Something A Little Different; Paris!

I've just come back from four days away with my school on a trip to Paris! I wanted to share with you guys some of the amazing sights I saw, from the very top of the Eiffel Tower to some from Disney Land.

All photos are my own.

Something A Little Different; What Football Means To Me

“The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a penny.”

“The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a penny.”

Football is my life.

 

I can't describe it much better than that.

Eight years ago, at the age of six I started playing football for the first time. I trained once a week, every Saturday without fail. Snow, rain, the cold wouldn't scare me away. This was what I wanted to do and I was determined to do well. I have a lot to thank the people there for. They stuck by me and made me take my first steps into my journey to success in the sport. Not only did they provide me with the basic skills, they provided me with the opportunity.

Two years on I then decided to join a team. My dad had spent hours on end trying to find a team that needed a new player. We came across Withymoor Colts and as soon as they said I could train I was over the moon. This was my opportunity to experience being part of a group of people. I knew that these girls would respect me, relate to me and help me.

I remember my first training session, I was so nervous. Myself and my dad walked up to the pitch and then a girl came riding up to me, I'd never seen her in my life, asking if I was Molly. I was indeed and from then on in, these girls became not just my team mates but my friends.

After just one training session, they signed me up. My name was on that piece of paper and I was in contention to start in my first ever competitive football match.

For the next four seasons I played in defence. I watched players come and go, whilst I began to understand everything about the game.



Kick about up Clent.

To be able to say that I'm the longest serving player at Withymoor Colts in my age group is an honour. Spending six years with the club isn't something that everyone can say. I've played defence; right back, left back, centre half, goalkeeper and most recently central defensive midfielder, and I've loved every minute of it. The training, whether that be once or twice a week. The matches, our pre match oranges, jelly beans at half time and water fights at the end. The players and the parents, even though they may annoy you or say something that might make you want to rip their heads off you get to know them and they become your friends; the girls have seemed like my little sisters. I've supported them and they've supported me. We've been through every thing together. Not just football, we've been every where. To other football games, to shows, to BBQ's, sleepovers, meals out, presentations and theme parks; we've done it together.

I was made the captain and that has to go down as one of the proudest moments of my life. Never mind just my footballing 'career.' I've been able to watch the team of six years ago change and grow into the team of now. I've experienced the ups and downs with the same club. Win, lose and draw; I've felt it all. I've been on top of the world and I've also been the most upset person after a game. But to be able to say that I've been rewarded with trophies such as 'Player's Player of the Year' and 'Supporter's Player of the Year' beats that. When parents and your team mates recognise the season that you've had. that feels good.

This is probably my last season in a Withy shirt as I'm hoping that by June next year I will be part of a Centre of Excellence. It's sad for me knowing that I'll be leaving behind the club that has brought me on as a footballer, given me confidence in my ability and taught me that hard work does pay off. Yet it's a decision that I've had to make to progress in the sport. I've always said since I was a little girl going to training with my dad on an early Saturday morning that this is what I wanted to do. I want to be a professional footballer.

******

Not many girls can say that.

It hasn't been easy.

It takes hard work, dedication and commitment.

It takes hours of training, early mornings, kick abouts in the garden.

It takes several set backs and plenty of praise.

It takes good times and bad times.

Something A Little Different: Photography #2

After spending my week in Cornwall, with some breathtakingly beautiful sights to see, my camera was at the ready. I'm not a photographer or lover of the camera but hopefully these pictures will make you say 'wow.' All taken in St. Ives, a picture perfect place, even though there's just three I went for the simple, landscape to capture.

Something a Little Different; Religion In Football



That says it all really.
Source: The Guardian

Years ago, religion in football was that of which was hard to ignore. Thanks to campaigns set up to stop this, the issue has subsided, yet is still a very pressing part of the game. Most notably in Scotland, were the Old Firm games have been clouded by what lies around the next alley way.
74% of Celtic supporters identify themselves as Catholic, whereas only 4% identify as Protestant; for Rangers fans, the figures are 5% and 65% respectively. Yet, the public seem divided on the relationship between football and sectarianism.

The murder in 1995 of Celtic fan Mark Scott caused outrage.

Mark Scott was the victim of an unprovoked attack as he walked through Bridgeton Cross whilst returning from the victory over Partick Thistle on the 7th October. His throat ripped open in a street attack as he died at the crime scene despite frantic attempts to save him. A seven inch wound from his chin to his ear severed Mark's jugular vein, leaving a twenty-six yard trail of blood.

Walking along the London Road to the train station to get home, Mark and two friends were spat at when passing a pub along that road. None of them reacted and carried on with their conversation as they headed for the city centre. Hearing footsteps approaching behind, one friend told the court of how he turned to see a person standing behind Mark, with his hand beside Mark's neck.

As Mark held his neck, with blood pouring out, he staggered forward diagonally across the pavement before falling beside a gutter. His friend recalled how women and a volunteer paramedic who had been to the game clambered around his friend, in agony to aid him.

Admitting that walking through that part of Glasgow might have brought them into contact with Rangers fans he made it very clear that anything to suggest that they where Celtic fans were not visible and that they were not attracting any attention to themselves.

The court later revealed how a young father used his baby's blanket to stanch the gaping wound in the dying Celtic fan's throat. "I gave them my baby's blanket off the pram and someone stuck it to the boy's neck." Garry Horne said, adding: "Three months earlier I had seen my son taking his first breath coming into the world and three months later I saw this young boy take his last breath lying in a street in Glasgow."

LIFE SENTENCE FOR SECTARIAN KILLING FOOTBALL FAN
The Scotsman, (15/03/1996)
A MAN was jailed for life yesterday after being found guilty of the murder of a schoolboy Celtic fan. Jason Campbell, 23, whose father and uncle were Protestant terrorist paramilitaries, stabbed 16-year-old Mark Scott outside a pub at Glasgow's Bridgeton Cross on 7 October last year.
Iain Bonomy, QC, prosecuting, revealed to the jury that Campbell had a previous conviction for carrying a knife. The defence QC, Donald Findlay, suggested that Campbell, of Heron Street, Bridgeton, had originally intended just to slash his victim.
Campbell denied murder and lodged a special defence of alibi, claiming he was at home with his relatives at the time of the killing.
During the trial the court heard how minutes before he died, Mark, a Glasgow Academy pupil and the son of a corporate lawyer, had been watching Celtic's 2-1 win over Partick Thistle with two friends at nearby Celtic Park. As the three youngsters - one the son of James Friel, the procurator-fiscal at Paisley -walked along London Road towards Bridgeton Cross they had to pass through a gauntlet of hate from Rangers fans outside the pub.
The attack, in broad daylight, was witnessed by other fans, women out shopping with their children and people in cars and buses.
After the killing, Campbell sprinted to his home just a few hundred yards away where the family was having a party for his nephew's 12th birthday. He quickly showered and changed, then left, travelling later that night to stay with friends in Greenock.
During the first hours after the incident police received at least 50 telephone calls naming Campbell as the killer. The next day Campbell gave himself up to police with his lawyer Massimo Franchi. He was picked out by various witnesses as the young man in a pink shirt and denims they saw running from the scene. One witness identified Campbell as the killer at a parade and in the dock. Another couple saw him with a knife before the murder.
Even after been given life, he served fifteen years in prison and the thug is now back on our streets.

*******

The Old Firm game last night was a time to test the 'fitness' of the SNP's 'Sectarian Bill.'

Mark Brown, an editor of Tory Hoose and 2012 council candidate, wrote; I spent Monday night at another fiercely fought derby – the Edinburgh v Glasgow rugby clash at Murrayfield. With hardly a police officer in sight, no crowd segregation, bars open inside the ground selling alcoholic and soft drinks before and during the game & standing allowed around the perimeter of the pitch – why is the experience so different? [from the Celtic v Rangers matches.] Despite the Capital City v Culture City banter being well publicised in books and media, there was no foul language from the stands or aggression from fans enjoying a beer or two. After the game, all supporters moved freely out the stadium and walked into town together discussing the finer points of the 23-23 draw. They will no doubt meet up again this Sunday in Glasgow for the second-leg and continue the rivalry in a sporting and good mannered way.  The passion on the terraces is no different than at football – both sets of supporters wanting that win, to have the bragging rights over their nearest neighbours.  Just no violence, domestic abuse or alcohol fuelled offensive chanting.

Something A Little Different: Pollution Case Study

As part of my GCSE Geography course we had to pick a case of pollution in the world. I wanted it to share it with all you lovely people.


The Citraum River
Is this the WORLD'S most polluted river?




There are smiles on their faces yet it’s a river
being destroyed by their own doing.



Though the dirtiest river on the planet, the Citarum is far from the only polluted river. All too often, rivers are seen as convenient ways to dispose of waste, as they flow away, leaving the problem for someone else. Eventually, though, these decisions come home, affecting everyone along the length of the river.

Situated in West Java, Indonesia, it has an important part to play in the lives of those living in the country. With five out of the nine million people in the population living in the basin of the river, it supports electricity, sewage, agriculture, industry and water supply. There are three hydroelectric power plant dams along the river, which supplies electricity for Greater Jakarta and Bandung. The biggest dam being the Jatiluhur which has a capacity of 2.5 billion cubic metres.

The 269km long river runs through 12 local administrations, however it gets polluted by what it nurtures.

The Citarum river basin territory supports a population of 28 million people, delivers 20% of Indonesia’s gross domestic product and provides 80% of the surface water supply to Indonesia’s capital city, Jakarta.

What's the Problem?

With no modern sewage system and no rubbish and waste pickups, citizens dispose their waste in the river. Already swollen with rubbish, it just keeps building up, getting worse and worse. Over the past 20 years, rapid urbanisation and industrial growth have meant growing quantities of untreated domestic sewage, solid and industrial waste being dumped in the river.

The waters are packed with this floating mass of waste; however it’s not just what lies on the surface of the water but what lurks beneath. With the equivalent amount of nine million people’s sewage and their industries - that line the 269km length of the river - chemical refuse it could lead to devastating effects in the near future. Research conducted on the Citarum has shown that there are various pollutants such as organic produce and heavy metal substances.

The Impact

Thanks to the surplus materials floating on the surface, this leads to flooding as flow of the water is slowed by the filth.

You can now hardly even see the Citarum with people now

 having to find rubbish to sell for money in

the river that they used to fish in for their living.

Sunardi, a lecturer in environmental toxicology at Padjadjaran University in Bandung, said that if the pollution continued it would disrupt the river ecosystem, which could lead to the loss of fish and diseases for humans. “If the river is heavily polluted by heavy metals, the effects are not being seen instantly. It will take years, even decades, to see the impact,” he said.

Solutions

What's being done?

In 2008, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded Indonesia with $500 million dollars as part of a loan deal. Christopher Morris, a senior water resources engineer in ADB’s Southeast Asia regional department said: “ADB’s initial assistance will provide safe water supply and sanitation facilities for poor families who currently use water from the polluted canal for bathing, laundry and other uses. It will also allow the cultivation of an additional 25,000 hectares of paddy, benefitting 25,000 farming families.”

What could be done?

In my opinion, there are not many things that can be done because of the extent of the problem. There obviously has to be a clean-up operation put in place where both citizens of the country and others from all over the world pitch in. Industries installed next to the river need to be made aware of the damage they  are causing and have to be told that they need to find other ways of disposing their waste. You can’t knock them down all together, that’s the obvious part because then there will be no money coming in; which they need for this operation to forego. Also the people need to become well educated, for free, on the issue as it’s slowly destroying what makes their lives go on.