PLAYERS [note ‘arrival time’ and the ‘30th & 31st day’ changes]
JULY
Thursday
18th
Having departed Baltimore BWI Wednesday afternoon to first fly to Atlanta, and flying overnight, the Anne Arundel County ‘ CrosseOver group arrive Manchester Airport, Terminal 2 at 11.00am ; to be welcomed by the MetroGirls host families, with a short meeting, and thereafter departing to their MetroGirls host’s home.
Friday
19th
AAC Training, meet 12.30pm, at Stockport Cricket Club, Beech Road, Cale Green, SK3 8HE, followed by ‘Welcome’ presentations at 1.30pm.
Sat’day
20th
AAC game v Stockport Lacrosse Club, meet 9.30am at Stockport Cricket Club, Beech Road, Cale Green, SK3 8HE, for 10.30 draw, followed by presentations and buffet/ refreshments.
Sun 21st
Free day with host families
Monday
22nd
AAC game v Mellor Lacrosse Club, meet 6.00pm at Mellor Sports Club, Longhurst Lane, Mellor, SK6 5PN, for a 7.00pm draw, followed by presentations and buffet/refreshments.
It will be arranged for the Oxton hosted girls to stay overnight with Mellor, Stockport and Brookland’s families for their early departure to London.
Tuesday
23rd
AAC (only) Day in London, travelling by train for visits to the Tower of London, and the Houses of Parliament, a river cruise, sightseeing Big Ben, Downing Street, Horse Guards Parade, Buckingham Palace and Hard Rock café. Meet Stockport Station main entrance, Grand Central Way, Stockport, SK3 9HZ, @ 8.30am for 9.04am departure. Return Stockport at 9.55pm for collection of USA girls by host parents.
Wed’day
24th
AAC Game v Wirral, meet 6.00pm at Oxton Cricket Club, Townfield Lane, Oxton CH43 2GL for 7.00pm draw, followed by presentations and buffet/refreshments.
Thursday
25th
AAC (only) Day visit to Warwick and Stratford upon Avon, travelling by coach, visiting Warwick Castle and sightseeing Stratford, home of Shakespeare. Two pick-up points, Stockport pickup 8.30am at Stockport Cricket Club, Beech Road, Cale Green, SK3 8HE; Wind Mill Pub car park, M6 J19 pickup 9.15am; return 6.00pm & 6.45 pm respectively.
Friday
26th
AAC Game v Brooklands U16, meet 6.00pm at Brookland’s Sports Club, WhiteHall Road, Sale, M33 2NL for 7.00pm draw, followed by presentations and buffet/refreshments.
Sat 27th
Free day with host families
Sun 28th
Free day with host families
Monday
29th
Free Day with Host Families
Tuesday
30th
MetroGirls & AAC ‘lacrosse clinic’ meet 10.00am at Brooklands Sports Club, finish 1.00pm. Rest of the day free.
Wed’day
31st
Joint AAC & MetroGirls day visit to Alton Towers ‘ride’ park travelling by coach. Two pick-up points, Stockport pick-up 8.30am, Stockport Cricket Club, Beech Road, Cale Green, SK3 8HE; Wind Mill Pub car park, M6 J19 pickup 9.15am; return 6.00pm & 6.45 pm respectively
AUGUST
Thu 1st
Friendship Game, ACC v MetroGirls meet 5.00pm at Stockport Cricket Club, Beech Road, Cale Green, SK3 8HE for 6.30pm draw; followed by end of tour reception/ presentations and buffet/refreshments.
Friday
2nd
ACC depart from Manchester Airport, Terminal 2; meet in departures at 9.30am for 12.45pm flight home, via Atlanta, arriving Baltimore at 8.59pm (12.59am UK Saturday)
We arrived at the game today after a free weekend. It was great to hear the girls’ stories about what they had done. The girls were in high spirits, as were we. The temperature was about 85 degrees and it looked like a storm was moving in.
The place where we played today was a stadium which has a great speaker system. We arrived at the game and did our wam up to songs from Rhianna and Beyonce! The girls loved it. The speaker announced each girls name in turn as they ran on the pitch before the national anthem. everyone cheered as each girl in turn ran onto the field. I am sure that is an experience they will never forget.
The game started and they scored. In fact, they scored several, and no matter how much we switched the team around, we did not seem able to score. The half time score was 9-0. We were all deflated. Many of the girls were tired. Some girls had come to the game straight from the beach. Tony gave a great half time speech and fired the girls up.
We started with a fairly strong team, and with Tony’s new tactics for the defence we looked good. Not only did they not score, but we won the ball and got the ball down to the attack. Jess scored making it 9-1. Although we probably at this point did not have a chance of winning, we did have a chance to play as a team and keep our heads held high. Another goal from Jess assisted by Kate S made made the score line 9-2. The rest of the game was extremely good to watch from a coaches point of view. Our girls were defending well and looked amazing. They scored a couple and we scored a great goal. Lucy R Assisted by Jess. 11-3. We saw them score 2 goals more. The final 4 minutes were mostly tactical by the other team, keeping the ball outside the 8. Our girls did well to adapt to their tactics and deal with one of their isolations.
Final score 13-3
A big Well done should undoubtedly go to Jess who had a part to play in every goal. However, all the girls payed well in the second half. The defence and midfielders did more than play their part. Of course i can’t mention everyone but Lydia Mellor, Lucy R and Ellie D played especially well.
We have Hershey Park tomorrow which is always a fun day. Then comes the final game against the crosse over team on Wednesday.
We arrived at the game with the weather Very hot, I think the temperature was around 90 degrees, and it appeared to get hotter as the night went on. Many of the girls had been out in the sun all day and a few were tired. Tony and I needed to motivate our girls as this was going to be a difficult game, but with the right team effort, we could certainly win.
The game started and Niamh scored. Great, 1-0. We then scored another quickly after, this time by Charlotte. They came right back at us. Scoring twice to level it up at 2-2. We had a time out. Our girls were tired and very hot but we needed to regroup. We want back onto the pitch and the ball was going from end to end. Emily made some fantastic saves, one of which she came out of the goal to make an Interception, the ball went to ground and one of the St Mary’s girls picked it up to shoot again but Emily saved it again. We had 1 minute left in the half, Niamh had the ball, Jess cut to goal, received a great pass and scored. Brilliant timing, going in to half time a goal up. 3-2.
We started the second half with a goal from Niamh, assisted by Lucy R, followed by another goal by Jess, assisted by Niamh. 5-2. They scored, then Niamh scored again. 6-3. We eased off a little, however Holly W scored to make it 7-3. We changed the team up and lost our shape. They scored twice, 7-5. Holly W scored again 8-5. They came back at us and scored twice more. 8-7. There was no way we were letting this game run way from us like the first match, so we had a time out, we needed a serious chat about keeping the ball and maintaining our lead. We had a tense last 4 minutes. We were rewarded with a goal from Holly W assisted by Holly C.
Final score was 9-7. This was an excellent game to watch. We needed to make the decision to keep a strong squad on as much as possible to make sure we won. The girls played amazing. I was very proud of them. Many of the American parents commented on how much we had Improved since our last game. I now have high hopes for our next match.
I think a special mention should go to the attackers for putting the ball in the back of the net. I was really pleased to see so many assists this match. We had many more attempted assists too which did not result in a goal., and are too many to mention here! Lydia Mellor did a lovely speech at the end of the game.
The girls now have a free weekend, I know many girls are doing fun things like going to NYC or the beach. I think it’s funny that the American parents take the girls away, as where we are I. Annapolis truly is one of the most beautiful places o the water I have ever been to, so there is plenty to do right here!
Some of the girls got to meet the speaker of the house, which was a great honour. It turns out he had been involved in the boys tour years ago! (small world!)
The trip to the naval academy was interesting. The girls were shocked that the plebes had to go through a whole marching, standing ceremony each day at 12pm before lunch. It was great to see about 1000 plebes marching together. We then went to the Naval Academy shop where the girls bought some great NAVY gifts.
We left the girls for an hour or so to shop and have lunch. I was surprised that a lot of the girls opted for salad!
The weather was approaching 100 degrees, so our boat tour was very hot but enjoyable! The YMCA dance at the end was my own personal highlight!
We have a game tonight against St Mary’s, so until then bye from us x
We arrived at the game today. The sky was blue, the sun was shining, and the temperature was around 85 degrees, although on the turf field it was 10 degrees hotter. There was no humidity, so as far as the Americans were concerned, these were great playing conditions.
We knew this team were going to be strong so we started with a strong line up. We needed to win the centres.
They scored first, then Holly W scored to level it up. I thought that we were in with a chance. They came back and scored 3 more. Then Jenny scored to make it 5-2. We had a time out to fire the girls up. We could get this back.
What happened next was nothing short of awful. They scored again and again. Half time came and they scored again and again and again. We did hit the bar 4 times, so we could have had a few goals! With 5 minutes to go the score was 14-2. Tony and i had a time out and said a few choice words. Needless to say the next 5 minutes were fantastic. We dominated possession and were rewarded with a goal from Jessica.
This was always going to be a difficult game however i was most disappointed with the girls not fighting enough for the ball. We did see some amazing lacrosse at times. In fact, some of the lacrosse we saw was far beyond the years of these girls. I know they are learning, i just want them to get their mental game together too.
A special mention should go to Lucy R for running her socks off. Millie, Jen,Jess and Charlotte definitely stepped up at the end of the second half. The attackers did well keeping the ball, and we saw some really good moves from them.
We have our trip to Annapolis tomorrow. This is my favourite trip. We go the the state house, Naval Academy, have a couple of hours shopping and then we have a boat trip which usually ends with lots o dancing! The weather is set to be 100 degrees so we will definitely need our sun tan cream!!
For a little bit of fun we decided to have a little photo competition with the Washington Monument as the backdrop. The girls had a few minutes to take photos with the winner being chosen by Kevin, one of the American coaches on the journey home. The only prize being kudos and the picture on the website.
After much deliberation the photo below was announced as the winner! Congratulations to Antonia for taking the winning picture and Charlotte for the great pose !!!
Our trip to Washington started with us meeting at McDonalds at 7am. This is the best weather we have had yet; about 85 degrees and sunny! We boarded the coach for the 1 hour drive to Washington DC. The coach driver gave us a history lesson on the way there!
We saw the White House, The Jefferson Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the World War Two Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. We went to the American History Museum and the History Museum.
The girls have taken so many photos, their memory cards must be full!
It has been a tiring day, but one which the girls will always remember.
Tomorrow we play Davidsonville, which I have learnt, beat the team we lost to last night. Watch this space for the report!
After the match the reception was held down by the beach giving the girls a chance to relax and have some fun. The Severna Park parents put on a great buffet and refreshments.
We arrived today knowing that Severna Park were a difficult team. The temperature was around 81 degrees. We listened to stories of the girls who had been to the beach, and girls who had spent the day on the water. We then went into game mode.
Score 15-1 to them.
Niamh scored for us.
Player of the match – Emilie in goal who saved many shots, and had it not been for her, the score would have been far worse. Millie, and Lucy ran their hearts out in wing defence. Tamsyn, Honor and Jen did a great job in centre and Niamh, Chloe and Holly W did a great job in attack. All the girls who play defence did a great job, and never gave up. Well done.
The scoreline was a fair reflection of the game, however the girls played significantly better than in the last match. we fought for the ball, and at times, held the ball well in attack. We were however unable to keep their team from scoring and did not finish our shots. Their fast accurate passing was better than most teams I have watched.
The girls have an early start in the morning as we are going on a trip to Washington DC. Our next game is Wednesday.
We arrived at the game today and it was pouring down! The temperature was about 70 degrees. Not much change from the weather we are used to playing in, so I had really high hopes. The GLAAAC team is made up of girls who did not make their high school teams. Traditionally, this has been our easiest game.
We started the match with a quick goal from Holly C. We went up with another from Jess. 2-0. They came back at us with 2 goals in quick succession. 2-2. We had a time out and completely changed the team. We went back on the pitch and dominated play. The midfield ran their socks off. Special mention should go to Sophie and Tamsyn. However, We were all amazing. Goals from Charlotte, Jess and Jenny made the score 5-2.
Our defence were fantastic, and kept their attack out. Particular mention should go to Kate Sinclair, for her sterling efforts, however Both Lydias, Alex and Antonia also performed well.
Just before half time they scored leaving us 5-3 up and looking really strong.
The team talk at half time was positive. There were a few occasions where we had given the ball away cheaply, and a few more occasions where the girls hadn’t been watching the ball, but Tony and I were pleased.
We went back out and scored again. This time from Niamh. 6-3. Our girls thought they had it in the bag. What we witnessed next was a complete game change. All of a sudden we were not fighting for the ball. They came at us in defence and we buckled under pressure. They scored, then scored again. Niamh scored for us making it 7-5. We called a timeout to fire up the girls and regain our composure. Unfortunately we just didn’t organise ourselves enough and they scored 2 more levelling the score at 7-7.
The other team called a time out when the game was being played. The players were told to drop their sticks and had no idea what was going on. We objected, then the umpires changed their minds and did not allow the team the time out as the game was in play. Our girls had no idea what was going on. Their team kept possession, took the ball and scored. 7-8.
We had a tense last 18 seconds but the score ended up 7-8.
This was a tough lesson for our girls to learn. Never have I seen a team dominate play so much and still lose.
Jess, Jenny C and Kate S were my players of the match.
The girls now have a free day on Sunday and a free morning/afternoon on Monday. Apparently Severna Park (who we play on Monday) are our toughest opposition.
Oh no, it rained all day! I have never been to the states and coached a match in the rain. This weather rivals Manchester! It is all set to change tomorrow 🙂
We all met up today for training and a trip to Lax World. The weather was a cool 76 degrees, and the skies were pretty grey. I think we brought the UK weather with us!!! The girls chatted about what they did last night and their plans for the next few days! We trained for about an hour. This was the best first training session I have coached, so well done to the girls! We exchanged gifts with the Anne Arundel team. The goodie bags our girls received included flip flops, sweets and t-shirts!
We then went to Lax World (as the name suggests, a shop devoted to lacrosse gear!) The girls also devoured about 10 pizzas too!
After about an hour or so, the girls went their separate ways and are no doubt having lots of fun before the game against GLAAAC tomorrow afternoon.
