Today was a long but good day...This morning was the same routine like every other morning. Sarah (CMT Staff not out Sarah from Seacoast) made wake up calls at 7:45 am and then we were off to breakfast by 8 am. We have noticed that some form of potato is served at every meal... for breakfast every morning there are waffle potatoes, for dinner last night there was mashed potatoes and for lunch the other day there was hash browns. So many potatoes!
At 10 of 10 am, we walked up to get the bus for Kingston. We packed everything we needed for the day since today was the longest day we were off campus. It took us just under an hour to get to Kingston, where the girls again had the chance to shop and get a snack/lunch. Harriet took Christine and I on a quick tour of the Kington Grammar School where she teaches P.E. with Matt, Dave and Tom. The campus is very nice and they pack out of buildings in a small amoutn of space. Harriet was so kind to give Christine and I a Kingston Grammar School Sport Sweatshirt. She was telling us that their school logo was just slightly redesigned so they have extra gear that can no longer be used.
Katie Corkill also met the group in Kingston to check in on how the camp was going thus far. It was very nice to see her again. She could only stay for a quick visit because she had to get to ready for our Seacoast United soccer players that will be arriving at Lancing College on Sunday.
Around 1 pm, we headed back to the bus for a quick ride to the Hampton Court Palace and Gardens. The Hampton Court Palace is an historic site owned by the Queen. We took a scenic stroll through the gardens with Dave as our tour guide and took a group photo in front of the palace. Apparently, there is a huge maze (like the one in Harry Potter) but we didn't have time to walk through it because we had to get to the field for our games. Dave told us that the maze is actually quite challenging and people get lost in it frequently because the shrubs are so high.
After our stroll through the Gardens, we arrived at the Kingston fields and clubhouse for our games. Our first team played at 3 pm and unfortunately lost 6-1 with our lone goal scored by Cameron Whelan (some of the girls played for both teams and Cameron was able to be one of those players). The weather of course was all over the place...One minute it was bright and sunny then the next minute it was absolutely downpouring. Our second team took the field around 4:30 pm and unfortunately they lost as well 4-3. They did tie the game up 3-3 in the second half but they were not able to take the lead even though they tried their hardest.
Once both games were complete, our girls and the players from Kingston enjoyed a snack of cookies and crisps (chips) that Harriet and Tom had purchased earlier in the day. At that point, the sky had opened up and was raining extremely hard which didn't allow both groups to interact like they did at the Lewes Hockey Club last Saturday. It was still a great experience and all the coaches have noticed such improvement from all of our girls.
I forgot to mention that Christine had to play today! She played with the Kingston team in our second game. She says that she is out of shape and is rusty but she definitely did not look out of shape and rusty on the field today. The girls gave her a hard time because she played for the opposing team but it was all in good fun.
On the way home, there was no singing but there was lots of traffic! The bus driver was very kind and played the Beauty and the Beast for our ride home which ended with in minutes of us getting back to campus (perfect timing if you ask me). We arrived back to campus just before 8:30 pm and went straight to dinner in our soggy clothes. The girls ate pretty quickly and there was a mad dash to get to the showers first.
It is hard to believe that tomorrow is our final full day in England and I think they saved the best day for last. The girls are going to have a wonderful experience training at the Olympic Stadium tomorrow.
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