From time to time, England Squad players are selected for overseas events. Sussex players Matt Payne and Rhys Cumming, both aged 15, were both invited to play at Trzebinia, Poland. Here is Matt's account of his experience.........

England Squad Trip to Trzebinia, Poland - Feb 2010

On Friday 12th February, the team of 7 and two leaders met up early morning at Liverpool Airport (Players: Adrian Archer-Lock, Mitchell Burke, Rhys Cummings (Sussex), James Foster, Toby Thurgood, Richard Weaving and myself (Sussex), and leaders David Welch and Geoff Jones). After check-in, it was just us, no parents, just the squad. The flight lasted about two hours and we arrived late morning local time (+1 hour from England), and our first sight of Poland was snow, which remained whilst we were there. After baggage reclaim and other tedious airport stuff, we were driven to the hotel, where we chose our rooms and started playing blitz. Between this and our first activity (going to a community centre), we had a typical lunch, and then we went off to the centre where for a couple of hours, we played table tennis, table football, and the occasional game of Twister, which was great but very painful! After this, we were taken direct to a school where for an hour or two, we played 5-a-side football. After all the goals and injuries (I got kicked in the shin), we arrived back at the hotel, where we had dinner, then played loads more blitz, before turning in.

Saturday was the first of two days of the rapidplay tournament, with six sections, depending on age. All but one of us were in the “E” group (U16) whereas Mitchell was in the “F” section (U18). After the first day, Rhys was leading out of the squad in “E”, with 3.5/5 (drawing to James, which cost Rhys later...) whereas I was on 2.5/5. After this, we had lunch there, before going back to the hotel, where we stayed, until another rather late night (playing blitz etc.)

Sunday was the close of the tournament, and after 4 more rounds, Rhys ended up 2nd (out of 14 players), half a point behind the top seed (who Rhys beat), so like I said, Rhys drawing to James cost him dear! However, he still got an excellent prize of a DVD player. Meanwhile, I played a shocker against Adrian in the last round, and as a result, he beat me and won the prize that I’d have won if I’d beaten him. However, I still achieved 4/9, half-a-point off 50%, which was good for my first international event with the squad (I was the only one who hadn’t been on a trip prior to this). Before the closing ceremony, we had lunch there again, and then the long ceremony commenced (they had so many sponsors etc, as well as lots of prizes, so this lasted near to an hour and a half! After this eventually ended, we went back to the hotel, to pick up our swim stuff, as we went to a local pool for a couple of hours, where we went on the slide and played piggy-in-the-middle with the balls they provided (5 vs 2). After this, we again went back to the hotel, where we had dinner and again had a late night, playing blitz, Cheat, and a new game “Tennisball”, which Rhys and Toby designed, and they got slightly addicted to it (they played every night after its invention)

Monday was the penultimate “whole” day there, and after another nice breakfast (we had yoghurt, chocolate, milk, on various occasions), we were taken to an outdoor open-air museum, which contained various huts, which showed life in Poland during the Victorian times. Luckily, the signs were in English, and if there wasn’t, our interpreter explained what the guide was saying. Here, we played a couple of games in the snow; who can write their name the most in the snow, and who can ruin the most of others! Someone left a masterpiece of their name right outside the entrance (check Google Earth)! Afterwards, we had dinner back at the hotel before visiting the Krakow Salt Mine, which had 380 steps we had to descend! After finally reaching the start of our tour, we started to learn about how the salt was transported there (with our interpreter’s help)! After about two-three hours down there, including buying lots of food/drink, as apart from meals, we had nothing! After this, we went to a supermarket to stock up even more on food, then went back to the hotel and had our latest night of the trip (I was first to turn in – at about 2 in the morning)!

Our final day in Poland (Tuesday), and along with the German group we’d stayed with in the hotel, we had a whole day trip to Krakow. This started with a tour of the Krakow armoury, where we examined many old weapons/armour etc. used in various wars. After this, for the first time, we chose where to eat! Me, Richard and Adrian went to KFC, whereas Rhys and the others had a pizza. Finally, after our dinner, we re-assembled, and went off to Krakow Shopping Centre, where we looked for about forty minutes but failed to find a good souvenir shop. After this, we went back to the hotel and did what we’d done every day; have a late night!

Wednesday, and the day we got back home. An early breakfast, and we were off to the airport, and more tedious airport stuff. The flight home was smooth and lasted a similar length of time to the flight to get us there. After arriving back in Liverpool, all we had to do, was get our bags, and meet our parents, bringing an end to a superb trip!!!

Report by Matt Payne