The team set off on the overnight ferry from Hull - Rotterdam on Friday 7th April, with 24 members aboard. The club managed to make the same mistake as last year, and every single member consumed huge amounts of alcohol in the evening only to leave the club at a huge disadvantage the following day during their match. Mike Pidd and Adam Gardner were largely responsible for this by introducing some, quite frankly ridiculous drinking rules... so thanks lads!

After a long, drunken night at sea, the squad arose to a wonderfully glorious, sunny day in Holland, only to be greeted by the Feyenoord FC players bus, which was the transport to our destination in Rotterdam. The luxurious bus was a sight for sore eyes, and we thought that an hour traveling in luxury, would be enough to nurse the hangover... how wrong were we! As soon as Chris Tait got hold of the microphone, everyone's ears were filled with a guided tour of the route, only to be compared to that of the sounds of the Sirens in the Greek myth, Odysseus.

The headaches however were soon put to rest upon arrival at RHV Leonidas, which can only be described as "Hockey Heaven". The morning was spent watching the Dutch youth teams in action, followed by some well needed sandwiches. Our Dutch co-ordinator, Bert Van Drongolen who is one of the Directors at the club, welcomed us with open arms again, and after a long overdue catch up, we headed to the changing rooms in preparation for the match against Leonidas H14 (Men's 14th team).

The sun was blazing and the temperatures exceeded 20 degrees, which is a much less than desirable temperature for hockey, especially with a stinking hangover.

After a short warm up and a quick shower in the water cannons, the match went underway, and well, the less said about it the better! Leonidas turned up in great form and defeated Scarborough 7-1 in a spectacular display of hockey. Lee Pettit turned out to be the goal scorer for Scarborough, after a very unselfish and surprisingly accurate pass from James McMillan.

The game ended and team Photo's were taken, then we headed for the third half. We sat outside in the sun with the H14 team, Bert, and one of his co-directors, Fred, enjoying some of the notorious Dutch Bitter Balls and plenty of Heineken. After the presentation of the inter-club cup, and a good old chin wag with our Dutch hockey brothers, we headed off to the hotel by bus to shower and change for the evening.

Water-taxis were our mode of transport to the restaurant, and after a fantastic, breathtaking tour of the Rotterdam waterways, we disembarked near De Kleine Ondeugd which was a lovely Thai restaurant (with a twist). Only in Holland can you eat one of the best meals of your life, whilst at the same time performing Karaoke. Although some people couldn't handle the heat of the Thai Green Curry (Ricky Lawrence).

After this the team walked to Witte De Wittstraat, where more beers and local delicacies were sampled (Euan Harker).

The following day, we enjoyed a well deserved lie in, followed by a trip to Delft, to watch Leonidas H1 destroy Delft Students in a mind blowing display of competitive Dutch hockey. Lee Pettit's offer to play for the Leonidas 1st team was swiftly declined, his Whitby heritage and third arm were deemed as cheating.

After another truckload of Heineken, the match came to an end and we had the chance to speak to a few of the H1 guys, who were extremely hospitable and friendly towards us.

Sadly all good things must come to an end, and it was time to head back to the ferry for another fun filled night aboard the floating Butlins. Many more beverages were consumed, and Chris Tait pulled off some of the best dancing the club has ever witnessed in the cabaret bar. Leaving us with belly ache from all the laughing. The soft play area was naturally paid a visit by some of the lads during the evening, Laurence Webb couldn't resist the thought of rolling around with Daniel Bayes on a soft, slippery surface.

The evening then came to a close, and thankfully, the late nighters all paid a visit to Adam Gardner whilst he was sleeping to ensure he made it home safe, the lullaby "Big Bad Wolf" was recited to Adam to help him sleep.

Before we knew it the morning had broken and we all left the port of Hull in an emotional state, knowing that it will be a full year before this can happen again.

All jokes aside, the Leonidas family as usual, were unimaginably hospitable, Bert was responsible for our programme, and for that we thank him. Without his time and effort the tour wouldn't have been half as successful. And we also extend our thanks to the members of Leonidas H14, for hosting us in a match, and the members and staff of Leonidas H1, for putting on a spectacular display of hockey on Sunday. The only negative thing to come out of the weekend, is that we have to wait another year before we can return!

Thanks for reading
Jonny