Preparation
Organising this trip started back in September/October, with sorting out the Coach/Ferry, Players Insurance, Hotel, Gift bags for host families. Teams and numbers were sorted and we were all ready to go with Thamesview U14’s, U12’s Youth & U12’s Rangers.

Friday 14th April (Travel & Meeting OSM)
The time had come and with 36 players and 40 adults standing in the middle of Playfootball Car Park at 2am our journey to Maarssenbroek Holland was just beginning. Everything went smoothly and without a delay we arrived at OSM-75 on time at 11.00am, welcomed by all the players and parents from there U13’s, U12’s & U11’s Teams as we drove into the car park.
We all had quick coffee and the Host families and the players were paired. Gifts were exchanged and everyone left OSM with their host families and the Adults made their way to the Hotel to check in.
Approx 3 hours later everyone returned to OSM for an evening of getting to know our counterparts and eating lots of good food from the fantastic BBQ. Everyone made their way home about 9/10pm to rest from a very long day.

Saturday 15th April (Activity at Poldersports)
This was a Great day of Activities for over 80 children and 16 Adults from both clubs. Things like cycling (lying down), climbing, rope swinging, sailing, live table football, bag hitting and the hilarious belly sliding. There was 1 small issue but was quickly resolved for that child with thanks to ‘Pearl opticians Bisonspoor’. They all returned to OSM Clubhouse around 4.30pm to have an evening with their host families, going out for meals at McDonalds, or into Utrecht for pancakes, Bowling and most of them playing on a PS4 or Xbox 1.
Adults of Thamesview were free to go out for the day into Utrecht or Amsterdam.

Sunday 16th April (Tournament Day)
This Day was where each team was put into a league of 4 teams giving every team 3 games of 15 minutes each way.
At the entrance of each pitch was an arch of red/black Balloons (Thamesview) & Blue/Yellow Balloons (OSM-75).
All Teams Got at least 1 win with teams from MSV’19 (U13), Hercules (U12 and U11) & CDW (U13, U12 and U11).
But The Games that mattered for the prestigious cup was Thamesview V Osm-75.
The First of these was Thamesview U14 V OSM-75 U13, this was a tough game for both sides and was 0-0 at half time but in the second half Thamesview got their feet in order and quickly got a goal from Jack Hardy then a few minutes later doubled the lead with a goal from Josh Humphreys, with the game finishing 2-0 to Thamesview.
Second game was Thamesview Youth U12 V OSM-75 U12, This was a great performance from both Teams and with goals from Lewis Bain (2), Leon Akinwunmi & Tyler Cook the game was put to bed and meant that the Cup was coming back home with Thamesview.
Third Game was Thamesview Rangers U12 V OSM-75 U11 , this was another hard thought battle but with 1 quick break in each half from OSM the tie was decided with a 2-0 win to OSM-75.

Finally and New for this year there was a trophy event for the veterans of OSM and Thamesview consisting of Coaches and Parents on the trip. This was meant to be a 7 v 7 game, but 10 minutes before KO, OSM asked us can we get 11 players and make the game 11 v 11 so we gathered 11 willing volunteers, we walked out from the changing rooms with the opposition and Match officials to the centre circle where the English nation anthem started playing and after the Dutch national anthem followed, in what was a close match with Thamesview hitting the woodwork twice from Cook and Humphreys. The game finished with a lot of tired and aching bodies with all of them still with their pride intact.

Final Score was OSM-75 2 - 0 Thamesview

A well organised tournament day and a lot of great football from all teams involved.

Sunday evening party

This was a night of disco with live singers including Elvis with the players all outside enjoying playing football with kids from both clubs. There was a presentation half way through where every player was given a medal and Thamesview was presented the Prestigious Cup. Then the ‘BARRY GRIFFITHS TROPHY’ was presented to the OSM veterans by the man himself.
The coach leaved for the hotel at around 11pm when some went back to the Hotel and players went home with their host families. The remaining few partied the night away until the early hours.

Monday 17th April (Leaving Day)
Everyone met up at Maarssenbroek (OSM) at 10.00am to say goodbye to all the new friends we had all made over this great weekend. Everyone was swapping numbers and there were a few tears and lots of hugs.
Thamesview left at 10.30am and headed to Calais via Bruges where we spent 3 hours for everyone to get that final gift and get something to eat.
A long delay at the port of Calais meant we missed our scheduled ferry but got on the 9.45pm and arrived back to Playfootball Gillingham at 11.30pm.

Final Thoughts
This is the 31st year of the fantastic Challenge Cup; this year was hosted by OSM-75 and with great organisation from Jacques van Schalkwijk, Erwin Wildschut & Rick Cats.
We thank everyone involved from both sides with this year and I look forward to meeting you all again for the 32nd version of The Challenge Cup in Gillingham.
As always some great friendships and strong bonds have been made over this weekend and long may these Easter weekend meets continue for many more years to come.

More photos and memories are in the OSM Picture folder here:-
OSM2017 pictures

Also visit the OSM's tournament website at http://tyfc.osm75.nl/index.php

We would also like to thank Jeffery Ver Hoeven for the taking of the fantastic photos of the whole weekend.
To see please click on the link https://www.jeffreyverhoeven.com/osm-tyfc

Chris Morris & Dan Humphreys