This tour has changed many times under the Wixey – Harris tenure ship as they search for an ideal first tour. That nice man Coach Bob Owen finally listened to the longest and best coach pairing the B Team has ever had and split the single London tour into two, this Southeast tour and a February Northwest tour.

Recent times have shown that coaches Wixey and Harris approach this first tour with a little trepidation. This is the first time many will have been away from home and free from parental control. Boundaries are usually pushed. Maybe the new more relaxed schedule will have a positive effect on this already nice bunch.

The GPSFA has many aims, among them are to become more self-reliant, self-sufficient and most importantly, more resilient. Every group is different, and the coaches never know how they are going to cope. We had an inkling that this year it was going to be particularly hard for them. We were correct, the parents were really struggling and were going to miss their sons like crazy and may not be able to cope at all well. They gave numerous tips, words of caution and special instructions for their offspring. The coaches listened intently and then completely ignored everything that was said. The boys were fine and happy, they never stopped smiling from the moment the minibus door closed. As the minibus fires up, Devereux captures the feeling of all by inventing a new word, nervexcited. The first question as to when the boys would phone home came just ten minutes into the journey. It really was going to be long few days for the parents. For some reason, young Worrall decided that going to sunny Florida and the theme parks was preferable to spending three days with Harris and Wixey on a minibus.

The drive to the first service break passed without incident, aside from Kibble’s high pitched squeals in response to anything remotely funny and anything that wasn’t. All have a problem with the fact that every question of “How long to…” is answered with a straight ‘Five minutes’. Multiple groans greet the standard answer every time.

The boys while away the second part of the journey in a productive manner by making the loudest and longest fart noises they can.

Check-in at the hotel goes well, especially for Wixey as he gains the room furthest away from those occupied by the likes of Devereux, Winters and Price.

At the first match, against Bexley, the tourists are greeted by a travelling army of supporters, the Barnard family, who do their level best to match the cheers of the home crowd but end up doing what all Gloucester followers do and play with a rugby ball. Gloucester lose 4-2. With a little more application, some sort of result could have been gained. Fewings-Hunt and Barnard grabbing the goals on this occasion. Everyone enjoyed the post-match pizza.

The group gained their first ‘most’ award for having the most boring set of pyjamas ever worn by a GPSFA team. Not a onesie, a Thomas the Tank or even a scary monster amongst them as they settled down for their diaries. Diaries form the D element of their DREAM marks. R is for room, E for eating, A for attitude and M is for match. The gathering settled down reasonably well except for Devereux’s incessant questions and Price continuously asking the question that had just been answered. The diary writing was accompanied by the pre-ordered pizza which went down rather well again. Knight had got through an amazing 49 thank you’s during the day.

They gained their second award when they settled down and were asleep the earliest ever at 10:30. Wixey and Harris just did not know what to do with themselves having finished marking the DREAM scores and completed their checks well before midnight. Surely this group could not maintain this level of behaviour for another day. They were obviously missing Worrall. Most boys did their duty and supported their parents by phoning home. Some were cruel and refused to do so, leaving their parents to learn about how to become more resilient.

Winters received the most complaints for his snoring. Fewings-Hunt woke up smiling and silent, no change there but the winner of the happiest morning person was Devereux. A weird blend of some Katy Perry hits greeted the coaches as he sang his heart out in the shower, loud enough to be heard by all those laughing outside.

Knight began his onslaught on the world record for the number of ‘Thank You’s’ in a single day during breakfast. Saying those words at just about every possible opportunity. Croissants appeared to be a favourite but their take-up slowed when the boys realised that a cooked breakfast and croissants may mean they are not able to clear their plate and eating points were at stake. Barnard was the first to fall foul and lost the first point. Overall a nice relaxed breakfast was had by all. Wixey and Harris wondered when this would change.

Fewings-Hunt tee’s off the Dinosaur golf with a nicely weighted first stroke. Up steps Knight and the feeling of calm and sporting prowess evaporated. Out of bounds would become a familiar phrase to Knight over the 18-hole course. Unbelievably he was not the worst player. Price won the ‘Touch of a brick’ award as he hit every ball like he tackles, as hard as he could. Balding nabbed the only verified hole-in-one, The GPSFA’s number one photographer, Harris, honoured the occasion by getting him to pose by the hole marker. It took him longer to get the new superstar to understand what he wanted that he could have snapped the rest of the squad three times over before Balding got it. Balding is not quite ready for stardom just yet. Devereux tried to claim one on a random hole where nobody witnessed it. Harris, who is a good judge of character, just shook his head and walked away. With suspect scoring and some plain old cheating, the battle to win was on. Wixey tried it all but he could not stop Harris winning the coaches match for the first time ever. Sportingly Wixey congratulated the winner appropriately, through gritted teeth. Barnard claimed victory in the boys’ event. Price did not. Knight said thank you.

Thanks were due to Dartford for setting up a game at such short notice and with an after-match meal as well. The game was played in three thirds. The tourists decided to turn up for the final one only. Yet another Fewings-Hunt free kick and a very brave and determined header from Winters were Gloucester’s goals. Unfortunately the A-B-Under 10 hybrid Dartford team scored five. The travelling army of supporters, the Barnard family, did their best and entertained themselves with a game of rugby instead. Everyone’s eyes lit up when they saw the post-match food. Pizza! There were some cheese and ham sandwiches as well but a third meal of pizza still won out. One of the Dartford coaches remarked how polite the boys were. Apparently, one had thanked him five times. Knight really was going for it.

Cascades swimming pool had tube slides and waves. It also had a group with the most boring set of trunks ever. However, it did not have a coach Harris, who wasn’t feeling too bright and was not ready to be drowned seven times over as he usually is. Long gone are the days when he able to take on both the A and B boys at once and still survive. Old age is catching up with him at an alarming rate. Wixey wanders off in search of some slippers and Horlicks for him. Morgan comes over and tells the coaches that he has banged his head on the sides of one of the tubes. “You drop straight down and turn quickly, hit your head and out into the pool”. “it’s great” he says before rushing back to have another go. He is monitored for the rest of the day for any signs of brain activity. None was detected. Kibble likes the sound of the lifeguards whistle so much he keeps standing on floats so he can hear it. Devereux challenged Morgan for the ‘Stupid’ award by diving forward during the waves…in the shallow end. Coach Wixey offers to bandage his grazed chin meaning he won’t be able to talk. He declines, much to the coach’s disappointment. Harris is so pleased he has had to stay on the side-lines and have to talk to Wixey that he asks if an urgent stop for medicine can be made.

The search for a decent restaurant proved to be harder than usual. Nowhere could fit 12 hungry people in within an hour’s drive except for some pizza joints and for some reason nobody fancied that. A restaurant close to the hotel came to our rescue and offered a two-course meal, that is if you like a McFlurry. The McDonalds went down really well. The coaches made a note to pre-book a restaurant beforehand in future.

The niceness of this group continued through to the diaries, room inspection and lights out. Yet again they went straight off to sleep, and the coaches began to think that they may just be the nicest boys we have ever had for a first tour. They are obviously missing Worrall. The niceness does extend to the coaches though as they have completely forgotten about the calls home and the needs of the parents. The extra resilience practice will come in handy for the later tours no doubt.

During the tour various challenges are given out and extra DREAM marks are available. Price gains a point for gaining the name of our breakfast waitress. He asks politely and Chloe responds by having a conversation with his table about football. Kibble is quick of the mark on his table and gains a point as well. Not to be outdone Devereux takes it one step too far and asks her for her second name. Luckily Chloe sees the funny side and makes a joke out of it that goes completely over his head. Knight tries to earn another bonus point for his volume of thank you’s. Thanking just about everybody in the restaurant. He was not successful.

Check-out goes well and only one item is left for the coaches to find. A full bottle of Lynx. The guilty party from the Sheridan – Kibble room claim the forgotten item as well as a dropped room point.

The travelling army of supporters doubled in size for the final game of the tour. The Fewings – Hunt contingent added volume but their Gloucester credentials were questioned as they did not bring a rugby ball. Greenwich were keen to reserve the result between the sides a couple of weeks prior but it was Gloucester who stronger and better in virtually all areas. Every player contributed to the B side’s best performance of the season. They fully deserved their 6-1 victory. Two goals each from Winters and Knight as well as singles from Fewings-Hunt and Kibble made for a great end to the playing side of the tour. An added bonus was that pizza was not part of the after-match meal. Knight said his customary thank you’s.

The long 5-minute journey back home was relatively quiet, mainly due to some tiredness, a little contentment and fair bit of niceness within this group. The service stop was also a laid back affair, apart from Baldwin being made to stand on a chair while his mates sang Happy Birthday to him.

The newly resilient parents were let loose on the returning offspring to land multiple hugs and kisses. Price was particularly brave, he stood stiff limbed with pursed lips and closed eyes and just allowed the onslaught to happen. It was easily apparent to see who had gained most from the resilience learning available during the tour. Knight said thank you for the 723 and final time.

The revised schedule had made the tour a little more relaxing and nicer, the boys were nice throughout and a credit to their parents. A good time was had by all and at least the football side of things finished well.

All in all, a very nice tour.