Last week I travelled to Fiji to participate in the Ultimate Fiji Soccer Tournament Under 12s team. We played against 3 Fijian teams from Nadi, Lautoka & Ba. On Sunday we played a mini-tournament against Lautoka & Nadi, where we won 1 & lost 1. We played in the final & drew 1-1 against Lautoka in a very physical match. 

During the rest of the week, we played normal soccer games in very challenging conditions. It was extremely hot and the fields were very small either full of dirt or some with really high grass that didn't allow the ball to roll very fast.  We lost 2 games & won 1 which placed us in 3rd place.

On Friday we played in the final for the Bronze medal match against Nadi. We won 1-0 and I was very lucky to score the winning goal. During our stay, we also got to visit a local village and school, where we experienced how other kids go to school. It was pouring with rain during our visit but that didn't stop us playing a game of soccer and kicking the ball around with the kids and running through muddy puddles, which was really fun.

Our team gave the school lots of clothing, hats, soccer balls, books, pencils, pens and school supplies which they were really grateful to receive.  One evening we went to a cultural dinner, where we had photos with Fijian warriors & I got to taste Kava (which tasted really gross!) I really enjoyed my time in Fiji and it was a very good experience to see how other kids in the world live.

By Nicholas Rayes