24th – 25th March

Saturday again and we were to be doing our double club session. I was up at my usual time for breakfast and to get ready and then we headed off to pick up Paul. Double Club was a good session as always, Me and Oore took the warm up of a quick game and some dynamic stretching. Paul took the main part of the session while me and Oore helped out giving out some tips to people who were struggling and keeping it going. The shooting session Paul took went great then it was match time the 3 of us set them up and they had started in no time.

After Double Club it was off to Holetown for some quick presents shopping to take home. By the time we had finished it was off to my football where we were playing at the Lumber Co football pitch where we were taking on the other team from our club that we had put in the League. We won 3-0 and sadly i did not get on the score sheet but i did set up one of the goals! After my football i got dropped off at my house and i’m assuming Phil went back down to Paul’s.

Sunday, the day of rest. Not for me as i was wide awake at 6 o clock that morning sun shining in the window, i eventually moved from my bed about half 7 quarter to 8 and had some breakfast and a cup of tea (great way to start the day). After breakfast and getting ready i came on the computer and called back home on skype all morning. In the afternoon i was to watch Paul and Phil play football down at the Lumber co football pitch. As the time came to go Phil had already left without saying anything so i was stuck in the house with nothing to do. Luckily enough Oore came past and took me down then we all headed off to watch some Premier League football. Only costing $10 to get in which was not to bad, we sat and watched 1 full game and the first half of the last match before heading home.

4th – 23rd March

So its Saturday and i am up again at half past 6 to get ready to go to our double club session, quarter past 8 and i head across the road to see if Phil is ready then we were off to pick up Paul. Double club session in the classroom went brilliantly as usual and in no time we were outside for out practical session which was based on “first touch”.

The past few weeks have went by quickly, if we weren’t at school coaching we were at the beach watching the football or playing volleyball or we were at the horse racing. I have also been playing for a local football team which has been good! I have played 3 matches now for them, first was against a University team which we won 2-1, second was against a team from Canada which i really looked forward to and we won that 1-0 lastly was our first game of the season, leading down to poor refereeing we got beat 1-0. but surprisingly enough was my best performance out of the 3 matches.

Our sessions have varied the past few weeks also, from control to heading, shooting and volleying most of which went really well. But again the rain does cause a problem and leave us to cancel a few sessions. This week and some of last week have had a few issues with sessions going ahead as the secondary school sports is now taking place at the National Stadium. Meaning some of the pupils will be away participating and other watching, It is weird thinking that the main “sports” watched on tv back in Scotland is Football or golf etc… but here the main sport on tv is the School Sports!

All in all the sessions have been great and we are now left with 14days until the four of us are on our flight home.

 

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26th – 2nd March

Sunday was football day, we were up early and down to the pub on the beach to watch the Arsenal v Spurs match this was followed by a lie on the beach until it was time to change pubs for the Liverpool final, which of course Liverpool won (just) on penalties, YNWA! After this was my match against a University football team. Playing the majority of the first half and then asking to come off the last 15minutes as the heat was killing me i was surprised i even lasted that long, second half i played the full half and as the final whistle blew we had won 2-1!

I have been having some family issues back home so i have not been at much sessions the past week, along with many being cancelled with rain.

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23rd – 25th February

It was Thursday and me and Phil had the whole morning and afternoon off. Our first session of the day was not until 4pm this was after school at Foundation. This session went really well as we gave them some dynamic stretches to do then races as a warm up. After this we gave them some first touch drills, along the ground to moving onto the thigh and also chest control. With some matches to follow, by far the best session so far.

Friday came and all of our sessions were cancelled, Phil decided to go and visit Paul and Oore on there sessions so i was left to sit about the house all day. When Phil finally came back it was off to the cricket to watch Barbados play.

Saturday we had double club, Phil was late on picking up Paul again which made us get to our session with no minutes to spare. The double club went ok as Phil took over the whole session again, leaving us 3 to read over what everyone was doing. After this we were along the road for our outside session which Phil took the lead on again. After our session had finished me, Paul and Phil took a drive along the North of the island, seeing amazing views from the tops of cliff’s, Harrison’s Point Lighthouse and an abandoned prison to of which we had the police and army all armed. To find out that we were not meant to be there, they soon escorted us out and had us on our way. After our day out it was time for a KFC then to our scrimmage, i scored in the first match on the small pitch then as we moved onto the 11 a’side pitch i took the ball past Phil, past a second defender to the place the ball under the keeper into the goal, giving me my second of the night.

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21st & 22nd February

Normal routine every day during the week, 6.30am wake to leave the house for 8.30am. Me and Phil were at school and all set for 9 on the dot, as usual. This class turned up not as late as they normally do so we are getting better. 30 turned up which was a good sign and they all had kit, but yet again no teacher! The session started and we gave them some races and dynamic stretching for a warm up. After this we game them the first touch/control session working in pairs, by the time we had got this finished it was match time!

Afternoon was pretty much the same, we had 20 kids this time which was a little easier to work with, they seemed to listen and concentrate more also! In between this Phil had to speak to the woman about the jeep and she was not amused but a good hour 2 hour later we eventually got it back and were not stranded at the school with all the gear! After school session had been cancelled.

Wednesday morning me and Phil were ready to leave for Phil to get a call from Axel to be told morning sessions had been cancelled due to it being ‘Ash Wednesday’ and all the schools were at church in the morning. So i stayed home done some washing, ironing and sat around the house for a bit! After lunch we had our session with the small group of 9 and done some ‘volleying & heading’ this group is a little more advanced than others and are capable to do more!

After school me and Phil headed to a pub on the beach where we met Paul and Oore to watch the Inter Milan match, as we had a few drinks and some food it was time to head back home. Where again i was placed to a plate full of food for dinner.

 

20th February

Start of a new week again, week number 4 how times went so quick since we first came here! I set of at my usual routine at 6.30am, once ready i set off to Phil’s across the road at half past 8 then we head off to school and are already to start by 9 o clock! We eventually get 15 kids turn up half an hour late (1 girl). We started our last session of the channel warm up, followed by ‘cone road’. As followed by some match time. Adrian  (Phil’s host) was supervising this class as he always did but came up to me and told me that his girls team who we scrimmage with on a Sunday has a friendly this weekend coming, which i will be taking part in. First proper competitive match since iv come here, looking forward to it!

Afternoon time and the 4 of us were back at  St. Leonard’s for our after school session. We took out a warm up of ‘X change’, having them in teams in 4 corners and diagonally crossing the area they would exchange passes, high-fives etc… after this we took them for a ‘first touch’ session leading into crossing over, finished off with a big circle and seeing how many passes they can get in a minute. Finishing the session off completely with matches, first to score stays on.

That night was a quiet one in again, home for dinner and phone call’s home!

19th February

Long lie day again, when i say long lie i mean awake and up for 8am unlike my Sunday long lie’s back home! We met up with Paul in the afternoon and went to Cheffette (similar to KFC) as he hadn’t had lunch! After this we Decided to take a Drive along the island to see where we would end up. We went along until we eventually we could see the  Atlantic Coast and found a great place to stop which had an amazing view of that side of Barbados!

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Below looked like a rain forest, so back in the jeep we got and took a drive down and found a good place to park up, then the 3 of us took a walk threw the forest and found some weird looking tree’s and Phil spotted a monkey! As we headed back to the jeep we set off to head back along the island again until we had to stop. The front tyre had exploded. So as the boys ‘tried’ had to fix it i watched on and laughed. Having a local stop his car offering to help me then spotted Phil and Paul he drove off in a second!

After this was fixed it was back home quickly to get changed into our football kit for our weekly scrimmage!

18th February

Saturday, Double club morning at Alma Paris. As always i was up at half past 6 in the morning to get ready and have breakfast before heading to Phil’s for 20past ready to leave as we had to pick Paul up for half past, by the time Phil was ready we did not get to Paul’s until 20 to! Luckily enough we got up the island to Alma Paris on time. 25 minutes late 24 ids turned up ready to start (3 being girls). We gave a bit of a challenge to the kids who had been there the previous week asking “what year Arsenal were founded” which was something we had went over last lesson! After a few good guesses which were stuff we had looked over we finally got the answer we were looking for 1886. We had an Arsenal hat which had 1886 on the front which went to the only girl who had been there every other lesson! As we worked threw the book about First World War and then on Herbert Chapman we finished off letting the kids right there ‘Dream team’!

For our outside part of the session, we gave them some dynamic stretches and then into races! With and without the ball, which seemed to go down well as everyone looked as if they were enjoying it. (Oore leading while me, Phil and Paul took part to make up numbers)! Leading into some possession games and then matches! As we finished we noticed Oore’s family had been observing our sesison (they took a holiday over here) we got speaking to them letting them know how we were coping over here!

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After this Oore went away with his family and us three headed down to the Holetown Festival seeing some street dances and lots and lots of food. We finally bought some chicken, chips and salad (me getting macaroni pie) and sat down to enjoy the food after what seemed a good half hour wait! As we left the festival we headed to the near by pub to watch Arsenal get beat by Sunderland, then headed to a near by beach where we swam out to a platform in the sea and played some football!

 

17th February

Friday morning we were back in Parkinson which did not start off well, me and Phil were there for 8.45am and an hour later we still did not have our class. This class is normally a few minutes later than the other one as Friday morning there assembly’s are longer! Our second class was there nearly on time and we had our usual 15 to work with (no girls) ! We gave them a warm up threw the channels getting one of them to give us a dynamic stretch do to and the rest to copy in there own channels. After this we gave them ‘cone road’, the same as we have been giving the other different classes. Out of all i was most impressed with this group!

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After lunch the both of us were back at Alma Paris, where we had our 15pupils changed out there uniform and ready t start bang on time! Yes we gave them a warm up threw the channels, ‘cone road’ and then matches to finish. After school we headed home to get changed then went to Bubba’s Sports bar to watch the end of the Reading v Burnley match with Paul but he turned up just as the game had finished! As we Waited on Paul me and Phil ordered a BLT and chips $20 each, Worth the wait!

15th & 16th February

Rain, rain, rain…  Wednesday morning was off to a ‘great’ start, first session at Lester Vaughan was cancelled as of this. So it was a trip back home for me and Phil until we were in in the afternoon! The afternoon came and the time shortened for us to wait down to 10minutes but to find out we only had 5 pupils, so we gave them a quick warm up and done a shooting session in the new ‘Bars’ that had been delivered by Axel himself!

 

After school session was much the same, got low numbers for the session but took out a shooting session which went really well! Sessions were finished for the day so we headed to meet Paul and Oore at the pub to see the rest of the Arsenal v Ac Milan match, to which Arsenal were already down 3-0 ( YNWA) !

Thursday morning came and we got the message not to go in in the morning, so me and Phil weren’t in until the afternoon and that was at our Primary school Eden Lodge! The session did not go as well as normal, constant speaking in the class room and also outside left us with 10minutes outside on the field!

After was our first after school session at Foundation and the pupils were great we gave them a quick warm up and gave them some possession and movement drills then matches!