#OGWC19       Update 27^th May 2019.

Hi everyone, here is the last detailed update for the #OGWC19 before we travel.  We may send out a short one if there is more information we need to send you.  It’s less than a month away and we are getting excited already!  A final trip to Soissons was made last week to sort out the last details and we have put them below, just in case you didn’t already know.  If anyone has any questions, however small, please don’t hesitate to ask!  We want everyone to enjoy themselves, while having fun, making new friends, catching up with old ones and playing football for enjoyment, so anything we can do to make that happen, we will.

If you’re driving in France:

If you’re driving to Soissons, there maybe some information that you weren’t aware of.

Please make sure you have adequate Breakdown Insurance which will mean that your car can be repatriated and you get back home safely.  There are also items that you need to carry in your vehicle when you travel, which are listed below:

Driving in France checklist:

Here’s everything you need to carry with you when driving in France and a couple of things to leave at home:

• Full and valid driver’s licence
• In terms of documents, UK drivers will also need proof of insurance and ownership (V5C) as well as a passport or national identification card to satisfy the French authorities.
• Two NF certified breathalysers (2 needed, as if you have to use 1 you then still have another 1 in the car)
• Reflective jackets for all passengers (these need to be behind the front seats for easy access)
• Warning triangles
• Headlamp beam deflectors
• GB sticker (non-GB-euro symbol plates only)
• No speed camera detectors or sat-navs with camera locations

There are 2 different speed limits in France, one for dry and one for wet weather.  On the French motorways the speed limit is 130km/h (80mph), and 110km/h in the wet (70mph), unless otherwise indicated.

Give way to the right! Most important when driving in busy cities, at unmarked intersections priority is given to those coming from the right, unless otherwise stated. This is why a second look to the right is always a good thing to remember.

There is plenty of information on the internet so please make sure you are clued up before you go.

The toll booth is located at St. Omer, on the way from Calais, where you will take a ticket and then pay for it when you get nearer to Soissons.  You can pay by debit card although it would be handy to carry a spare credit card in case the debit card is not accepted. It’s around £14 one way.

Finally, we were given this list of fines by someone who has a place in France and was stopped and fined for wearing flip-flops!  Her message is as follows:

France is a beautiful country, but just be aware…

Police have been out in force, catching unsuspected tourist and locals.

Please be aware……..

– Driving in flip flops 80€
– Driving shirt-less 80€
– Drinking water whilst driving 100€
– Driving with hand, elbow or arm out of window 80€
– Driving in a hat that covers ears 80€
– Eating ice cream whilst driving 100€
– Driving with unsecured objects on parcel shelf 200€
– Washing vehicle on public roads 30€ – 3000€
– Passenger with feet on dashboard 100€
– Throwing a cigarette out of the window 200€ + 4 points
– Driving without carrying your licence €10
– Driving with 6 or 7 people in the vehicle (overloaded) 80€

Adding unrestrained dogs, I believe, is on the spot fine 80 euros

When you get there…

If you are staying at the Berny Riviere Campsite, we visited there last week and took a few snaps!  It looks like a great place, with lots to do, restaurants and bars and places to swim/relax.  There is a shop on the site but there is also a really good Supermarche just down the road which has everything, including a great choice of wine & cheese!

There is a small indoor football pitch, table tennis tables, trampolines (don’t forget your tena ladies!), the Pool Bar is being renovated and will be open next week.  This is by the manmade lake with sand.

There are also a number of swimming pools.  The Lifestyle Caravans have BBQs (not sure about the Eurocamp ones) but no doubt there will be a few get togethers involving a BBQ and a few drinks!

Registration Fees:

There are a few Registration Fees still to be paid, so if you could get that organised please, we would be very grateful, thank you.  The Registration Fee for one team is £70 (£10 per person for the minimum number).   The account to send the payment to is detailed on the update sent by email.

An acknowledgement will be sent on receipt of your payment.

The Main Event – #OGWC19.

Registration and format:

Attached to the email that was sent out is the Team Sheet which will need to be presented when you register your team in the morning. If you know exactly who is going, it would be great to receive it before that to the COGS email address (cogscrawley@gmail.com) so we get an early indication of who is playing in the evening games.  Each player will need to be entered, along with a X against the relevant country you want to play for in the competitive “World Cup” games in the evening. A couple of things to note:

1. The day’s Festival is all about participation. There will be medals and “Best” trophies which will be decided by the officials who referee the games. The evening is about healthy competition.  To play in the evening we want you to be sure that you can play in a different environment to the daytime games.  Please also be aware that there will be a lot of football if you are playing in both the day and evening games.  It’s up to you to do whatever you feel comfortable with.
2. When your Team Sheet is handed in at Registration (or before), there are 4 options for you to tick against, if you want to also play in the evening. You can choose to play for England, Wales, USA or Rest of World in the Cup Competition.  Please also tick if you can play as a GK.  Once you have decided who you want to play for (don’t forget it’s not compulsory), during the day all players who have ticked the boxes to join the England team will then be drawn out into 2 separate teams.  This will be done in front of witnesses.  We hope the numbers will work out!  Both teams of English players will then play each other in a play-off to see who goes through to the semi finals.  There will no doubt be sufficient players for the other 3 teams that only 1 team will be selected.  If you have a hint that you are from anywhere in the Rest of the World apart from the USA or Wales, you might want to join the RoW team.  In fact, if you can get your Team Sheet in early as you know who is coming, that would be appreciated.
3. If you have England shirts, bring them along for the play-off match to wear and we will use bibs to differentiate the teams. When the England play-off has determined which team goes through to the semis, each team will be issued with shirts, see below as an example:

We anticipate the length of games to be as follows, so you can work out whether you want to play in the evening.

During the day, as we have 20 teams so far, we will split into 4 groups of 5.  Games will be approx. 12 minutes and as it will probably be hot and we will need to keep hydrating, we have put in half times where teams will swap ends.  If we get another few entries and have 6 in any group, we will change the game time, accordingly.

At the moment, we are looking at the games in the evening being 20 minutes each with HT.  Bearing in mind in may be very hot, we don’t want to have too many long periods of playing without hydration.

By the time 2 teams get to the Final, you may have played a lot of football so again, it will be 20 minutes with a HT break.

This is the plan at present but could be subject to a small change if necessary.

Food and drink:

Please bring plenty of water with you and some snacks if you want to.  There will be a BBQ running all day, which Soissons FC are organising.  There will be burgers, chips etc.  There will also be soft drinks as well as beer, wine and cider.  If you fancy anything else, you can always bring it with you.

PLEASE NOTE:  Soissons FC can only accept cash (Euros) as they don’t have a card facility.

INSURANCES:

Just to reiterate, the #OGWC19 is affiliated with Sussex County FA and is covered by their Public Liability Insurance.  Please make sure your team is covered for accidents/injuries as a separate cover.  If you aren’t an affiliated team you will be unable to do this through Bluefin Insurance but please find someone else to include it with players’ travel insurance.  When the Team Sheet is handed in, players listed on that sheet will be playing at their own risk.

RAFFLE:

We will be holding a raffle to raise money for two Women’s Charities – one English and one French.  The English charity will be Women’s Aid and the French charity is still tbc.

Please bring plenty of Euros to buy tickets!  We would love to make a large donation to both charities.  Also, if you still have time to get hold of any prizes, we’d love to receive them!  We have signed shirts, official Man. City Women merchandise and other items to win.

COUNTRIES:

Attached is a list of teams entered and the Countries which have been randomly allocated to each team.  Closed eyes and a pencil were used and the nearest country to the mark was picked against that team.  We will have flags around the stadium for your countries but feel free to purchase your own flag/s to bring with you.  Your welcome packs will include a laminated flag to put on the fence where you’re camped, on the day.

FOOTBALLS:

We are delighted and thankful that Balasport UK have generously donated 8 Fairtrade BALA footballs for us to use for the day.

#OGWC19

Please use the hashtag #OGWC19 on any social media posts and photos so we can find them!  Thanks.

If you have any further questions or need help with anything, please don’t hesitate to ask!

Kind regards,

Carol Bates, Jo Treharne & Siona Murray – COGS, Bags & Welsh Lionesses.