Spalding Grammar School recently went on a football tour to Amsterdam in Holland. Student John Gooding shares their experiences...
The Amsterdam football tour was for me one of my best-ever experiences. I can probably talk for many others who were also a part of this tour and shared it with me.
The aims of the tour were for us to experience the difference in culture between England and Holland, both on and off the pitch, as well as develop independence – whilst also having fun.
The squad stayed in a coastal town near Amsterdam called Noordwijk which had an amazing beach and a high street with a variety of shops.
On the first morning we had to wake up at 7am to participate in a run led by Mr Endersbee. This kick-started our week in Holland, but on the second day of the tour we could participate on an optional run if we wanted to with Mr Hedges.
I decided to take part along with five students, running 4.5k on the beach, and just to be able to do that was a privilege. Once or twice we also went onto the high street to do a bit of shopping.
During the tour of Amsterdam we took part in many activities. We first went to the Ajax stadium – the Amsterdam Arena – which was a fantastic experience to be in a place where total football really was born. We had a guided tour of the stadium and it was just super to be in an arena of that size and to be told so much about it whilst enjoying the whole sense of being there.
Also, who could forget the players that have taken part in games at this arena and the thought that we would be walking in their footsteps up the stairs to the pitch? Cruyff, Van Basten and Koeman to name just a few.
After the guided tour we all went to the stadium shop, where nearly everyone bought something linked with Ajax.
We also attended the Anne Frank Museum, which was very emotional for people who hadn’t been before as we were possibly walking in the footsteps of people who had to live in fear of being caught just because of who they were or what they believed in.
It was a wonderful experience to have done and to share with other people.
We also went to the Amsterdam Dungeons, which was very scary. It told the murky history of Amsterdam in a very spooky and horrible way and we all enjoyed it a lot. It was told as a story as you went through different stages and we all got a lot out of it.
Every day we would do football training which was brilliant. Most of this was in our two squads, the A team and B team. We would do drills such as attack versus defence, dribbling, passing, penalty shoot-outs, shooting drills, crossing, keeper training and much more.
Doing all this practice really allowed us all to develop as footballers – particularly as some of us had never had proper football training before.
However, all this training was going towards our matches that week and our first was against a team called SEV Leidschendam. As captain of the B Team, I went into the game thinking that if we worked as hard as we did in training, we would come out on top with a good result – and in the first half it was showing all these kind of signs.
We had all the possession and were playing some excellent football, but we couldn’t find the goals we needed.
In the second half, once again, we were straight at them but after conceding two quick goals, it knocked us back and we thought we were down and out.
With only ten minutes to go there came a glimmer of hope for us after an inspired effort by Jake Hollis to pull a goal back for us – and with two minutes left we won a corner.
After a big flick on by Jamie Balding the ball came to Hollis again. He turned and shot at goal, but it took a slight deflection off Josh Yellop and the ball flew into the roof of the net. We all went crazy!
After coming from 2-0 down with ten minutes left, we finished the game with a draw and I have to say it was one of the best games I have ever played in.
At the same time, the A team, captained by Dan Dougill, played a stronger Leidschendam team.
The match started well, with SGS moving the ball around quickly and effectively, showing the Dutch how to play total football. Early goals flew in, and the performance continued to remain strong up until half time, with SGS boys leading 5-0.
In the second half, the performance dropped a little, with players becoming complacent and a little greedy in places. Two more goals were scored to win the game 7-0.
The second game was against FC Lisse. We went into this game with a lot of confidence, but we knew it wouldn’t be easy.
We got off to a brilliant start when Charlie Johnson scored, which was followed by further strikes from Max Winson, Ollie Green, Jake Hollis, Jamie Sharpe, Max Cooper and Dan Gildon.
The end result of 7-0 really signified how much everybody had improved as footballers, thanks to all of the training we had done with Mr Hedges and the other coaching staff.
After this, the A team played against another FC Lisse team, and really dominated from the off.
Whereas complacency had crept into the first game, there was no such signs in this one, with the highest level of football seen on tour being played, and a crushing 11-0 defeat of the opponents. Along the way were outstanding goals from Harry Hagon-Smith, man-of-the-match Freddie Pearson and a delicate lob by Callum Davies.
From my reflections of the tour, I have learnt that winning isn’t everything and that you should never give up no matter how big the task is that you have to overcome.
I think I have become friends with a lot more people and I think the overall experience has improved my knowledge of the game.
Being a part of this tour has also improved my confidence on and off the football pitch and I have the PE Department and all those who made this trip possible to thank for this opportunity to make new friends, improve my football skills and learn about different cultural aspects from various countries.