Andrew Vetterlein ’15, Jackson Donaldson ’15: The Episcopal Academy Varsity Boy’s Soccer team had the opportunity to travel to England at the end of this past summer. The ten-day tour included watching some of the most renowned soccer clubs in the world. The Churchmen also had their fair share of “football” competition, playing against teams from all over the United Kingdom.
The trip included seeing some of the best players in the world while attending league games in the Barclays Premier League. The team saw Everton play West Bromwich Albion and last year’s runner-ups Manchester City play against Hull. John Tyson ’14, a goalie for Episcopal, said, “Every game we went to was extremely exciting and it was fun rooting for the home team and cheering all of the chants with the crowd.”
The team also got to tour the stadiums of a few of the Premier league teams. The list included those of Liverpool, Everton, West Ham United, and Manchester United.
Episcopal took on several high school level English teams on the trip as well. The Churchmen played against South Yorkshire School, Chelmsford City FC U-17, The American School of London, Botanic U16’s, and Kingsthorne U16’s. Senior Jack Keffer ’14 said, “It was awesome that we got to play English teams because their game is very different from ours. Our team learned a lot about how the English play by competing against them, and that is really going to help us this year as we bring back those experiences.” The team’s record for the trip was 2-2-1.
The highlight of the trip for many, however, was touring the city of London. Hallmarks included the London Eye, Big Ben, and Buckingham Palace. Ayo Maja ’14 noted that, “I had a lot of fun touring the city, especially seeing [landmarks] like Big Ben and getting a ride in the London eye.”
The coaches and players of the team agree that the trip to UK was extremely enjoyable, as they both experienced the British culture and learned about the sport they love. They realize that they are now more prepared than ever to compete in the Inter-ac with these greatexperiencesundertheirbelt.