Day 2: Friday, August 11th

There were some sleepy faces at breakfast this morning. Everyone hit their beds hard last night after the overnight plane and long introduction day. But it always takes a day or two to really acclimate to the time change and get into the groove of the schedule.
First, it was off to breakfast at 8:15am like we will every morning. Cereal, fresh fruit, eggs and croissants are all available for the kids. This morning they were also introduced to English bacon.

I know exactly what you are thinking. That looks like ham right?! Yes, apparently in England, ham is bacon. It is a little thinner cut and crispy on the outside but looks and tastes like ham to me!
After breakfast, we all headed down to the soccer fields for the first time to meet the Brighton & Hove Albion coaches for the week.

The groups then split off and headed over for a warm up.
The goal keepers started off with some small group goalie specific training with Lea Samain who trains with the Brighton & Hove Albion Women's first team.

The girls group and boys groups broke off with their respective coaches for a warm up before heading into possession and penetrating passing drills.

Mid afternoon the kids went up for some relaxation time and lunch. The first day on the fields with double sessions is tough with the jet lag but this is also a beautiful day of blue skies in England and the heat also took a toll on the kids so a mid afternoon break did wonders in preparing them for the second session.
Back down on the fields the groups split off with their coaches again and headed onto the fields.

The boys warmed up and played small sided games gelling as a team and the girls worked on defending.
Then we were back up to the dorms to shower and change before heading into dinner. The night activity was in the gym, a hybrid of kickball and cricket.

Kids had to kick the ball and run back and forth around side by side bases while the opposing team tried to catch the ball. I can attest that the kicking was fantastic but aside from our goalies, maybe the catching is a work in progress 😀

It was a long day of soccer and activity. The night ended with everyone on the players lounge watching the Arsenal vs Leicester game, Track and Field World Championships or playing FIFA soccer on Xbox to unwind. We also let them go to the Tuck Shop where they could get snacks.

Tomorrow we are up for breakfast and then head for a morning swim before showering and boarding the bus going g to the Southampton vs Swansea Premier League game.