Bourne Grammar School ran its first European football tour, visiting Valkenburg in the Netherlands.
Some 47 students and members of staff spent a week of the Easter holiday in Holland, playing competitive matches against youth teams from other countries.
They wore kit sponsored by Safeguard Hire Services and Cawood Electricals and supplied by Chromasport of Peterborough.
Following are extracts from student Tom Smith’s (Year 12) trip report:
Saturday: We met at school at 4am and set off towards Dover where we hopped onto the ferry for a choppy 90 minute journey. Once we arrived in Calais we had a four hour journey, travelling through France and Belgium until reaching our final destination… the world famous ‘Amsterdam Arena’, home of Ajax and the Dutch national team, to watch Holland play Turkey. The atmosphere was amazing.
Monday: Our first training session began with a squad photo, with one member forgetting their school jumper already!
The 3G facilities were a joy to play on, and we split into our three squads and got to work. Game time! All teams were overwhelmed by the quality (and size) of the opposition and the torrential rain. All teams battled valiantly but failed to come out with a good result, but there was something to build on.
Tuesday: A junior and senior tournament took place, including a team consisting of the staff on the trip. Although, to everyone’s surprise, the staff won more games than any other, they were excluded from the finals.
The intermediate game finished in a 2-0 victory for Bourne. The junior team fought valiantly agains much older opposition and with the help of some ‘loanees’ from the older squad they managed to only lose 4-3 after Jacob Westley’s calm and collective finish at the end of a stunning move.
Wednesday: After a day in Phantasialand theme park, we travelled directly to the final games of the tour. All teams continued to play well, with the necessary determination and dedication. The junior and intermediate squads lost, while the seniors fared slightly better, with a well-deserved 2-2 draw after a nail biting end to the match. .
Manager’s players of the tour went to Jacob Westley (Junior), Harrison Dee (Intermediate) and Ben Philby (Senior), with ‘Boy of the Tour’ going to Lewis Fountain.
A special thanks to the bus driver for getting us from place to place every day and for Mr Graves for making the trip happen through his passion for football.
Everyone cannot wait until next year as the trip was brilliant... although we would like better weather.