March, 3, 2005

Hello readers, hope all is well. I’ve had a busy couple of weeks since the last entry. First, there was the Daytona 500, then there was the soccer clinic which I set up, and just yesterday, we had our first two games of the spring semester.

To start, the 500 was an early five o’clock start on Saturday morning and it was a long day. By the time the race started we decided just to head on back to the dorms. We got to work on the infield, which was a new edition this year. It is a new area by the pits which holds about 50,000 people and allows the spectators to view the pits and walk on the track before the race. This seemed to go down well with all the hard core race fans that have been going to the 500 for years. It seemed that every club and fraternity associated with Riddle were working the races. It was pretty good money for pretty easy work, and it allowed us to earn some money for our soccer program. There were even a few stars at it, Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore where there as well as some Red Sox baseball player whose name I don’t know. I have to say that I have never seen so many people in the one place at the same time, and I don’t think I ever will again. I’m not sure of the exact figure but I think it was about 400,000. It was a good thing to see, although I regret not staying for some of the race but at the time I was wrecked and just wanted to get back into the pit.

Then last Monday, president’s day, I ran a soccer clinic on the intramural field. I was a bit worried about whether or not I would get a good turn out. I spent the previous Thursday night handing out flyers at the Ormond Soccer fields, and then I emailed coaches to invite their teams etc. So I was hoping that I would get at least fifty kids which would have been about a twenty percent return. I never realized there was as much stress in setting something like this up, having to organize facilities, coaches, flyers, emails, and of course getting the kids in. After going over to set everything up at seven for the nine start, I was pleasantly surprised by the turn out of ninety kids. Although this was a free clinic, a lot of the parents made very generous donations which went to the soccer program; overall it was a good day and something that I will definitely think about doing again. Oh and I would like to thank the boys off the team for helping with the clinic and the parents for their donations.

Yesterday we went over to Stetson to play our first two soccer games of the spring semester. We played against Florida Southern and Eckerd, and won both games comfortably enough. We went up with only thirteen players, which is the bare bones because usually a soccer squad will travel with about eighteen players. So by the end of it we were all tired, but this didn’t stop us going out on a team bonding session at a local Oyster Bar.

Anyway I am in two of the boy’s room writing this, and its 12:30am so they are kicking me out, so I will say goodbye for now.

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About Hugh

**Age:** 20 **Hometown:** N. Ireland **Favorite Movie:** The Goonies **Favorite Band:** Red Hot Chili Peppers **Career Goal:** Win a national soccer championship and get my degree.

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