On the 17th July a group of senior girls hockey and netball players and four teachers left St Peter’s Square at 4am and embarked upon the long journey to the Caribbean island of Barbados. After eight hours of traveling by plane across the Atlantic Ocean, the island of Barbados suddenly became visible from the plane windows, boasting an interrupted shoreline of sandy beaches set against a background of clear turquoise sea. When we departed from the plane we were initially shocked by the hot temperatures and humid air that accompanied our arrival. As from this moment, we became very appreciative of any bus, shop or apartment room that boasted the luxury of air conditioning. We spent our first evening in Barbados exploring the local area and familiarising ourselves with our apartments and swimming pool.

The following day we discovered the magnificent Sandy Lane Beach, only a ten -minute walk from our apartment and possessing the postcard-like appearance of white sands, warm water and palm trees along with the presence of pontoons, which are the ideal sunbathing surface due to an absence of sand. In the afternoon, the hockey squad played their first match of the tour. Despite the humidity and pressures of playing in an unfamiliar climate and the opposing team including a significant number of boys, the HCS team was successful and won the match 2-0. This encouraging start lead to extremely successful results for the hockey squad, who went on to win all of their five tour matches. The squad’s two goalies were additionally successful in that they did not let a single goal count against the HCS team in any of the matches. In the evening, our apartment provided us with a barbeque and the chance to watch and participate in some traditional entertainment, which including an astonishing limbo dancing performance that involved the limbo bar being set alight before used.

In addition to the less strenuous activities of swimming and sunbathing, the following day saw the netball squad face their first and undoubtedly most challenging netball match. The HCS team played with good spirit and continued to show enthusiasm and commitment despite their significant defeat. It was not until the match was over that it was revealed to the team that they had just played the Senior Barbados International Team – currently ranked tenth in the world and preparing to play in the Commonwealth Championships. This news greatly improved the squad’s spirits- their 90-1 defeat seeming less devastating once they realised they had played against such a successful professional team. The statistic that showed the Barbados team to average a goal every 45 seconds against our HCS team became insignificant when compared to the experience the team had gained from playing at such a high standard. Sarah Hunter-Choat was especially pleased to be able to claim her single goal of the match as a success rather than as a disappointment!

Overall the HCS netball team won two out of the five matches they played on tour. Three of the opposing teams consisted of younger players playing for their local club or school and these matches resulted in competitive play from both sides with close final scores. The last netball match of the tour was against the Under 19 Barbados International Team and although the final score was nowhere near as extreme as the squad’s first match, the HSC team were defeated by the generally quicker and more accurate Barbados side.

A number of activities and excursions were organised for our stay in Barbados. These included a catamaran cruise, which involved sailing up the West Coast of the island and allowed us the opportunity to go snorkeling over a shipwreck and to swim with turtles. The barbeque onboard the catamaran gave us the chance to indulge in eating some local Barbados food, Bajan flying fish being a favourite. Another organised activity was the day tour of the island by bus, which gave us the chance to witness the stark variation in the physical landscape of Barbados. The mountainous North of the island with agricultural land, steep cliffs and huge waves proved to be in great contrast to the tourist areas of the South and West of the island complete with bars, restaurants and picturesque beaches. Our tour of the island was made even more enjoyable by our bus driver, Sheldon, who provided us with his own insight into his home island of Barbados, but also kept us entertained with his unique, loving and harmonious approach to life!

When we were not too exhausted by the effects of sun, sand and sport during the day, our group participated in a number of evening activities. These included two visits to ‘Croc’s Den’, a local karaoke bar, in which both the students and teachers of HCS had the chance to impress, or at least entertain, locals and tourists with their vocal skills. The local busses to and from Croc’s Den also proved to be a form of entertainment in themselves - the local bus driver quickly came to the conclusion that the more people he could fit in a bus, the more money he received for the journey! We also spent an evening in the town of Oistins where we got the chance to sample a mixture of local food, dining and dancing. A trip to ‘Harbour Lights’ beach club provided us with the chance to witness dancers on stilts, a break-dancer in a monkey costume and another performance of limbo dancing!

Thank you to Miss Ferneyhough, Mrs Tucker, Mrs Ferguson and Miss Bushnell, who accompanied us to Barbados and made it possible for us to have such a successful and enjoyable tour