If you have a dream of traveling anywhere, where would your number one pick be? How would you be able to fund this trip? What activities would you do there? Are there specific objects you would like to see?
I have always had a specific plan in mind when thinking of these questions, but I never thought I would be able to conquer it. A little over four years ago when I was a junior in high school, I was able to check off my dream box of traveling to England/Scotland and it was the the best 15 days of my life!
High School Opportunity:
My high school soccer team allowed the players to have a once in a lifetime experience of traveling to England and Scotland to tour and play soccer under the supervision of semi-professional soccer coaches. Martin and Chris Bates were our coaches for most of this trip. This trip happens every two years (sometime between your sophomore-senior year of high school), allowing the opportunity for every age group to travel there. You only go once in your four years of high school, and you travel with the guys soccer team as well. When I went, it was the girls seniors and juniors, and the boys juniors and sophomores. An option for a parent/guardian is available in order to help have volunteer supervision so four coaches were not trying to look over two fully rostered teams of young and wild children. My mother was one the parents who volunteered to help, so I was able to live this experience with my best friend by my side!
Funding:
Before I go onto details, let me answer the question I know you have been thinking. No- the high school did not pay for this trip to happen. To have this experience, there has been years of fundraising, events and so much more to help raise the money for each child. The money raised by events (Wine and Chocolate Event, selling girl scout cookies, etc.) would be divided into event amounts to each player who helped at that time. If a parent/guardian was going on this trip, they needed to pay fully out of pocket.
England Tours and Trips:
To be able to say I went to England and Scotland when I was 17 is truly amazing. This trip took place July 22nd to August 6th of 2016. The first few days were very hard to adjust to the time difference. If you did not sleep on the 7-hour plain ride there, then the first day was very long. After arriving to our rooms that we were staying in, we dropped our luggage off and shortly met back up for a bus ride throughout the city. Most of the team piled on the top of the bus, where it’s all open seating and easier for pictures. We toured all day and saw a lot of the main tourist attractions, but it was very hard to stay awake.
The first couple days of being there was touring. The team went to see a Broadway show. Tip: do not take a picture during the show or you will get threatened to get kicked out if you do not delete it- I learned this from personal experience! We also had the opportunity to eat in the original Hardrock Café, which was very good but pricey food. We were able to see some of the major tourist attractions such as the Big Ben, Buckingham Palace with the changing of the guard, Westminster Abbey, Tower Bridge, Tower of London and the Crown Jules, and the London Eye (a massive Ferris wheel) which we were able to ride. For more information, visit https://travel.usnews.com/London_England/Things_To_Do/. Later, we were able to see a Liverpool professional soccer game. Tip: do not EVER wear the opposing team colors, and foul language is normal to them so do not take offense. We also were given the opportunity to write our names in the original cavern where the Beatles have performed for one of the first times ever. It truly is amazing to think my name is still probably there. During our touring days still, the team took a trip to University of Chester. Of course, we visited the gift shops, and we walked the Chester wall.
England Football:
After the first couple days of straight touring started the beginning of our soccer journey. Every day we would have morning practices, then team breakfast. After breakfast left some downtime for anything we wanted. Some people napped, some showered, some hung out with coaches, and others hung out with other players. There were always activities and new people to be doing things with. Later in the afternoon came our soccer games or tournaments. Sometimes it was on the field behind where we were staying, other times we had to travel a little bit. We would play different teams from around the area. It was exciting to hear their accents, study their moves, and play against them. Some teams consisted of much older women. After every game, our team would mix and combine with theirs to get a picture.
After our games/tournaments came team dinner, then the rest of the night was ours. Most nights we stayed up until 2:00 a.m. just hanging out with other players, playing late night soccer, ordering enough domino’s pizza for a small group of us that could probably fill up a family of 20, playing card games and so much more.
We would wake up the next day bright and early and repeat. Some days we have three-a-days. By the end of England soccer, your body was hurting.
Scotland:
Scotland consisted of our last three days. There was not much touring involved because it was mainly soccer other than going to the Edinburgh Castle. This castle was amazing! Visit https://www.edinburghcastle.scot/ to learn more about it!
Our soccer coach for Scotland was Alex Muir. He kept our soccer routine basically the same as when we were in England, we just played different teams. Our last day consisted of packing up our room, saying goodbye to our two coaches, loading the bus, and heading home.
Returning Home:
After returning home, we had a week of rest to recover which was MUCH needed. After a week passed, our soccer tryouts begun. Your body ached at every move after this trip, but it left you in shape, a better player, and with a thousand memories that I would not trade for the world.
Kate's Travel Blog 