My tour to Skegness by Zoe Parsons (Age 10 Charlton Athletic Girls Under 12 team)
On Friday 16th May the Charlton Athletic Girls teams went on tour to Skegness to play in the ESF Festival of Football. We left after school and our parents took us by car. My Dad drove me and my big sister Lauren who plays for the Under 16’s, it was a very long way.
When we got to Butlins we found our rooms then I met up with my teamies and went off to explore Butlins.
Our matches started on Saturday and I was so excited I was up at 5am so me and my Dad went to find the beach before breakfast. Lauren was being lazy and stayed in bed.
The girls matches were played at a sports ground near Butlins. I was playing for the Under 12’s and our games did not start till Saturday afternoon so I went and cheered our U14 & U16 teams on in the morning. It was very hot and sunny and we had lots of lollies and ice cream to keep cool.
Our first match was against Calverley United and we won 5-0. Tayla scored a hat-trick and Grace L got 2 goals.
In our next game we won 5-0 again! Tayla got 2 goals and Rachel, Grace L & Tegan also scored.
In our last game on Saturday we played Hessle Sports Club who had also won both their games. They were bigger than us and it was a very exciting match. Tayla scored for us but they scored near the end to make it 1-1.
We then went back to Butlins and after a shower and dinner I met up with my teamies for the evening. It was great fun as usually we only see each other at training and matches.
On Sunday our matches were in the morning and I couldn’t wait to play. In our first game we beat Lincoln Griffins 4-0. Grace L got 2 goals, Tayla scored one and I scored from a penalty.
In our last game we played George Spencer School and had to win. We missed lots of chances in the first half but Grace L our Captain scored to make it 1-0. This meant we had won the tournament so we celebrated by making a player pyramid with our coach Clare and squirting water over each other.
We then went back to Butlins and went to the water park which was great fun, it was the best thing I loved about Butlins.
Later in the afternoon we went to a big presentation where we got our trophies. We had to go up onto the stage and England player Jordan Nobbs of Arsenal gave us our trophies. Our captain Grace was then given the big winners trophy by Jordan and Stuart Pearce who my Dad said played for England.
It was my first tour and was a great experience. I can’t wait to go again next year!
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