JSSL Arsenal Hong Kong Soccer Trip - by William Davis

Friday 25th May 2007 Flying on Cathay Pacific
On Friday 25th May we all met up at the airport to catch a plane to Hong Kong. As the flight was in the morning we had to get up very early. Never an easy thing for my brothers Benjamin and Jai. At the airport we played a little football game which was fun until one of the parents told us to stop.

The plane flight to Hong Kong was over 3hrs, but it was fun as we were able to watch movies on the TV screens. When we arrived in Hong Kong we took a bus to the hotel and checked into our rooms. The rooms were pretty small so we did not stay too long in the rooms but went out to explore the hotel and the swimming pool and the shopping mall next door. This was my first time to Hong Kong and it seemed a big place with huge buildinngs and sky skrapers everywhere.

Later in the day we went to visit my Dad's friends at their cricket club and went swimming. That was fun as we played with friends and swam for over 2hours.

Saturday 26th May 2007 Practise Warm Up Games / Peak Tram
On Saturday we all got up early to play at the Hong Kong Arsenal ground. The pitch was an astrotuurf surface so very bouncy which took us some time to get used to. We played 4 games that Saturday morning and they were only fiendly games as the real tournament was on the next day - Sunday. I remember it was really really hot that day and by lunch time we were all very tired.

After soccer we all went back to the hotel together and had lunch in the restaurant. In the afternoon we did some site seeing and took a ferry over from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island. Then we took a tram up to the big hill on the Island called the Peak. This was a lot of fun as it seemd like we were going upwards in a straight line. At the Peak we walked around and had ice cream. Then we came back down and went back to the hotel. We were all very tired and went to bed early to get ready for our tournament on Sunday.

Sunday 27th May 2007 Tournament day
The day of the tournament and we were up early again and on the bus by 8am. When we got to the ground there were over 100 teams and players from all over Hong Kong and Asia. There were 4 age groups Ð under 6's which is where Ben and Jai played, Under 8's, Under 12's and Under 16's.

Each game was 12minutes long in a round robin format. The standard of competition was quite strong and although we played well we only made it to the semi'finals where we lost to one of the Hong Kong teams. Ben and Jai's team also made it to the semi finals while our Under 8's team actually won the Under 8's tournament. This was a great achievement as the teams and players from which wa great.

Oh yes, we also good as cool goody bag with a cap, pen and folder. We got very lucky as when the tournament finsihed the heavens opened up and it began to rain and rain. We all got soaking went and then made it back to the hotel. In the late afternoon we went out to my Dad's friends cricket club and played games in the children's game room.

Monday 28th May 2007 Disneyland
On Monday we all got up early again to go to Disneyland. When we arrived we had to wait for the gates to open but this meant that we were the first in the park and could then go on all the rides without any cues. The rides were lots of fun. I also enjoyed the Lion King show and the Pirates of the Caribbean park.
By the time we got in a taxi to go back to the hotel we were all exhausted.

Tuesday 29th May Ð London and Arsenal Soccer Camp
ÊOn Tuesday we took a flight to London for a holiday with our grandparents. We also took part in the Arsenal Soccer Camp in London and had a trip around the new Arsenal Emirates Stadium which was really cool !

All in all the Hong Kong trip was great fun and a great experience and I can't wait for next years.


William Davis