Cultural and Sports Trip 2023 – USA

During the Spring term, seventeen Year 8, 9 and 10 Eaton Square Senior School students travelled to NYC and Miami with the P.E. department on a ten-day Culture and Sports trip.

The P.E. department done a fantastic job organising the trip, it was a combination of educational, cultural, and sporty which provided an unforgettable experience for the students.

The excitement of the big city experience of NYC was a great way to start the trip, with so much to see and do. The students first day in NYC was a full day of sightseeing and sport, the weather was glorious with beautiful clear skies, they departed on foot to visit the 9/11 Memorial Museum and walk round the memorial pools. The afternoon led to a scenic and sunny cruise to the Liberty Island for some photographs at the Statue of Liberty, the students said that the experience was rememberable. In the evening, they headed over to the Barclays Centre to attend the Brooklyn Nets vs Houston Rockets basketball game, this was an amazing experience for the students, especially as they spent the game cheering the Brooklyn Nets and were delighted when they won the game.

Another gorgeous day in NYC, as the students made their way to the Yankee Stadium, to watch NY Yankees vs San Francisco Giants MLB game. The students loved spending the day at the impressive stadium to watch NY Yankees win the game. The evening plans were to visit the Rockefeller Centre for the Top of the Rock Observation Deck, the views from the top were truly outstanding, it was a little chilli but nevertheless an excellent experience.

The last few days in NYC consisted of beautiful views of the city from the top of the Empire State Building, with the sun shining and gorgeous blue skies. The students also really enjoyed the indoor exhibitions, which showcased movies that were previously filmed at the Empire State Building, some even at the top such as King Kong. Then onto some relaxing activities and football at Central Park, followed by baseball batting cages at Chelsea Piers. The evening was spent at The Broadway, where students attended Aladdin, the musical, it was an outstanding show with exceptional choreography and performances, the Genie was definitely the students’ favourite character.

The second part of the trip took the students and teachers to Miami with temperatures around 35 degrees, to relax and enjoy some of the best beaches in the world. The first day was a very sport heavy day which was fantastic, the students began the day at some ‘Intro to Basketball’ sessions, accompanied by a visit to the Miami Open ATP 1000 final with Mr Green and some relaxing games on the beach to end the day.

After some fairly active days in NYC, the students were quite happy to spend time relaxing on the beach, whilst getting together to play some beach games, volleyball was their favourite. Some students were content swimming in the sea or simply just sunbathing to soak in the sunshine.

Day four was a jam-packed day, the students and staff started their day at the Everglades Holiday Park for an airboat tour to see if they could spot alligators or other interesting wildlife. In the evening they headed to the FLA Live Arena for the NHL Game between Florida Panthers and Buffalo Sabers which was an incredible experience. It was a very competitive and entertaining game; the students were keen for the Florida Panthers to win and were delighted when they did win, it was a close call.

The trip ended with an early start at the beach, some of the students were up bright and early to head to the beach, they were hoping to catch the sunrise and just managed to do that. Followed by a farewell lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. The staff returned with a lot of positives about the trip, in particular how the three-year groups demonstrated excellent teamwork and how well behaved the students were throughout the full ten days. It was evident that the students had an epic time, they returned to school full of exciting stories about the trip.