Ben's Blog

Last week, Ben got another Bronze Merit certificate at school, which means he is doing very well as he has lapped the merit awards several times now! Keep it up!

This past Sunday was the Ivybridge Football Tournament which Plymouth Kolts took part in.  Ben was playing in this one as well but it didn’t turn out as well as the Manstow tournament unfortunately! The rules were slightly different here as it was 12 minutes each match, without half time, and the league had 7 teams in, so there was a guaranteed 6 games before going into a knockout tournament. Kolts didn’t score a single goal or have a single shot on target in the entire tournament and didn’t play very well at all. They lost 5 and drew 1 out of the league games but then, like the last tournament, started to play much better in the knockout, but they lost 1-0 due to another defensive mixup.  Ben only missed 1 full game and got properly stuck in as the games went on and was easily the best player there.  It was a shame that they didn’t even score a goal though! Somehow, the knockout game got them a runners up trophy, but with no medals for the boys, but there was a severe lack of communication with this one, compared to the last tournament, so we didn’t really know what was going on! Ben was quite disappointed, and completely worn out, in the end, but did say he enjoyed playing the football. He won’t be playing in the next tournament as we are away, which is a bit of a shame but, depending on numbers, the boys would have only played 2 out of 3 tournaments anyway. On to the next friendly match……

Ben’s first footy tournament with Plymouth Kolts was almost awesome as they ended up as Runners Up in the Plate knockout competition. This competition was for teams who didn’t do very well in the league stages, which they didn’t, so it was to give them an extra game or so. Kolts didn’t score a single goal in the league games and lost 2 out of 3, so ended up bottom of the group. When they got to the knockout though, they started to play better and won the Quarter Final with a Golden Goal. The coach had put out his best players in their best positions for the game, so they were much better. They then won the semi-final 2-0 and so reached the final. Ben played in all of the knockout games in Central Midfield, which is his best position, so he was happy! Unfortunately, in the final, they lost 1-0 because of a defensive mix up and Kolts also hit the post.  It was Manstow who beat them as well (my old team)! Some of the boys were upset then and there were a few tears about, but they all got a nice silver medal, which was great considering how badly they had started the day off!

The tournament itself was really good and there were loads of teams there! They also had a BBQ going and a pizza oven and Aaron and Coby had plenty of room to kick a ball around and play, which was ideal really. The matches themselves were 7 aside with rolling subs if needed, and 10 minutes long without and half time. There were no offsides either, which helped things a bit! All in all, it was a fun day but even we were shattered when we got home!

At the end of June, we camped at Whitehill Country Park in Paignton again, the same as we did last year. Alex, Josh, Caleb and Sophia joined us as well, and it was a very nice weekend!

I had the day off on the Friday so Kelly and I were able to go up as soon as we were allowed on the pitch and setup the tent. It was quite windy so we had an interesting time trying to put the tent up! We did it though, and it was hot in the sun. I left Kelly to it and went back and picked the boys up from school and took them straight to the campsite. Kelly had finished everything by then so we headed straight for the outside pool for a swim. It was lovely in the pool and nice and quiet as not many people had arrived by this time. We then went back to camp and Alex and Josh arrived so we started up a BBQ for us all to eat. We then relaxed for the evening!

On Saturday, we went swimming in the morning, but it was a bit more overcast at times although the wind had dropped. We had some fun in the pool before heading back to camp for some food. During the afternoon, we went for a walk around the park and to the two playgrounds where the children could play. It was much warmer and sunny in the afternoon so we were quite hot! We were meant to go back to camp and change before heading out for tea but we were already down there and it was getting close to tea time, so we went straight to the bar and got a table outside and ordered our food. The food was very nice again! We then went in for the evening entertainment, which was basically the same as last year. Coby was up dancing again and taking part, but Ben and Aaron held back, apart from one dance when they managed to get a lolly each! Tut! We then stayed for Bingo and was number away from getting £20, before heading back to camp to relax before bed, including kicking the ball around until it got too dark!

Sunday was our final day camping so we relaxed for most of the morning before heading off to the pool again before lunch. We had a big breakfast to finish off the food that we had left, so we were all fat and full! It was much cooler on Sunday so the pool wasn’t as warm unfortunately. We still had a good paddle though! We then went back to the tent and changed and gave the boys some food, as they were hungry again by now. We then had to start packing the tent up to go home. This took a while and was awkward again as the wind had picked up for the afternoon! We eventually did it and shoved everything back into the car, somehow! On the way home, we all stopped by the entrance and had an ice cream, as we hadn’t had one all weekend. The children then had a short play in the playground before we headed off home.

We had all had a good weekend and the weather was OK apart from the wind! There were some issues with neighbouring tents overnight unfortunately, but we would definitely go back again, probably next year!

Ben had a great Sports Day and did really well, especially in the cross country event where he came 4th! This was his best attempt at cross country and shows that he is getting fitter due to all the swimming and football that he is doing! He also played well in the football during the 2nd half of the morning and in the various events in the afternoon that included a relay race, a throwing event, standing long jump and a couple of others. We can’t believe, though, that he only has next years Sports Day to go and then that is it at Bickleigh!