After a return journey to Accra which included a trip along the rainforest canopy walkway at Kakum, the squad caught their flight home. Sabre was at Gatwick to see them in - a tired, sun-kissed and remarkably chirpy group given the 0610 arrival.
The feedback on arrival was fantastic - "the best sports tour in 20 years of teaching" and everyone should be very proud of what they achieved in Ghana, both on and off the pitch.
On behalf of the District Education Office and everyone at Sabre, we would like to say a big, big thank you to Chesham for being such a wonderful touring party. This was the first Sabre sports tour, but judging by its success, it certainly won't be the last!
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
Sunday, 25 October 2009
Match Day 4
Sunday 25th October 2009
Netball Team A
Susie Gillott :
Time: 8:30 if im honest im being forced to do this when all I want to do is sleep so ill try my best.
For our final fixture we travelled to Komanda to play a team made up of the best players from all the teams that we had already played. We werent sure what to expect but went into the game optimistic as we were unbeaten so far on the tour.
The game started pretty closely with good play from either side and it was clear that we thought the match would be intense. By the end of the firstquarter it was 4-4 with both teams looking strong, but never-the-less Chesham pulled through and won the second quarter by three goals resulting in the score of 7-4. The third and fourth quarters are kind of a blur, but as usual we kicked ghanahian butt and ended up with a final score of 14-5. The team played immensely and the concentration levels never dropped.
Love from all the A team,
Can't wait to see you on Tuesday.
P.s from Ali Cullen, please buy me nice food for my return and from me, mother please could you prepare me a veggie stir-fry... thankyou x
Netball Team B
Ella Gillett:
For the last fixture, Chesham's Netball B team played Komanda. With Komanda's first centre, the game was off to a fierce and furious start, and after an intense first quarter, Komanda was in the lead with 4-2 in their favour. Despite the score neither teams were willing to give up!
However, Komenda's standards had increased in the second quarter causing their score to rise rapidly, leaving Chesham disheartened with the score standing at 9-2.
Chesham high, despite the high level of effort and standard displayed by Komanda, was determined to fight for more goals. With more accurate passes and desensive perseveerence Chesham managed to score 3 more goals in the third quarter... however so did Komanda.
But Chesham refused to surrender to the viscious Ghanahian team so in the last quarter Chesham gave it their all scored an incredible 5 goals with Komanda only scoring 4. The game ended with 16- 10 to Ghana, however Chesham left proud as they did their best under the circumstances.
From the B team, we shall see you all soon!
Football Report
Paul Fellows:
Cheshams last fixture was played on what could have been the nicest pitch they had seen in ghana. However, without lines and the right side being un mown it became just another pitch.
The opposition were another academy team but a younger age than last time. The match kicked off under the setting sun and it was another fast paced, competitive game from the off with very few chances and plenty of tough tackles. The first third past uneventfully with both teams showing a lot of respect to each other.
Chesham started slowly in the second third, not getting to tackles quick enough but once again their were very few chances as both teams cleared up well at the back.
The final third was the most controversial with referee decisions including a terrible offside call that disallowed cheshams only goal. The remainder of the third was firey with both teams going in hard and the referee giving more questionable decisions but passed without any goals.
So the tours final game ended in a goaless draw but Chesham showed that they could overcome heat, exhaustion and malaria and could still give a good account of themselves against top Ghanahian teams.
Netball Team A
Susie Gillott :
Time: 8:30 if im honest im being forced to do this when all I want to do is sleep so ill try my best.
For our final fixture we travelled to Komanda to play a team made up of the best players from all the teams that we had already played. We werent sure what to expect but went into the game optimistic as we were unbeaten so far on the tour.
The game started pretty closely with good play from either side and it was clear that we thought the match would be intense. By the end of the firstquarter it was 4-4 with both teams looking strong, but never-the-less Chesham pulled through and won the second quarter by three goals resulting in the score of 7-4. The third and fourth quarters are kind of a blur, but as usual we kicked ghanahian butt and ended up with a final score of 14-5. The team played immensely and the concentration levels never dropped.
Love from all the A team,
Can't wait to see you on Tuesday.
P.s from Ali Cullen, please buy me nice food for my return and from me, mother please could you prepare me a veggie stir-fry... thankyou x
Netball Team B
Ella Gillett:
For the last fixture, Chesham's Netball B team played Komanda. With Komanda's first centre, the game was off to a fierce and furious start, and after an intense first quarter, Komanda was in the lead with 4-2 in their favour. Despite the score neither teams were willing to give up!
However, Komenda's standards had increased in the second quarter causing their score to rise rapidly, leaving Chesham disheartened with the score standing at 9-2.
Chesham high, despite the high level of effort and standard displayed by Komanda, was determined to fight for more goals. With more accurate passes and desensive perseveerence Chesham managed to score 3 more goals in the third quarter... however so did Komanda.
But Chesham refused to surrender to the viscious Ghanahian team so in the last quarter Chesham gave it their all scored an incredible 5 goals with Komanda only scoring 4. The game ended with 16- 10 to Ghana, however Chesham left proud as they did their best under the circumstances.
From the B team, we shall see you all soon!
Football Report
Paul Fellows:
Cheshams last fixture was played on what could have been the nicest pitch they had seen in ghana. However, without lines and the right side being un mown it became just another pitch.
The opposition were another academy team but a younger age than last time. The match kicked off under the setting sun and it was another fast paced, competitive game from the off with very few chances and plenty of tough tackles. The first third past uneventfully with both teams showing a lot of respect to each other.
Chesham started slowly in the second third, not getting to tackles quick enough but once again their were very few chances as both teams cleared up well at the back.
The final third was the most controversial with referee decisions including a terrible offside call that disallowed cheshams only goal. The remainder of the third was firey with both teams going in hard and the referee giving more questionable decisions but passed without any goals.
So the tours final game ended in a goaless draw but Chesham showed that they could overcome heat, exhaustion and malaria and could still give a good account of themselves against top Ghanahian teams.
Match Day 3
Saturday 24th October 2009
After quickly recovering from the outbreak of sunstroke that had spread across camp during the previus week, most of the team was fighting fit and raring to go as soon as we got on the bus to the venue. During the journey, we picked up the ghanaian netball team who shortly started singing for mental preparation before the big game. However, the year 11 boys decided to outsing them with their ladish football chants.
We got off the bus and scuttled for the shade before limbering up.
Thankfully we had established how to start a match and exchange gifts ghanaian style – which suprisingly took a lot of practice for it to run smoothly but we cracked it.
With our first netball teams toes behind the line, we got onside and the first whistle was blown. It was clear from the first couple of minutes of play that both teams were determined to conquer their opposition and claim victory for their nation.
The midday heat and humidity had begun to effect the players but those acclimatisation days shockingly payed off and Chesham High managed to withstand the sweltering heat. With the encouraging support from the football team and the other netball team, the score at half time was 17-1 to Chesham High.
Our opposition, Peshi, had previously had only two netball practices befre challenging chesham and still had their heads up at half time. In Ghana, sport is not as important as it is in the UK because education is their main priority and helping/providing for their family comes second. Therefore sport is not as well recognised and funding for facilities and equipment is difficult. However, the combination of Peshi's netball coach,our contribution and the help of the SABRE trust is a starting point to improve the standard of extra curricular activities which will in turn contribute to the development of Ghana as a whole.
The Chesham High Ghana Sports Tour 2009 and the SABRE trust has made netball a more recognised sport and hopefully the teams that we have played against will continue playing and improving their skills.
The girls completely swapped positions in the last quarter, appart from susie which she was clearly delighted about. We continued to play some awsome netball which ran like clockwork, with the odd smash in the face which hindered the flow of play. However, both teams had a fantastic match with enormous effort put in from both sides and ended the match with a stonking score of 32-1 to Chesham High. The obama biscutis and pineapple juice was seriously appriciated by both teams before we all retreated into the shade to cool down and watch the second netball match.
The second match of the day started of with a massive outbreak of heat, and the game began when it was at its peak. This made the game so much harder to play in as the heat and humidity made the game tiring and tougher. The game started of in the same way as always with the presenting of gifts to each opposing team and lining up. Then the game began.
For the first quarter there was 10 minutes of aggressive playing by the ghanahians which was quite a shock as we should have been used to how the Ghanahians play; many of us got battered by the opposing team during the first part of the game. This quarter seemed to be the toughest quarter compared to all the other quarters as the Ghanahians put together a strong and aggressive side. The game that was played proved to us where our strengths and weaknesses were when we play netball and it also proved to us how fit we were to manage in the stealth of the heat. It also determined that we had the skills in the game, whereas the ghanahians had the pace so both teams were equally matched with strengths in the game. By the end of the first quarter the score was 2-1 to us after a ferocious intense 10 minutes had gone by.
The second quarter of the game began well with a goal scored in the first few minutes which gave everyone a boost of confidence and the game suddenly became more rapid and intense as the players in our team soon began to show a more aggressive side to their side of the game. The game also became more structured and was more organised than thje first quarter and everyone played their best to score more goals, and achieve a higher result. We were now used to how the ghanahian players played so we wernt as scared of them as we were at first, and along with the support from the other netball team and the footballers our morales soared.
By the end of this half we had scored 3 more goals, so the final score after the first half was 4-1 to us. During our break we switched positions with whoever else was playing the same position, and consumed lots of water to relieve ourselfs so we wouldnt feel ill, or be overcome with dehydration and faint or something. After the break we went straight back on to the pitch to begin the second half of the game. We began in the same intense way and followed out all our tactics and skills to perfection in the game, and this helped to improve our score. We were now so in control of what we were doing the game soon became a lot easier and along with the support everyone was giving each other it became an eventful and great game. By the end of this quarter the score was 7-1 to us, which was a good result as we only had 7 minutes to play these last quarters as the sun was going down and we had to think of the footballers games in the light not the dark.
Finally, the last quarter was about to begin. This was the most keenly contested quarter as it proved to everyone the strength and energy that we were putting into the game. The shooters improved so much and it was a joy to see how the game was playd with the balls gliding into the nets, and people always their for the rebounds ready to shoot again and score if people missed. The final score shot up, to a successful 13-1 to us with a steady pace. The result of the game put a fine boost of morales on everyone for not only had the first team won their match but also the second team as well had won too. It was a great finish for the netballers.
Football match report
Chesham's third match was their toughest yet against Redeemer Boys Football Academy. It took placeonce again at SSNT ad the weather was the hottest they had experienced playing under.
The first third started and chesham fought well against a team who were fast and knew eachother well. How ever Chesham gave them nothing ending the first third still level. The second third started, but it was clear chesham were tired ad Redeemer had decided to pick up their game. Second balls and tackles were rushed and chesham took their eye off the ball twice and were punished with two goals.
A deflated Chesham came out for the final third but their was to be no heroic come back this time as redeemer scored their third. Chesham did well close the game after that, as they came back into the game slightly. Chesham returned to the bus understandably that the team that beat them was better and to come away only beaten 3-0 showed how far Chesham had come on this trip as individuals and as a team.
Written by Paul,
poorly typed by oli,
Netball Report
Woke up at 6.30 because Dave Hill was being noisy, and so told him to shut up. Went down at 8.00 for a leisurely breakfast of scrambled egg and porridge. Mr Ofari has officially disappeared. Too much egg. After washing we headed down to the beach for sunbathing and paddling. The weather was steamy and sunny as always. At ten thirty we went for showers just after we played volleyball. Then we had lunch, which was soup, before heading off for our third fixture. We played at the first pitch where we trained on the second day of our trip and on the way we picked up the other girl's netball team.
We whipped them 32-1 at netball, the girl's second team won 13-1. Well played girl's!! The boys played Ghana's regional academy. 3-0 loss. It was a close game in which Joe Flack was the best player. We arrived home in the dark which lead to an interesting shower in the pitch black, after that we headed down to dinner, we all miss london. We all assembled around the camp fire after dinner for funny performance's and singing. The year twelve girl's pulled it off by singing their own version of 'a wim ba whey'. Year eleven boys came second with their nudity. Year eleven girl's finished third with their malarone song, which was insane. Year twelve boy's finished last, as expected, because they did jokes and scored an unbeatable score of 2 out of 60. We all headed to bed at eleven. Nighty night.
P.S. Happy 13th Birthday to Olivia Wright.
After quickly recovering from the outbreak of sunstroke that had spread across camp during the previus week, most of the team was fighting fit and raring to go as soon as we got on the bus to the venue. During the journey, we picked up the ghanaian netball team who shortly started singing for mental preparation before the big game. However, the year 11 boys decided to outsing them with their ladish football chants.
We got off the bus and scuttled for the shade before limbering up.
Thankfully we had established how to start a match and exchange gifts ghanaian style – which suprisingly took a lot of practice for it to run smoothly but we cracked it.
With our first netball teams toes behind the line, we got onside and the first whistle was blown. It was clear from the first couple of minutes of play that both teams were determined to conquer their opposition and claim victory for their nation.
The midday heat and humidity had begun to effect the players but those acclimatisation days shockingly payed off and Chesham High managed to withstand the sweltering heat. With the encouraging support from the football team and the other netball team, the score at half time was 17-1 to Chesham High.
Our opposition, Peshi, had previously had only two netball practices befre challenging chesham and still had their heads up at half time. In Ghana, sport is not as important as it is in the UK because education is their main priority and helping/providing for their family comes second. Therefore sport is not as well recognised and funding for facilities and equipment is difficult. However, the combination of Peshi's netball coach,our contribution and the help of the SABRE trust is a starting point to improve the standard of extra curricular activities which will in turn contribute to the development of Ghana as a whole.
The Chesham High Ghana Sports Tour 2009 and the SABRE trust has made netball a more recognised sport and hopefully the teams that we have played against will continue playing and improving their skills.
The girls completely swapped positions in the last quarter, appart from susie which she was clearly delighted about. We continued to play some awsome netball which ran like clockwork, with the odd smash in the face which hindered the flow of play. However, both teams had a fantastic match with enormous effort put in from both sides and ended the match with a stonking score of 32-1 to Chesham High. The obama biscutis and pineapple juice was seriously appriciated by both teams before we all retreated into the shade to cool down and watch the second netball match.
The second match of the day started of with a massive outbreak of heat, and the game began when it was at its peak. This made the game so much harder to play in as the heat and humidity made the game tiring and tougher. The game started of in the same way as always with the presenting of gifts to each opposing team and lining up. Then the game began.
For the first quarter there was 10 minutes of aggressive playing by the ghanahians which was quite a shock as we should have been used to how the Ghanahians play; many of us got battered by the opposing team during the first part of the game. This quarter seemed to be the toughest quarter compared to all the other quarters as the Ghanahians put together a strong and aggressive side. The game that was played proved to us where our strengths and weaknesses were when we play netball and it also proved to us how fit we were to manage in the stealth of the heat. It also determined that we had the skills in the game, whereas the ghanahians had the pace so both teams were equally matched with strengths in the game. By the end of the first quarter the score was 2-1 to us after a ferocious intense 10 minutes had gone by.
The second quarter of the game began well with a goal scored in the first few minutes which gave everyone a boost of confidence and the game suddenly became more rapid and intense as the players in our team soon began to show a more aggressive side to their side of the game. The game also became more structured and was more organised than thje first quarter and everyone played their best to score more goals, and achieve a higher result. We were now used to how the ghanahian players played so we wernt as scared of them as we were at first, and along with the support from the other netball team and the footballers our morales soared.
By the end of this half we had scored 3 more goals, so the final score after the first half was 4-1 to us. During our break we switched positions with whoever else was playing the same position, and consumed lots of water to relieve ourselfs so we wouldnt feel ill, or be overcome with dehydration and faint or something. After the break we went straight back on to the pitch to begin the second half of the game. We began in the same intense way and followed out all our tactics and skills to perfection in the game, and this helped to improve our score. We were now so in control of what we were doing the game soon became a lot easier and along with the support everyone was giving each other it became an eventful and great game. By the end of this quarter the score was 7-1 to us, which was a good result as we only had 7 minutes to play these last quarters as the sun was going down and we had to think of the footballers games in the light not the dark.
Finally, the last quarter was about to begin. This was the most keenly contested quarter as it proved to everyone the strength and energy that we were putting into the game. The shooters improved so much and it was a joy to see how the game was playd with the balls gliding into the nets, and people always their for the rebounds ready to shoot again and score if people missed. The final score shot up, to a successful 13-1 to us with a steady pace. The result of the game put a fine boost of morales on everyone for not only had the first team won their match but also the second team as well had won too. It was a great finish for the netballers.
Football match report
Chesham's third match was their toughest yet against Redeemer Boys Football Academy. It took placeonce again at SSNT ad the weather was the hottest they had experienced playing under.
The first third started and chesham fought well against a team who were fast and knew eachother well. How ever Chesham gave them nothing ending the first third still level. The second third started, but it was clear chesham were tired ad Redeemer had decided to pick up their game. Second balls and tackles were rushed and chesham took their eye off the ball twice and were punished with two goals.
A deflated Chesham came out for the final third but their was to be no heroic come back this time as redeemer scored their third. Chesham did well close the game after that, as they came back into the game slightly. Chesham returned to the bus understandably that the team that beat them was better and to come away only beaten 3-0 showed how far Chesham had come on this trip as individuals and as a team.
Written by Paul,
poorly typed by oli,
Netball Report
Woke up at 6.30 because Dave Hill was being noisy, and so told him to shut up. Went down at 8.00 for a leisurely breakfast of scrambled egg and porridge. Mr Ofari has officially disappeared. Too much egg. After washing we headed down to the beach for sunbathing and paddling. The weather was steamy and sunny as always. At ten thirty we went for showers just after we played volleyball. Then we had lunch, which was soup, before heading off for our third fixture. We played at the first pitch where we trained on the second day of our trip and on the way we picked up the other girl's netball team.
We whipped them 32-1 at netball, the girl's second team won 13-1. Well played girl's!! The boys played Ghana's regional academy. 3-0 loss. It was a close game in which Joe Flack was the best player. We arrived home in the dark which lead to an interesting shower in the pitch black, after that we headed down to dinner, we all miss london. We all assembled around the camp fire after dinner for funny performance's and singing. The year twelve girl's pulled it off by singing their own version of 'a wim ba whey'. Year eleven boys came second with their nudity. Year eleven girl's finished third with their malarone song, which was insane. Year twelve boy's finished last, as expected, because they did jokes and scored an unbeatable score of 2 out of 60. We all headed to bed at eleven. Nighty night.
P.S. Happy 13th Birthday to Olivia Wright.
Saturday, 24 October 2009
Sports Tournament & Shopping
Friday 23rd October 2009
Hello from Ghana, it's Hannah P here. This blog page was written by me, Rich G, Dan O, Chrissy N and me.
Not so early rise- 7:30 compared to the normal 6! year11 lads only just began to realise the full extent of the Year 12's shananigans during the previous night. Oh my gosh, eggs again- fried this time! We could also chose from toast, porridge and pineapple - the ususal.
We were then allowed an hour of fun on the beach!! So fun, and I have a tan(Hannah). The itinery promised a volleyball tournament, however, a quick change of plan had us all hop on the bus. We drove to Islamic School where a few of us helped to set up a netball and a football pitch! We had to mark out the lines from scratch with powdered chalk. We supported four netball and five football teams, we were also the umpires which was very difficult as the children had no idea what they were doing. Me, Hannah Batson, Dave, Owen, Will and Alew Wright presented the school with some great sports equipment which they seemed very pleased about! Rich Gamble also delivered a very insiring and touching speech (in his own words) to the three schools which consisted of pupils teachers and sports coaches.
On the homeward bound trip we stopped off at Aubrey's local bar and we were allowed to go over the road to a street-side shop where there were many exciting and colourful Ghanahian gifts and souvenirs. Making our way back to Stumble Inn, all that could be heard was the echo of our newly bought dums all the way home! We ate dinner straight away, many of us struggled to cope with the extreme garlic mash! We then sat down to reflect on the fun-packed day we just had and the majority played cards like usual. Us three, Hannah, Rich and Dan, sat down to write this blog but Chrissy had dissapeared off to the showers!
Bye bye England!!
from all in Ghana
Love...
Hannah
Rich
Dan
Chrissy
xxxx
Hello from Ghana, it's Hannah P here. This blog page was written by me, Rich G, Dan O, Chrissy N and me.
Not so early rise- 7:30 compared to the normal 6! year11 lads only just began to realise the full extent of the Year 12's shananigans during the previous night. Oh my gosh, eggs again- fried this time! We could also chose from toast, porridge and pineapple - the ususal.
We were then allowed an hour of fun on the beach!! So fun, and I have a tan(Hannah). The itinery promised a volleyball tournament, however, a quick change of plan had us all hop on the bus. We drove to Islamic School where a few of us helped to set up a netball and a football pitch! We had to mark out the lines from scratch with powdered chalk. We supported four netball and five football teams, we were also the umpires which was very difficult as the children had no idea what they were doing. Me, Hannah Batson, Dave, Owen, Will and Alew Wright presented the school with some great sports equipment which they seemed very pleased about! Rich Gamble also delivered a very insiring and touching speech (in his own words) to the three schools which consisted of pupils teachers and sports coaches.
On the homeward bound trip we stopped off at Aubrey's local bar and we were allowed to go over the road to a street-side shop where there were many exciting and colourful Ghanahian gifts and souvenirs. Making our way back to Stumble Inn, all that could be heard was the echo of our newly bought dums all the way home! We ate dinner straight away, many of us struggled to cope with the extreme garlic mash! We then sat down to reflect on the fun-packed day we just had and the majority played cards like usual. Us three, Hannah, Rich and Dan, sat down to write this blog but Chrissy had dissapeared off to the showers!
Bye bye England!!
from all in Ghana
Love...
Hannah
Rich
Dan
Chrissy
xxxx
JHS Coaching Day
Thursday 22nd October 2009
Hello everyone Pip, Ben Beard, Lucy and Paul here.
The day started off with another late start and lazy morning. A breakfast at 8 consisted of scrambled egg, toast, porridge and pineapple. After a quick wash of smelly clothes, most headed for the beach before stopping as we experienced our first Ghanahian shower. For most, this decided that cards was the best option for a good few hours, under the cover of the food hut.
The rain stopped so a trip to the beach for sun bathing and paddling was welcome.
A lunch of Yam balls, tomato salsa and bread went down well before everyone went to get ready for the afternoons coaching session.
In the afternoon we returned to Brenu School; the same place as yesterday but today we were coaching children nearer or sometimes older than our age. We were accomponied by only Mr Miles as Mr Pierce stayed to look after the “sickies” and Mrs Maishman and Miss Court departed for a very new experience. They had to teach Ghanahian teachers how to teach netball! This proved a very difficult but rewarding task as most of them did not speak english and were in absolute awe of actually holding a netball!
The girls divided the small number of Ghanahian girls into half and taught them two different warm-up games that we, ourselves, regularly use. It took the learners a while to pick it up but they did... eventually!
The Boys used the same techniques as the day before resulting in great progress made by all. In other words, they messed around with a football for an hour!
After the exhausting coaching session (for some,) we all returned to Stumbleinn, fought for cold showers and ate a dish closest to home... SPAG BOL! Which was thoroughly enjoyed by all.
A very sleepy group went to bed... or so they thought as the year 12 boys very maturely stole the year 11s shoes, gaffa taped footballs to palm trees, moved washing lines full of wet washing and hid creepy Ghanahian statues in more unsuspecting people's beds.
Just a typical day for the “Ghana gang.”
Miss you all.
Hello everyone Pip, Ben Beard, Lucy and Paul here.
The day started off with another late start and lazy morning. A breakfast at 8 consisted of scrambled egg, toast, porridge and pineapple. After a quick wash of smelly clothes, most headed for the beach before stopping as we experienced our first Ghanahian shower. For most, this decided that cards was the best option for a good few hours, under the cover of the food hut.
The rain stopped so a trip to the beach for sun bathing and paddling was welcome.
A lunch of Yam balls, tomato salsa and bread went down well before everyone went to get ready for the afternoons coaching session.
In the afternoon we returned to Brenu School; the same place as yesterday but today we were coaching children nearer or sometimes older than our age. We were accomponied by only Mr Miles as Mr Pierce stayed to look after the “sickies” and Mrs Maishman and Miss Court departed for a very new experience. They had to teach Ghanahian teachers how to teach netball! This proved a very difficult but rewarding task as most of them did not speak english and were in absolute awe of actually holding a netball!
The girls divided the small number of Ghanahian girls into half and taught them two different warm-up games that we, ourselves, regularly use. It took the learners a while to pick it up but they did... eventually!
The Boys used the same techniques as the day before resulting in great progress made by all. In other words, they messed around with a football for an hour!
After the exhausting coaching session (for some,) we all returned to Stumbleinn, fought for cold showers and ate a dish closest to home... SPAG BOL! Which was thoroughly enjoyed by all.
A very sleepy group went to bed... or so they thought as the year 12 boys very maturely stole the year 11s shoes, gaffa taped footballs to palm trees, moved washing lines full of wet washing and hid creepy Ghanahian statues in more unsuspecting people's beds.
Just a typical day for the “Ghana gang.”
Miss you all.
Friday, 23 October 2009
Primary School Coaching
Wednesday 21st October 2009
Hello, typing today's blog is Emma Gillott, Owen Phillips, Dave Hill.
In the morning we had a 'chillax' session. Today was the first day that we had a lie in which was good for most people but not for others as they got woken up early by people.
After breakfast, everyone went down to the beach. It was a glorious day, beautiful as well with the scorching sun beating down upon our backs. The waves in the sea were crashing down at our feet. It was like a cat catching a mouse when everyone got caught out by the undercurrent. The temperature of the sea was cold at first but we soon got used to the temperature and we soon all warmed up.
Then we had lunch! It consisted of tuna sandwiches, with tomato in them, and for the vegetarians salad. Mr O'foray was on top form! We then got ready for an exciting afternoon coaching Brenu's primary school children.
We assembled at 12:30pm alongside the corridor between the rooms. The bus shuddered and shaked along the road until we reached the school. A short walk up a sandy and dusty; treacherous slope with too many hazards to count got us to the school. We met many smiley faced children with beady eyes looking at us and wanting to hold our hands when we were there, which was considered very friendly of them, and was much appreciated by us for their kindness towards us.
Once inside, we got a tremendous welcome from all the Ghanaian's and Paddy who had previously visited us. After an X factor awarding performance from Owen Phillips for walking in and going along with the hands in the air, everyone from England were told to sing the National Anthem. It was rather embarrising as some people had really low voices (Owen Phillips and Will Jones) which could be heard over everyone else, but aside from that, the Ghanahians appreciated everyone elses singing. However, we got outdone by their choir as their singing was insanely good.
In the meeting, Paddy, the headteacher was giving his speech when his phone went off a number of times. We laughed because he answered the phone exactly the same way every time.
We then walked down the hill to the playing fields where we set up our coaching and we met the children. There were 5 stations for the lads, and there were only 3 stations for the ladies. The little boys were really good and all our coaching stations were easy to them! We had a : posession station, a shooting station, a dribbling station, a touch station, and a passing station. For the ladies, there was a passing station, an interception station, and a positioning of the game station. The girls who we were coaching were really good considering their age and the fact that they had done hardly any netball in their lives. For both genders, there was a massive age range which was strange; it took an hour. It seemed so much longer because it was so hot. We then got back onto the bus and traveled back to the famous Stumbleinn.
Once home, we played volley ball, and played cards until dinner but for some who were unfortunately ill slept. For dinner, there was golden rice, with pieces of chunky frazzled beef.
After dinner, there was a drumming and singing session led by the ghanahians who work here. Everyone was included in the singing but the ghanahians soon gave up teaching everyone because noone had good enough voices. We then sang songs that we knew, such as 'Get back in your biscuit tin...' and '99 Green Bottles...'.
Then, we went to bed! The lads stayed up for a long time being effortlessly annoying by having a banter session and complaining about a mysterious bug which seemed to end up always on their roof.
Love from, Emma Gillott
David Hill
Owen Phillips
Holly Newson
XXX
Hello, typing today's blog is Emma Gillott, Owen Phillips, Dave Hill.
In the morning we had a 'chillax' session. Today was the first day that we had a lie in which was good for most people but not for others as they got woken up early by people.
After breakfast, everyone went down to the beach. It was a glorious day, beautiful as well with the scorching sun beating down upon our backs. The waves in the sea were crashing down at our feet. It was like a cat catching a mouse when everyone got caught out by the undercurrent. The temperature of the sea was cold at first but we soon got used to the temperature and we soon all warmed up.
Then we had lunch! It consisted of tuna sandwiches, with tomato in them, and for the vegetarians salad. Mr O'foray was on top form! We then got ready for an exciting afternoon coaching Brenu's primary school children.
We assembled at 12:30pm alongside the corridor between the rooms. The bus shuddered and shaked along the road until we reached the school. A short walk up a sandy and dusty; treacherous slope with too many hazards to count got us to the school. We met many smiley faced children with beady eyes looking at us and wanting to hold our hands when we were there, which was considered very friendly of them, and was much appreciated by us for their kindness towards us.
Once inside, we got a tremendous welcome from all the Ghanaian's and Paddy who had previously visited us. After an X factor awarding performance from Owen Phillips for walking in and going along with the hands in the air, everyone from England were told to sing the National Anthem. It was rather embarrising as some people had really low voices (Owen Phillips and Will Jones) which could be heard over everyone else, but aside from that, the Ghanahians appreciated everyone elses singing. However, we got outdone by their choir as their singing was insanely good.
In the meeting, Paddy, the headteacher was giving his speech when his phone went off a number of times. We laughed because he answered the phone exactly the same way every time.
We then walked down the hill to the playing fields where we set up our coaching and we met the children. There were 5 stations for the lads, and there were only 3 stations for the ladies. The little boys were really good and all our coaching stations were easy to them! We had a : posession station, a shooting station, a dribbling station, a touch station, and a passing station. For the ladies, there was a passing station, an interception station, and a positioning of the game station. The girls who we were coaching were really good considering their age and the fact that they had done hardly any netball in their lives. For both genders, there was a massive age range which was strange; it took an hour. It seemed so much longer because it was so hot. We then got back onto the bus and traveled back to the famous Stumbleinn.
Once home, we played volley ball, and played cards until dinner but for some who were unfortunately ill slept. For dinner, there was golden rice, with pieces of chunky frazzled beef.
After dinner, there was a drumming and singing session led by the ghanahians who work here. Everyone was included in the singing but the ghanahians soon gave up teaching everyone because noone had good enough voices. We then sang songs that we knew, such as 'Get back in your biscuit tin...' and '99 Green Bottles...'.
Then, we went to bed! The lads stayed up for a long time being effortlessly annoying by having a banter session and complaining about a mysterious bug which seemed to end up always on their roof.
Love from, Emma Gillott
David Hill
Owen Phillips
Holly Newson
XXX
Thursday, 22 October 2009
Match Day 2
Tuesday 20th October 2009
7 o'clock in the morning at turtle lodge,breakfast arrived, a little later than thought- toast, museli, & scrambled eggs an hour after everyone elses. Half an hour later the team piled onto the bus to go to meet the eagerly awaiting Brenu chiefs.
Another two hour bus journey and we arrived at the Chief Palace of Brenu Akyinim. After an uncertain start the welcoming began, with warm smiles all round. The chiefs, who are the rulers of the Brenu region blessed us into their land, offering us anything we may need. A short prayer of well-wishing followed, before heading off for lunch on the beach for a much appreciated burger and chips. After a glimpse behind the bar choc chip cookies were consumed with pleasure with this being most peoples first taste of chocolate on tour!!
Netball Match report - Komenda
After a long tiring and extremely bumpy bus ride we arrived at the venue for our second fixture against Komenda in Takoradi. The opposition were once again extremely welcoming and we were all raring to go out hard and make this another great fixture. After the exchange of gifts and the tossing of the coins, the whistle blew to signal the start of the first quarter. At the beginning it was clear that both teams were equally matched in skill and pace so we knew it was going to be a tough one especially with so many players missing from our team because they felt ill.
Many of our players played out of position but we all got on with it and played our hardest. We atarted off very well winning the first game of 2 quarters 5-3 however in the second game (3rd and 4th qurters) the strain of the heat started to take it's toll and the ghananian team shooter's confidence soared getting in so many good shots that until the last 45 secs we were losing. We managed to however get a goal and actually win a very physically demanding 7-6. We were all exhausted and very thirsty after the hardest match we have played yet in ghana but we summoned the energy to shake hands and thank the opposition for a truly great match. All in all we thoroughly enjoyed today's game and can't wait until the next fixture in a couple of days.
Football Match Report – Komenda
After a picturesque day at Turtle Lodge, Chesham High faced their second opponents, Komenda. The game started under the afternoon sun and the massive crowd created an intense atmosphere. Early on, Komenda scored after taking a lucky break and slotting it home. The second third started and after some intense pressure Chesham won a string of freekicks, which were all close and a penalty. The penalty was taken and struck hard into the bottom right corner, except for a flying save. The ball spun into the air and landed in the goal but the linesman judged it to have gone over the bar and out for a corner.
A distraught and distracted Chesham then let their concentration slip and after some fortunate bounces, Komenda scored again making it 2-0. At the end of the second third, Mr Miles and Mr Pierce gave the team the opportunity to abandon the game due to lack of substitutes through illness. However, the team were unanimous in playing on and came out for the final third determined. The match was completely different with Komenda barely allowed out of their half and the intense pressure paid off after a long throw into the box was well flicked on and the keeper failed to catch it and ended as an easy tap in for Ben Beard.
Ten minutes later, Chesham won a free kick at the edge of the box. It was swerving into the far post and was met with a leaping header from David Hill to tie the game. To an elated Chesham, the draw was as good as a win and nobody could take the smile off our faces. The team had pulled a massive performance out the bag and returned to Stumble Inn for a well deserved rest.
7 o'clock in the morning at turtle lodge,breakfast arrived, a little later than thought- toast, museli, & scrambled eggs an hour after everyone elses. Half an hour later the team piled onto the bus to go to meet the eagerly awaiting Brenu chiefs.
Another two hour bus journey and we arrived at the Chief Palace of Brenu Akyinim. After an uncertain start the welcoming began, with warm smiles all round. The chiefs, who are the rulers of the Brenu region blessed us into their land, offering us anything we may need. A short prayer of well-wishing followed, before heading off for lunch on the beach for a much appreciated burger and chips. After a glimpse behind the bar choc chip cookies were consumed with pleasure with this being most peoples first taste of chocolate on tour!!
Netball Match report - Komenda
After a long tiring and extremely bumpy bus ride we arrived at the venue for our second fixture against Komenda in Takoradi. The opposition were once again extremely welcoming and we were all raring to go out hard and make this another great fixture. After the exchange of gifts and the tossing of the coins, the whistle blew to signal the start of the first quarter. At the beginning it was clear that both teams were equally matched in skill and pace so we knew it was going to be a tough one especially with so many players missing from our team because they felt ill.
Many of our players played out of position but we all got on with it and played our hardest. We atarted off very well winning the first game of 2 quarters 5-3 however in the second game (3rd and 4th qurters) the strain of the heat started to take it's toll and the ghananian team shooter's confidence soared getting in so many good shots that until the last 45 secs we were losing. We managed to however get a goal and actually win a very physically demanding 7-6. We were all exhausted and very thirsty after the hardest match we have played yet in ghana but we summoned the energy to shake hands and thank the opposition for a truly great match. All in all we thoroughly enjoyed today's game and can't wait until the next fixture in a couple of days.
Football Match Report – Komenda
After a picturesque day at Turtle Lodge, Chesham High faced their second opponents, Komenda. The game started under the afternoon sun and the massive crowd created an intense atmosphere. Early on, Komenda scored after taking a lucky break and slotting it home. The second third started and after some intense pressure Chesham won a string of freekicks, which were all close and a penalty. The penalty was taken and struck hard into the bottom right corner, except for a flying save. The ball spun into the air and landed in the goal but the linesman judged it to have gone over the bar and out for a corner.
A distraught and distracted Chesham then let their concentration slip and after some fortunate bounces, Komenda scored again making it 2-0. At the end of the second third, Mr Miles and Mr Pierce gave the team the opportunity to abandon the game due to lack of substitutes through illness. However, the team were unanimous in playing on and came out for the final third determined. The match was completely different with Komenda barely allowed out of their half and the intense pressure paid off after a long throw into the box was well flicked on and the keeper failed to catch it and ended as an easy tap in for Ben Beard.
Ten minutes later, Chesham won a free kick at the edge of the box. It was swerving into the far post and was met with a leaping header from David Hill to tie the game. To an elated Chesham, the draw was as good as a win and nobody could take the smile off our faces. The team had pulled a massive performance out the bag and returned to Stumble Inn for a well deserved rest.
Rest at Green Turtle Lodge
Monday 19th October 2009
Well, woke up at 6 o'clock, owing to Richard Gamble – whenever Richard wakes up we all wake up – jumped in the shower and made it down to the dining area for a few card games before a 7.15 breakfast consisiting of “different” porridge and omlette sandwiches, fresh pineapple, freshly squeezed orange juice and a malarone tablet.
After food and a talk from Mr Pierce, where we all found out how smart a t-shirt we needed, we all rushed back up to the rooms to pack for our trip to “Green Turtle Lodge” and took the opportunity to have a clear up at the same time.
After a good, sweaty 30minutes we made it to the bus and sweated for another 15 minutes before departing on our three and a half hour journey to “Green Turtle Lodge”.
1.20 we arrived at the Lodge, greeted by lunch of pastry type things juice and classic Obama biscuits. After lunch and time spent applying sun lotion, bags were moved to a big hut with tents for the boys and a luxurious hotel like suite with real beds for the girls.
The rest of the day was spent on the beach. A mix of frollocking in the sea, trying not to get swept out by the awesome undercurrents, and football with the locals.
The scenery relfected the general mood in camp, bright skies. Lighting up the palm trees, beach and white waves. Kne memorable moment was Mr. Gambles mentioned again takedown on Mr. Miles, crunching him, sending both fkying through the air and splashing straight into the water.
After an hour or so of playing in the water, the Ghanahians turned up in their numbers, a criwd gathering to watch deadly seriuous beach football between the kitted up locals and us half dressed and wet.The team a mix of g irls and boys playing for fun against an ever siling opposition-the score about 4-4 in the end. However the result was unimportant as Oli shaw got nutmegged twice by a 4 foot tall ten year old Ghanahian boy and Mr.miles ended up on his back more than once at the hands of the junior opponnents.
After the football, everyone had a quick shower and off before dinner-a spicy mix of rice,beans and chicken. The year elevens bought the entire supply of coke and Mr,Miles finished off the last of the orange juice.
A bit of excitement after dinner as a branch fell off a palm tree cracking Owen Phillips noggin and scaring a few of the girls. We all sat down to have a cat,rip Mr.Miles and write the blog.
Well, thar brings us up to now, MR.Miles doing his face after hearing a few extracts an richie gagging to see his mention in the writing.
End day five, Will Jones and Richard Morrison.
Actually thats not the end of the day. Come 8 o'clock and we're marching down the beach as a group led by twi guides. About fifteen miutes later we were instucted to stop and turn torches off. A brief talk from the main guide- Emanuel-adn we knew he'd found the tracks of a grenn trurtle, who had wondered up the beach to lay her eggs. After following the tracks to the top of the beach we were greeted by what looked like a large rock, but turned out to be a female reen turtle in the procces of laying. Fuve ninutes of no motion was ended by the violent swinging of limbs as the turtle tried to cover the eggs with dirt and sand.
Once she was done, the turtle clambered down the slopes and started the long journey-20 metres across the beach back to the water. The trek lasted about 10 minutes- cluding freuient breaks and the odd 360 turn. The turrtle reached the water, greated by a huge cheer from us as she sped off into deeper waters.
A few minutes of talking between ourselves about the earlier events, we all walked back to the lodge and prepared for bed- well “bed” for the girls and “tent” for the boys.
Actual end of day five,
Will Jones, Richard Morrison.
Well, woke up at 6 o'clock, owing to Richard Gamble – whenever Richard wakes up we all wake up – jumped in the shower and made it down to the dining area for a few card games before a 7.15 breakfast consisiting of “different” porridge and omlette sandwiches, fresh pineapple, freshly squeezed orange juice and a malarone tablet.
After food and a talk from Mr Pierce, where we all found out how smart a t-shirt we needed, we all rushed back up to the rooms to pack for our trip to “Green Turtle Lodge” and took the opportunity to have a clear up at the same time.
After a good, sweaty 30minutes we made it to the bus and sweated for another 15 minutes before departing on our three and a half hour journey to “Green Turtle Lodge”.
1.20 we arrived at the Lodge, greeted by lunch of pastry type things juice and classic Obama biscuits. After lunch and time spent applying sun lotion, bags were moved to a big hut with tents for the boys and a luxurious hotel like suite with real beds for the girls.
The rest of the day was spent on the beach. A mix of frollocking in the sea, trying not to get swept out by the awesome undercurrents, and football with the locals.
The scenery relfected the general mood in camp, bright skies. Lighting up the palm trees, beach and white waves. Kne memorable moment was Mr. Gambles mentioned again takedown on Mr. Miles, crunching him, sending both fkying through the air and splashing straight into the water.
After an hour or so of playing in the water, the Ghanahians turned up in their numbers, a criwd gathering to watch deadly seriuous beach football between the kitted up locals and us half dressed and wet.The team a mix of g irls and boys playing for fun against an ever siling opposition-the score about 4-4 in the end. However the result was unimportant as Oli shaw got nutmegged twice by a 4 foot tall ten year old Ghanahian boy and Mr.miles ended up on his back more than once at the hands of the junior opponnents.
After the football, everyone had a quick shower and off before dinner-a spicy mix of rice,beans and chicken. The year elevens bought the entire supply of coke and Mr,Miles finished off the last of the orange juice.
A bit of excitement after dinner as a branch fell off a palm tree cracking Owen Phillips noggin and scaring a few of the girls. We all sat down to have a cat,rip Mr.Miles and write the blog.
Well, thar brings us up to now, MR.Miles doing his face after hearing a few extracts an richie gagging to see his mention in the writing.
End day five, Will Jones and Richard Morrison.
Actually thats not the end of the day. Come 8 o'clock and we're marching down the beach as a group led by twi guides. About fifteen miutes later we were instucted to stop and turn torches off. A brief talk from the main guide- Emanuel-adn we knew he'd found the tracks of a grenn trurtle, who had wondered up the beach to lay her eggs. After following the tracks to the top of the beach we were greeted by what looked like a large rock, but turned out to be a female reen turtle in the procces of laying. Fuve ninutes of no motion was ended by the violent swinging of limbs as the turtle tried to cover the eggs with dirt and sand.
Once she was done, the turtle clambered down the slopes and started the long journey-20 metres across the beach back to the water. The trek lasted about 10 minutes- cluding freuient breaks and the odd 360 turn. The turrtle reached the water, greated by a huge cheer from us as she sped off into deeper waters.
A few minutes of talking between ourselves about the earlier events, we all walked back to the lodge and prepared for bed- well “bed” for the girls and “tent” for the boys.
Actual end of day five,
Will Jones, Richard Morrison.
Match Day 1
Sunday 18th October 2009
Woken up at 5:30am by the not so beautiful sound of Richard Gamble's singing. We got to taste the famous Mr O'Foray's porridge, which definitely lived up to its expectations, as well as fried egg and ketchup sandwiches. After breakfast everyone gave their rooms a much needed tidy and sweep which included the discovery of many creep crawlies! Afterwards we all headed down to the beach in our swimming gear for a paddle in the sea and some sun bathing.
Just before lunch we planned our coaching sessions for over 100 primary school kids. Both us boys and girls decided to device a circuit with different stations for netball and football. The girls decided to give each group a mentor to give the children continuity however the guys just thought it was a pretty excuse to copy X Factor! And for lunch we ate egg, mayo and onion sandwiches.
We then gathered up our kit bags and loaded up the bus for our very first international fixture! After a 40 minute tentative bus journey in 34 degree heat, we were definitely warmed up for our matches. Having arrived half an hour before Edisec Senior School, we were nicely relaxing in the shade when we suddenly heard the pounding beats coming from their bus accompanied by a Ghanaian football team and choir; to which we replied 'Who are ya?! Who are ya?!'. The entire population of Elmina turned up to spectate the first international match between Ghana and England at the local pitch. It was called S.S NIT park. The girls first team began and quite frankly 'kicked some Ghanaian butt' with a thumping 12-4 victory. However even though the Ghanaians knew the rules to the game quite well, they were more used to playing handball and basketball and therefore hadn't quite got to grasps with the obstruction rule. This made it quite difficult to shoot as well as causing quite a few people to end up on the ground. The girls second team were then next, who put in an excellent performance beating their Ghanaian counterparts 5-2.
After this the most anticipated game of the day began the kick off was taken by the Ghanaians who immediately set off on a sweeping passing move across the pitch. The Ghanaian's initially coped much better with the bobbley pitch and dusty patches, however Chesham's defense stayed firm and kept out all the Ghanaian's attacks deapite their amazing speed. The temas were evenly matched with the Ghanaians posing a greater attacking threat this was interrupted by a stray chicken on the pitch intent on making its mark on the match, by making an excellent run towards the far post this unfortunately distracted Chesham and caused a lapse of concentration which allowed the Ghanaians in for a soft goal! Chesham responded well by running for every ball and giving the Ghanaians as little space as possible. At the end of the first 20 minute third, it was Ghana one, Chesham nil, but Chesham were far from outclassed.
The second third was much of the same, with England playing hard and the Ghanaians becoming frustrated. The introduction of several substitutes at the interval kept England fresh and capable of matching the Ghanaians fitness levels in the heat. At the end of the second third the score remained 1-0 to Ghana.
In the final third however Chesham began to fight back. England began to attack, the Ghanaian's defensive weaknesses began to show. With 10minutes remaining, Paul Fellows passed the ball to the right wing from where Richard Gamble whipped in a cross to the back post where Ben Beard rose above the defense to knock in England's equaliser. Celebrations ensued and for the last few minutes England continued to attack but the Ghanaians put their bodies on the line and kept us out right up to the final whistle. In the end, it was a deserved 1-1 draw, with neither side doing enough to win the match.
During the match, spectators made lots of new friends- this included an international rendition of the Hokey-Kokey, started by Ella. The Ghanaians also loved (and joined in!) with Hannah Pawsey's fantastic multi-cultural dance moves. After the match ended and the exchange of many facebooks and email addresses had taken place, both the Ghanaians and the English retreated to the buses. Both teams headed home, waving to one another until totally out of sight.
Once back at Stumbleinn Lodge, there was a mad rush for the showers, to wash off the dirt and sweat of playing. As per usual, the water trickled out its last drop after 5 washes as well as all the lights deciding to fail, whilst people were still showering. This wasn't so amusing for those in the showers, including Alex W., Ella, Becky, Josie and Emily, but rather hilarious for those outside. Once everyone was “clean” and “freshly-clothed”, everyone headed down for the delightful and delicious Ghanaian speciality “Red Red”.
After dinner, the girls went straight to sleep but to their annoyance, it was joke night for the lads who sung until 1 in the morning.
Woken up at 5:30am by the not so beautiful sound of Richard Gamble's singing. We got to taste the famous Mr O'Foray's porridge, which definitely lived up to its expectations, as well as fried egg and ketchup sandwiches. After breakfast everyone gave their rooms a much needed tidy and sweep which included the discovery of many creep crawlies! Afterwards we all headed down to the beach in our swimming gear for a paddle in the sea and some sun bathing.
Just before lunch we planned our coaching sessions for over 100 primary school kids. Both us boys and girls decided to device a circuit with different stations for netball and football. The girls decided to give each group a mentor to give the children continuity however the guys just thought it was a pretty excuse to copy X Factor! And for lunch we ate egg, mayo and onion sandwiches.
We then gathered up our kit bags and loaded up the bus for our very first international fixture! After a 40 minute tentative bus journey in 34 degree heat, we were definitely warmed up for our matches. Having arrived half an hour before Edisec Senior School, we were nicely relaxing in the shade when we suddenly heard the pounding beats coming from their bus accompanied by a Ghanaian football team and choir; to which we replied 'Who are ya?! Who are ya?!'. The entire population of Elmina turned up to spectate the first international match between Ghana and England at the local pitch. It was called S.S NIT park. The girls first team began and quite frankly 'kicked some Ghanaian butt' with a thumping 12-4 victory. However even though the Ghanaians knew the rules to the game quite well, they were more used to playing handball and basketball and therefore hadn't quite got to grasps with the obstruction rule. This made it quite difficult to shoot as well as causing quite a few people to end up on the ground. The girls second team were then next, who put in an excellent performance beating their Ghanaian counterparts 5-2.
After this the most anticipated game of the day began the kick off was taken by the Ghanaians who immediately set off on a sweeping passing move across the pitch. The Ghanaian's initially coped much better with the bobbley pitch and dusty patches, however Chesham's defense stayed firm and kept out all the Ghanaian's attacks deapite their amazing speed. The temas were evenly matched with the Ghanaians posing a greater attacking threat this was interrupted by a stray chicken on the pitch intent on making its mark on the match, by making an excellent run towards the far post this unfortunately distracted Chesham and caused a lapse of concentration which allowed the Ghanaians in for a soft goal! Chesham responded well by running for every ball and giving the Ghanaians as little space as possible. At the end of the first 20 minute third, it was Ghana one, Chesham nil, but Chesham were far from outclassed.
The second third was much of the same, with England playing hard and the Ghanaians becoming frustrated. The introduction of several substitutes at the interval kept England fresh and capable of matching the Ghanaians fitness levels in the heat. At the end of the second third the score remained 1-0 to Ghana.
In the final third however Chesham began to fight back. England began to attack, the Ghanaian's defensive weaknesses began to show. With 10minutes remaining, Paul Fellows passed the ball to the right wing from where Richard Gamble whipped in a cross to the back post where Ben Beard rose above the defense to knock in England's equaliser. Celebrations ensued and for the last few minutes England continued to attack but the Ghanaians put their bodies on the line and kept us out right up to the final whistle. In the end, it was a deserved 1-1 draw, with neither side doing enough to win the match.
During the match, spectators made lots of new friends- this included an international rendition of the Hokey-Kokey, started by Ella. The Ghanaians also loved (and joined in!) with Hannah Pawsey's fantastic multi-cultural dance moves. After the match ended and the exchange of many facebooks and email addresses had taken place, both the Ghanaians and the English retreated to the buses. Both teams headed home, waving to one another until totally out of sight.
Once back at Stumbleinn Lodge, there was a mad rush for the showers, to wash off the dirt and sweat of playing. As per usual, the water trickled out its last drop after 5 washes as well as all the lights deciding to fail, whilst people were still showering. This wasn't so amusing for those in the showers, including Alex W., Ella, Becky, Josie and Emily, but rather hilarious for those outside. Once everyone was “clean” and “freshly-clothed”, everyone headed down for the delightful and delicious Ghanaian speciality “Red Red”.
After dinner, the girls went straight to sleep but to their annoyance, it was joke night for the lads who sung until 1 in the morning.
Monday, 19 October 2009
Making the news!
In addition to the interview with local TV station Coastal TV, Chesham's sports tour has also hit the headlines in both countries - click here to read the article in the Bucks Free Press, and here to view the article in the sports section of Ghana's main national paper The Daily Graphic.
A further interview for a Ghanaian national TV channel is scheduled for later on this week so watch this space...!
A further interview for a Ghanaian national TV channel is scheduled for later on this week so watch this space...!
Sunday, 18 October 2009
Visit to Elmina Castle and TV
Saturday 17th October 2009
Hi, Shannon here trying to write the blog, however Oli & Nick are stuffing their faces with the remains of Emily's 16th birthday cake instead of helping.
We've finished now, so we'll take over as Shannon is nattering. Better get started then. This morning we woke up at 6am (GMT...Ghana Maybe time). Fried egg sandwiches for breakfast; lovely. We then set off for our first acclimatisation training. We were all surprised when we turned up & the pitch was more sand than grass. We started training in the heat of the midday sun (this was at 9am!) & after an hour of hard work, acclimatisation & tons of water, we finished up with a catching game with the local children. We all “jumped” (crawled, sloth-like) back onto the bus, everybody red-faced from either the sun or the “huge” amount of exercise that we had done.
Shannon again, Oli has completely failed by:
a) leaving me again to get MORE cake;
b) spending the last ½ hour “writing” (doodling – a tank, person & flag).
Our day continued with our insanely refreshing first adventure into the sea. After lunch we had our first introduction to the surrounding town through our visit to the last slave trade port in Africa. A haunting experience, yet nonetheless interesting.
Rather than driving all the way back we stopped halfway to stroll back along the beach, stopping for a quick drink along the way.
To round off an incredible first full day in Ghana we all celebrated Emily's birthday (hence the cake), bringing us to a welcome early night under our mosquito nets.
With love from Ghana...
Shannon
Oli
Nick
Emily
xxx
A note from Oli Shaw...
To my new friend : Shaw, thanks for ignoring all the advice about giving your first or second name. I've made you a nice shell. There's one for you too T-A-M-S-Y-N.
You're probably thinking that this boy is barking mad, so I shall explain. It was our first day trip to Elmina & Mr. Miles was giving an inspiring talk about what to & what not to do when approached by Ghanaians selling or offering you gifts. Miss Court at this point must have been distracted by the amazing views (or just Mr. Miles' speech wasn't quite as interesting as we first thought) because although Mr. Miles stressed & stressed the point that you DO NOT TELL THEM YOUR NAME, Miss Court stepped off the bus, spied Dan Oliver refusing to give his name, hurries over & persuades him it's a perfectly logical idea to give your name & even introduces herself , spelling her name out for him as well. Dan, stunned into silence, nudges Miss Court on the arm, asking “Were you not listening?!”. Meanwhile I, being a smart ass gave them my “real” name Jamie. I was so pleased with the fact I'd thought of a fake name, I didn't think twice about giving them my second name. Yes Shaw, S-H-A-uh oh. Mr. Miles was standing behind me, shaking his head...”Are you serious?!”. I thought nothing of it, so left for the castle after saying goodbye to my new Ghanaian friend, Joe. We came out from the tour & there was Joe, with identical shells for me & T-A-M-S-Y-N.
TO MY NEW FRIEND : SHAW.
It's taken me far too long to write this so I'm going to stop now. Bye.
Hey guys, Ashling and Luke here,
Whilst we were happily enjoying our lunch, Mrs Maishman summoned both of us to a meeting with Aubrey. We had no clue what it was about, but were about to find out...
We had been chosen by the P.E staff to do a live interview on the regional televison station (Coastal TV). Both excited and scared we grabbed our Sabre t-shirts and trusty anti-bacterial lotion, and heaped ourselves into the land rover. Whilst on this journey, we were prepped for our interview and picked up the TV presenter on the road side (very bizarre). This unique opportunity had only just come up and we were thrilled to be chosen, things in Ghana tend to be unorganised and Aubrey told us it was “GMT - Ghana Maybe Time”, and that we could be on at any time.
We arrived at the television studio about half an hour later, right in the middle of nowhere in what appeared to be a unusually wealthy house compared to the poverty surrounding it. We waited for about 45 minutes in the room next door the studio. Meanwhile getting pasted with foundation to “stop our faces shining”. Which Luke especially did not appreciate. We entered the studio and sat down next to the presenter feeling very nervous. Ashling to start with was out of camera shot, but switched in mid interview. The interview went well, with football being the main focus of the conversation. The Ghanaians as you may have heard have won the under 20's World Cup, and its all they want to talk about. I think they mentioned it about 6 times! Luke responded when asked “Do you think you have a chance when playing the under 20 World Champions of the world? What will the score be?” responded with “well we won the real world cup and will win a comfortable 2-0”. Due to the language barriers the presenter had to speak english (the official national language) and fante (the local language). Over here football is life, and this came across in the interview. Them being interested more in the football than the netball. The interview went really well with no major mistakes and we really enjoyed ourselves. We returned to the castle and had a guided tour then met the others for dinner.
Lots of Love,
Luke and Ashling
P.S Dad can you leave the match of the day, I would love to see the matches! Cheers luke x
P.P.S Eeather is much better than Ireland and Wales, unlucks x
P.P.P.S Happy Birthday Lydia & Maria!!! Love Shan x
Hi, Shannon here trying to write the blog, however Oli & Nick are stuffing their faces with the remains of Emily's 16th birthday cake instead of helping.
We've finished now, so we'll take over as Shannon is nattering. Better get started then. This morning we woke up at 6am (GMT...Ghana Maybe time). Fried egg sandwiches for breakfast; lovely. We then set off for our first acclimatisation training. We were all surprised when we turned up & the pitch was more sand than grass. We started training in the heat of the midday sun (this was at 9am!) & after an hour of hard work, acclimatisation & tons of water, we finished up with a catching game with the local children. We all “jumped” (crawled, sloth-like) back onto the bus, everybody red-faced from either the sun or the “huge” amount of exercise that we had done.
Shannon again, Oli has completely failed by:
a) leaving me again to get MORE cake;
b) spending the last ½ hour “writing” (doodling – a tank, person & flag).
Our day continued with our insanely refreshing first adventure into the sea. After lunch we had our first introduction to the surrounding town through our visit to the last slave trade port in Africa. A haunting experience, yet nonetheless interesting.
Rather than driving all the way back we stopped halfway to stroll back along the beach, stopping for a quick drink along the way.
To round off an incredible first full day in Ghana we all celebrated Emily's birthday (hence the cake), bringing us to a welcome early night under our mosquito nets.
With love from Ghana...
Shannon
Oli
Nick
Emily
xxx
A note from Oli Shaw...
To my new friend : Shaw, thanks for ignoring all the advice about giving your first or second name. I've made you a nice shell. There's one for you too T-A-M-S-Y-N.
You're probably thinking that this boy is barking mad, so I shall explain. It was our first day trip to Elmina & Mr. Miles was giving an inspiring talk about what to & what not to do when approached by Ghanaians selling or offering you gifts. Miss Court at this point must have been distracted by the amazing views (or just Mr. Miles' speech wasn't quite as interesting as we first thought) because although Mr. Miles stressed & stressed the point that you DO NOT TELL THEM YOUR NAME, Miss Court stepped off the bus, spied Dan Oliver refusing to give his name, hurries over & persuades him it's a perfectly logical idea to give your name & even introduces herself , spelling her name out for him as well. Dan, stunned into silence, nudges Miss Court on the arm, asking “Were you not listening?!”. Meanwhile I, being a smart ass gave them my “real” name Jamie. I was so pleased with the fact I'd thought of a fake name, I didn't think twice about giving them my second name. Yes Shaw, S-H-A-uh oh. Mr. Miles was standing behind me, shaking his head...”Are you serious?!”. I thought nothing of it, so left for the castle after saying goodbye to my new Ghanaian friend, Joe. We came out from the tour & there was Joe, with identical shells for me & T-A-M-S-Y-N.
TO MY NEW FRIEND : SHAW.
It's taken me far too long to write this so I'm going to stop now. Bye.
Hey guys, Ashling and Luke here,
Whilst we were happily enjoying our lunch, Mrs Maishman summoned both of us to a meeting with Aubrey. We had no clue what it was about, but were about to find out...
We had been chosen by the P.E staff to do a live interview on the regional televison station (Coastal TV). Both excited and scared we grabbed our Sabre t-shirts and trusty anti-bacterial lotion, and heaped ourselves into the land rover. Whilst on this journey, we were prepped for our interview and picked up the TV presenter on the road side (very bizarre). This unique opportunity had only just come up and we were thrilled to be chosen, things in Ghana tend to be unorganised and Aubrey told us it was “GMT - Ghana Maybe Time”, and that we could be on at any time.
We arrived at the television studio about half an hour later, right in the middle of nowhere in what appeared to be a unusually wealthy house compared to the poverty surrounding it. We waited for about 45 minutes in the room next door the studio. Meanwhile getting pasted with foundation to “stop our faces shining”. Which Luke especially did not appreciate. We entered the studio and sat down next to the presenter feeling very nervous. Ashling to start with was out of camera shot, but switched in mid interview. The interview went well, with football being the main focus of the conversation. The Ghanaians as you may have heard have won the under 20's World Cup, and its all they want to talk about. I think they mentioned it about 6 times! Luke responded when asked “Do you think you have a chance when playing the under 20 World Champions of the world? What will the score be?” responded with “well we won the real world cup and will win a comfortable 2-0”. Due to the language barriers the presenter had to speak english (the official national language) and fante (the local language). Over here football is life, and this came across in the interview. Them being interested more in the football than the netball. The interview went really well with no major mistakes and we really enjoyed ourselves. We returned to the castle and had a guided tour then met the others for dinner.
Lots of Love,
Luke and Ashling
P.S Dad can you leave the match of the day, I would love to see the matches! Cheers luke x
P.P.S Eeather is much better than Ireland and Wales, unlucks x
P.P.P.S Happy Birthday Lydia & Maria!!! Love Shan x
Arrival in Ghana
Thursday 15th and Friday 16th October 2009
After realising that Ella had brought money in the wrong currency we set off for Gatwick. The atmosphere was buoyant and everyones' emotions were running high.
On arrival at the airport we lugged all our luggage up to the check-in desk. Ashlings bag did not live up to its fifty kilo expectations (her scales were broken), we were met by Dom. We then boarded the plane not before Oli was stopped and searched for the gaffa tape in his bag, when asked what it was for , retorting “for strapping things up”.
As we boarded the plane we were slightly alarmed with the presence of two policemen, but took of smoothly, and were well fed at four in the morning with Lamb pasties. We landed six hours later in Africa!
A three hour bus journey turned into a six hour one after countless stops for supplies. As soon as we arrived in Accra the culture difference was very apparent as we were crowded by locals carrying our bags and pestering us for money.
The views from the minibus were incredibly eye-opening as the poverty and heat hit us.
When we finally arrived at Stumble Inn Lodge we realised that all our traveling and exhaustion was well worth the wait. The lodges are basic, but the location is close to paradise. The views that greeted us were unbelievable as the lodge is perched on the edge of the beach, and crystal blue waters stretch as far as the eye can see. This is something that no-one from the trip will ever forget.
We met all the hosts and generally acclimatised, relaxing in the shade of palm trees before being fed like royalty by the head chef, Mr Ofori.
In the evening we all gathered together in the sunset for our evenings entertainment, which was enough to take our breath away. The local drummers and dancers came and performed many tribal war dances and the acrobats took 'impossible' to a new level. We all joined in with the drummers and danced before having an eight o clock sleep curfew that we all accepted gratefully having an amazing first experience of Ghanaian life!
Love from everyone in Ghana and your very first blog writers,
Susie G, Alex H, Sophie D & Luke O
After realising that Ella had brought money in the wrong currency we set off for Gatwick. The atmosphere was buoyant and everyones' emotions were running high.
On arrival at the airport we lugged all our luggage up to the check-in desk. Ashlings bag did not live up to its fifty kilo expectations (her scales were broken), we were met by Dom. We then boarded the plane not before Oli was stopped and searched for the gaffa tape in his bag, when asked what it was for , retorting “for strapping things up”.
As we boarded the plane we were slightly alarmed with the presence of two policemen, but took of smoothly, and were well fed at four in the morning with Lamb pasties. We landed six hours later in Africa!
A three hour bus journey turned into a six hour one after countless stops for supplies. As soon as we arrived in Accra the culture difference was very apparent as we were crowded by locals carrying our bags and pestering us for money.
The views from the minibus were incredibly eye-opening as the poverty and heat hit us.
When we finally arrived at Stumble Inn Lodge we realised that all our traveling and exhaustion was well worth the wait. The lodges are basic, but the location is close to paradise. The views that greeted us were unbelievable as the lodge is perched on the edge of the beach, and crystal blue waters stretch as far as the eye can see. This is something that no-one from the trip will ever forget.
We met all the hosts and generally acclimatised, relaxing in the shade of palm trees before being fed like royalty by the head chef, Mr Ofori.
In the evening we all gathered together in the sunset for our evenings entertainment, which was enough to take our breath away. The local drummers and dancers came and performed many tribal war dances and the acrobats took 'impossible' to a new level. We all joined in with the drummers and danced before having an eight o clock sleep curfew that we all accepted gratefully having an amazing first experience of Ghanaian life!
Love from everyone in Ghana and your very first blog writers,
Susie G, Alex H, Sophie D & Luke O
Saturday, 17 October 2009
Departure from Gatwick
On Thursday evening an excited group of 36 young footballers and netball players arrvied at Gatwick accompanied by 4 staff. They were gathered to catch their flight to Ghana, embarking on a 12 day tour to play school and district teams and coach primary school sides. Check-in formalities were completed without a hitch, the group's luggages swollen by 10 extra bags of donated kit and sports equipment.
The tour has been organised as part of the school's international partnership with Brenu Akyinim School in Ghana, and is being managed by the Sabre Charitable Trust. This blog will tell the story of the tour, through the eyes of the participants: every day the team will record a diary, which will then be uploaded from Ghana... interet connection permitting!
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