The Boys are Back in Town

Touched the ground at JFK with all team members - almost lost a few bags (the usual suspects tried to leave donations of backpacks in the Bahamas and in NY).

 

 We're ahead of schedule and on the bus (although traffic is thick).

 

Coming Home!

Final day

 Noel gives a geography lesson: "we were WHERE??!"

 

 The main attraction: FREE WIFI!!

Bringing them all home safe and sound.  Fifteen boys and eight men left a week ago.... and fifteen men and eight boys are returning.

Day 6

Our last day in the Bahamas started hot and dry, as usual.

 After a gruelling sprint of two laps of what seemed like several miles over the two highest bridges in the Bahamas (seen in some of the pictures below).....

 

 ...the boys took to the sand field to increase endurance and foot skills, and had a strenuous workout for more than an hour in teams of 5 against each other.

 

 

 

They also played against local talent...

 

 

...and against a supremely skillful and hyper-fit dads team which lost 1-0 to their sons only due to some inexplicable refereeing decisions by coach Noel who seems unaware of the rules of football and had left his glasses back at the hotel. 

 

 

Mr Jackson was so annoyed by the poor refereeing that he decided to end proceedings by setting off back to the hotel with the ball.

All the others returned to the hotel on foot over that bridge again:

 

...except for coach Noel who claimed he needed to get back to change the time of breakfast, and flagged down a passing flatbed truck (red arrow), though he did wave encouragingly at the boys (blue arrow) as he sped past at 30 mph:

 

Back at the hotel after a light breakfast of muesli, yoghurt, fresh fruit, toast, oatmeal, omelettes, pancakes, bacon, french toast, sausages, fried eggs, chocolate croissants, Danish pastries, ham rolls and ice cream, the dads took to the water park for some energetic water aerobics to keep trim....

 

...and ready for the evening's eagerly anticipated entertainment: no, not the elimination round of Miss Teen USA.  A scavenger hunt!  Using brain power and muscle power only, this was a race to collect ten Bahamian items, ranging from the worm from a Conch shell and a Bahamian dollar (from the other side of those bridges again!!), to an item from Gucci, a fish, and an umbrella.

 

Coach Noel explained the rules to the excited teams of three...

 

...the atmosphere was electric with tension....

 

 

...and then they were off!!

"You expect us to run over those bridges AGAIN!?!"

The dads had their own scavenger hunt:

 

Some showed great ingenuity by simply phoning a few friends to bring their items....

With all the excitement, some of the dads were exhausted.

...while others had clearly simply misunderstood the point of the exercise and returned with items not on the list...

 

But it was all smiles in the end.

 

 

 

 With the boys smelling fragrantly of Gucci perfume, the beach umbrellas were replaced on the beach, the stingray was returned to its tank and the Bahamian dollar was returned to the very nice policeman who has promised not to press charges provided the team leaves the Bahamas tomorrow and never return.

 

 And the winner of the scavenger hunt was..... (to be continued)

 

Day 5 - match 2

Pre-match preparation was unconventional: a snorkeling trip to a remote island on the Party Catamaran. 

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The trip was an opportunity for some of the dads to remind themselves their sons are also in the Bahamas.

Carl had traded his son for some of the local liquor and was in a particularly cheerful mood.

 

  Captain Christian led the way into the deep unknown fearlessly and with typical gravitas.... 

...while the team lined up confidently in 1-1-1-1-1-1 formation behind him....

The reef life was spectacular.  We saw jacks, parrot fish, trigger fish, wrasse, pipe fish, manta rays......





.....lion fish, moray eels.....

... baracuda, great white shark, sunken treasure, mermaids, nuclear submarines.....

Expecting it to be too hot for match shirts later today, the boys decided to spray paint their position numbers on their bare backs.

 

The dads enjoyed a hotly contested game of beach volleyball while the boys prepared some additional football (a.k.a. soccer) set moves in the sea, so they would be ready in case this evening's field might be waterlogged again:

 Just enough time for a trip photo (with one additional "Dad" at center back (Nick), from the boat):

 

On the way back, our boat's captain pointed out houses owned by Oprah Winfrey, the former Mrs Tiger Woods, Eddie Murphy, Chuck Norris.... and GQ Magazine's Mr August made a celebrity appearance on board:

 

 Quick shower to freshen up at the hotel, then it was off to the soccer field in high spirits.

 

The fans began to arrive long before kick-off....

 The packed traveling fans section of the bleachers waited nervously for the game to start. 

  

 

The opposition, the U17 Bahama National team, looked athletic and determined.

 

 The local team was strong and skilled.  Several players train in the US. They took an early lead and it took determined defense by Madison to prevent further loss. 

 

 Madison started to take charge and played well, attacking quickly down both wings and through the center, and dominated for long periods of the first half.  Madison had some good counter-attacks and Christian scored with a sensational strike from outside the penalty box after 25 minutes.

 

 

 However the Bahamas were very fast on their counter-attacks and added a second goal a few minutes later.  Although Madison continued to look the stronger team for much of the first half, at half time it was still 2-1 to the home team.

 

 

In the second half, the Bahamians' strength, speed and agility, together with the heat and exertion, began to take their toll on the Madison players, and the Bahamian team gradually gained the upper hand.  The Bahamas had a large bench of substitutes and used fresh legs to advantage, while in this friendly match and with limited substitutes, Madison played several players out of their normal position.  Despite at times frantic defense, including some great saves by Nick Nelson in goal, the Bahamas were able to score further goals as the game played out, for a final score of 6-1.  However Madison had shown great determination and total effort from every player, against very strong opposition, and had played very well as a team.