton and Hove Albion player, on loan this season to Fullham, Anthony Knockaert.

Tomorrow the girls play their final games in the morning before the group spends the day in Portsmouth.

Day in London

When I looked at the forecast leading up to this trip, I packed rain gear for 5 days of rain including our walk around London.
We have been incredibly fortunate and today was no exception.
Slight cloud cover and a quick passing shower were small blips in an otherwise beautiful hot day in the city.
There wasn't even bus traffic this trip to dampen spirits.
As we entered the city, coach Andy grabbed the Mic and pointed out key sites and building like the London Eye, Big Ben (under scaffolding), London Bridge and Parliament.

First stop on the tour was Nike Town.

Don't worry parents, all the kids found ways to spend their money.

From there the ENTIRE group set off walking over 3 miles through the city.
First big stop was Trafalgar Square.

From there we moved on to a private tour of the Horses Cavalry which is normally closed to the public. The group got to go through the museum and meet one of the Horses and riders. It is a very unique experience.

Next, the group had some free time to take pictures around the city and buy trinkets.

We walked through St James' Park and ate lunch.

Last stop on the tour before boarding the bus back home was Buckingham Palace.

Tomorrow the boys play games in the morning before we jump back on the bus to London to enjoy the Fulham v Blackburn Rivers at Craven Cottage.

Training and Game Day

Today is a soccer packed day. In the morning all teams will be headed to training sessions.
The older boys will stay and train at the Lancing Fields while the girls and young boys head over to the Brighton and Hove Albion training ground.

The U12 boys warmed up with some individual skill work before moving on to passing and head work.

The older girls worked on some shooting, possession and fitness after a coach team talk and stretching. This was the first training session with no rain. Cloud cover kept it cool but not getting soaked was a bonus.

After training some of the girls groups went in to check out the beautiful Lancing Campus Chapel which is the largest school chapel in the world.

It also houses the largest stained glass window in England. From the front door it is a tall towering example of Gothic architecture.

 But walking all the way to the front and looking back at the  32 foot diameter with over 30,000 pieces of stained glass is striking. A normally lively bunch of girls were speechless as they stood looking back at it.

After lunch and a little down time the teams prepared for their second matches of the week.
The boys groups played the Brighton and Hove Albion in the Community Teams. One group from SUSC North shore traveled over to the Training Facility for their game while the rest of the teams left it all out on the Lancing Fields.
The young U 12 boys from Maine South battled hard as did the group from North shore.
The Benfica boys tied one group and beat the other while the Maine North group also tasted victory.

Afterwards, all three girls groups took the field and once again were victorious.
The U13 Girls from North shore went back and forth but in the end were victorious.

The girls from Mass City played the ladies from Lewes. They quickly went up 2-0 but Lewes scrapped back into the game to tie it up. Both teams battled hard with Mass City coming out victorious 3-2 in the end. In a display of true gamemanship both the groups came together in the end and really enjoyed the match.

The U14 group from Seacoast NH played a Portsmouth based team. It presented the girls with a much more physical team which pushed them to raise the level of game. They sailed to an easy victory allowing them to practice goal celebrations but also enjoying the challenging play.

After the games and dinner all of the groups enjoyed some unstructured down time with multiple options.
The square outside of the dorm is a popular place for kids to gather outside and play games.

There is also a players lounge common room with X Box FIFA, ping pong tables and fusball.

Tomorrow everyone is looking forward to a tour of the sights in London!