Day One

Pupils and staff met at the School at 3:30 am in morning, most looking very tried and sleepy eyed at that time in morning. Then we loaded up the coach and were off on our long journey to Valkenburg in Holland. On the journey we travelled on the Euro Tunnel Train to France which the pupils found very exciting looking out the windows trying to spot any fish as we went underground below the English Channel. We then went through the north of France, across Belgium and then into Holland arriving at the Hotel at 3:00pm.

When we arrived at the hotel the pupils checked into their rooms, then Mr Ballard gave everyone a guided tour of Valkenburg.  The town has some very interesting architecture lots of shops, bars and restaurants; it has a very nice relaxed friendly atmosphere. After the tour the pupils went bowling for 1 hour and then it was back to the hotel and to bed after a very long exhausting day.

Day Two

This was the first day of coaching and fixtures for the pupils on the tour; it was an early start at 7:00am for breakfast and then the all teams went to different venues for their first coaching session. All the staff where impressed with all the teams effort, commitment and desire to use the training sessions to improve their individual skills and to become better teams. Then it was back to the Hotel for a Hot meal and then to Lasertag. This took place in some caves within Valkenburg, the pupils really enjoy this activity, especially be able to shoot all the members of staff who are on tour. Pupils then had so free time around the town which was spent mostly in the amusement arcade in the hunt for tokens to win prizes, well done to Tom Nash who won over 1000 tokens.

We then returned to Hotel were the pupils had the opportunity to go for a swim in the Hotel pool, and then get ready for their first fixtures of the tour. The Rugby team played Bokkerijders Rugby club, the game was played on a much larger pitch then the players are used to and a much larger opposition. However the all the players worked really well as a team and produce an excellent performance, using their better technique and skills to win the game by a large margin ( Bokkerijders 10 – 105 JCA). The boys under 16’s football team also played a Dutch club they were called RKVVL Polaris; the team produce an excellent performance. They were strong in defence not allowing the opposition to create many chances to score, at the same time they the team scored from the chances they created when attacking, the final score was (RKVVL Polaris 0 – 4 JCA). The girl’s football team played club called Scharn It was a strong physical battle with both teams tacking hard trying to win the ball. It was a very close game with the girls losing just by 1 goal, the final score was (Scharn 4 – 3 JCA)  The girl’s netball had a very intense coaching session in the morning, this really help the team focus on improving their individual skills and team work. This was followed by several games in the afternoon against other schools that are also on tour in Holland. Results of their games lasted below. These were training games in preparation for their tournament on Thursday.

Day Three

This was the second day of coaching and fixtures for the pupils on the tour: it was later start with breakfast at 9:00am then the teams went to different venues for their second coaching session. The pupils continued with their positive attitude towards training from day 2. Then it was back to the hotel for a hot meal and then tobogganing in Valkenburg. This was an exciting experience for the pupils as they had to use a ski lift to get to the top of the hill side were the tobogganing track was located. The track it’s self was much faster than anyone on the tour expected and expect for some minor crashes due the pupils and staff not braking enough it was really good fun. In the evening the pupils had their second fixtures of the tour.

The rugby team travelled into Belgium to play a club side called Vise, like the game the day before they were playing a really big pitch and the opposition had a size advantage. This showed in the first 10 minutes with the opposition scoring second two quick tries to take the lead. However the team never gave up and turned the game around by moving the ball quickly down the back line to get around the oppositions defence, they scored 2 tries before half time. In the second half the boys continued to play faster running rugby and moving the ball quickly to score three more tries, the final score was (Vise 10 – 25 JCA).

The girls football team played a Dutch club called Hulsberg it was another close game physical, the team created many more chances then their first game due to them having 90% of possession during the game. However they did not take the chances they created.  The final score was (Hulsberg 4 - 1 JCA). The girl’s netball teams did not have any fixtures, but they had another intense training session in preparation for their tournament tomorrow. The boys football team played a Dutch club called SVN there was a strong performance and created many chances, however they failed to take as many as they should have. There were strong performances from Connor Kerr, Tom Nash and Jamie Gregory the final score was (SVN 1 – 2 JCA).

Day Four

This was the final day of sporting activities for the students on tour; it began however with breakfast then a trip to local water park.This was really enjoyable experience will all sorts of chaos in the amazing river rapids and off the diving board. This was followed by the different teams going to training sessions or tournaments for the rest of the day.

The Rugby team had a final training session which was really fun, and all the team said a big thank you to the Dutch coaches. Also the year 8 boys thanked the year 9 boys who played in the team, without them the team would have not the opportunity to go on the tour.

The girls football team had their final fixture in the evening against NEC-92 which is a professional Dutch team, the final score was (NEC-92 10 – 1 JCA) The girls may not had won any of the fixtures during tour but they all have become better football players by the end of this week.  They have all had a really fantastic experience which has brought them closer together as a team in their final year at John Cabot.

The boy’s football team had a tournament against the other English schools that were also on tour in Holland. They played in a round robin tournament and finished 2^nd in the league. Mr. Thomas was very pleased with how they played during the whole tournament, especially with the respect shown towards the opposition teams, the officials and each other. As a result they saved their best football of the week for during the tournament. Each of the team coaches and officials were asked to vote for which player they thought was the best for each team during the tournament, they voted John Cabot’s best player as George Watts.

Results listed below
JCA (0 – 1) George Abbott
Cavendish A (0 – 1) JCA
St Peters A (1 – 2) JCA
St Peters B (0 – 1) JCA

The girls Netball teams also played in a tournament against other English schools that were on tour in Holland. All three teams played some fantastic Netball and all said that as a result of the intense training earlier in the week they have all become better individual players and teams. There was however a very special achievement for the Under 16’s A team, who went on to win their competition. They beat the team who have won the tournament for the previous three years Surbiton(Private Girls School), with a golden goal scored by the now legendry Kara Pring during extra time in the final. This was such an achievement it brought tears of joy to the eyes of the all the players, supporters and Miss Hodge, this was because they were the underdogs from the beginning of the week. Some of the team were playing through the pain barrier of injuries and other players playing out of position, however their commitment and determination saw them through to win. As in the football tournament each of the team coaches and officials were asked to vote for which player they thought was the best for each team during the tournament.

Results for the Under 16’s A
JCA U16’s A (5 – 4) Surbiton U14’s A
JCA U16’s A (8 – 4) St Peters
JCA U16’s A (13 – 4) Colne U13’s
JCA U16’s A (6 – 0) Cavendish U15’s
Semi Final JCA U16’s (5 – 4) Surbiton U14’s B
Final JCA U16’s (5 – 4) Surbiton U14’s A
Helen Howshall was voted JCA U16’s A player of the tournament.

Results for the Under 16’s B
JCA U16’s B (7 – 1) JCA U14’s
JCA U 16’s B (3 – 7) Surbiton U14’s B
JCA U 16’s B (5 – 8) Surbiton U13’s A
JCA U 16’s B (3 – 1) Cavendish U14’s
JCA U 16’s B (8 – 1) Colne U14’s
Sasha Morch-Monsted was voted JCA U16’s B player of the tournament.

Results for the Under 14’s
JCA U14’s (1 – 7) JCA U16’s B
JCA U14’s (0 – 10) Surbiton U14’s B
JCA U14’s (1 – 6) Cavendish U14
JCA U14’s (1 – 8) Surbiton U13 A
JCA U14’s (0 – 7) Colne U14
Lucy Watts was voted JCA U14’s player of the tournament.

After the evening meal it was off to the tour disco with all the other schools on tour in Holland, during the disco all of the players of the different tournaments received their awards and JCA U16’s collected a trophy for winning their tournament. There also has to be a special mention for the dance moves of Lewis Foster during the disco and Ocean Bracey who broke into a Brilliant worm that night.

Day Five

The day was all about relaxing after a long hard week of sporting activity, it began with a trip to the German theme park called Phantasia Land. It had some very exciting rides which both the pupils and staff really enjoyed.

In the afternoon it was back to the Hotel for Jess Warner’s Surprise 16^thbirtday pool party. Then it was time for the tour quiz hosted by the Quiz Master Mr Thomas, however there was some controversy as Mr Thomas group were the winners of the quiz. The quiz was followed by the evening meal in the hotel restaurant, and then it was off to the Pancake house in the centre of Valkenburg.
 

When we returned to the hotel it was time for the tour awards, these were given to outstanding sporting achievement on tour and some funny awards as well. The main awards of girl and boy of tour went to Kara Pring & Connor Kerr, the team of the tour was the under 16’s A netball team. A full list of all the award winners is on the Cabot Sports Board down by the changing rooms. The pupils and staff finished the night by saying thank you to each other for all their hard work and how they made the tour so enjoyable, and then it was finally off to bed ready for the long journey back to home the following day.