Rachael Liberty was one of two players from our Club that our DOC, Hani Rabi selected to go to Scotland to attend the Rangers Residential Camp. The following describes her experience during her visit.

On the first day of my trip, I was extremely nervous because of whether I was going to crash on the plane or whether I was going to puke.  Now I know that a lot of people love to fly, but luckily I’m one people in the entire nation out there that DOES NOT! Shocking really!!! Okay, so Sunday morning, which was when our plane landed, I was a bit queasy at the moment because I had a window seat on the plane and was looking out the window while landing. Let me just stop there before I get into detail!!! Never mind about that! My Dad and I headed straight to the hotel for a couple hours rest before all the events were to suppose to begin. I really needed my rest!

So Sunday afternoon, ready to play,  I jumped out of bed, and got dressed. Dad and I headed down to meet the rest of the players for orientation, etc.  That was the start to a great week.  Erald was down in the lobby of the hotel to meet us, and from then on, it was soccer, soccer, soccer! My kind of week. The tour that they took us on Sunday night was AWESOME, plus Dad got to go with me, so that made it even better.

Monday morning started the intense training, which was all cones, agility, and fitness work. Hard stuff!!! I learned you have to use fast feet in the game and that you have to stay n shape by doing fitness all the time.

Tuesday was keep away, cones, and scrimmages. I learned from keep away that you only have so much amount of time in the game before a player is on you, and that practicing the cones will help you improve on your touch. Make every second count that you have possession of the ball.

Wednesday we went KG5, which was a outdoor training complex. What we did there was AWESOME! It was the soccer circus!!! Totally fun!! There were 4 stations in the soccer circus. One was the bulls eye shot, after that was the cross-bar challenge, next was dribbling challenge, and finally was the hoola-hoop challenge! It was great!!! That night, I practiced for a while and played with the U15 and 16 ranger girls! I was even given my own uniform by Kirk. What a surprise! I didn’t know what at all to expect. Mostly, we did keep away and played a match for the rest of the practice! What a day!!! That was quite an experience. That team showed me that I still have a lot to learn. They were tough!

Thursday was our big game.  I was on a team with 21 boys and myself. Erald was our coach. We played a friendly against an undefeated team from Scotland. And guess what???? WE WON 5-2!  Erald was so excited! He just kept saying, “Well Done, Well Done”! Maybe it was the three American kids on the team???? Well, maybe that wasn’t the whole reason we won, but I think we did a pretty good job adding to the team.

Friday…….WOOHOO! It was my favorite day! We toured IBROX Stadium, and was able to see things like the press box, shower and changing rooms, and rooms that the teams relax in. That stadium is the BOMB! It was so cool, I can’t even put it into words. After the tour, they introduced all of us, and we got some cool bags, and our performance cards for the week. I actually did better than what I thought! But it showed things I did really well, and it showed where I need to work. So that’s all good. It even said that they will have a spot for me on the Rangers Ladies Team when I get a little older! I guess we’ll have to wait and see!

After that, it was time to shop ‘til we drop! And believe me that Dad and I did! We were able to go to the Rangers Megastore and get real items like sweatshirts, soccer balls and stuff like that. They even sold dog leashes and toothbrushes! What a store!  I could have stayed in there for the whole day!

Friday night we packed up, and then we left for the airport Saturday morning. The flight back home was much better than the way over. Thorn and I were actually laughing and having a pretty good time on that flight.

All in all my trip was fun. I didn’t care for the food and didn’t really like to fly, but once we got there it was worth it. I had a lot of intense training, and met a lot of really nice people. I was glad that Thorn went on the same trip as me, we hung out together most of the time. We had fun though, it was a great trip!!!

Rachael Liberty #15