This post is one in a series of posts from the road by Devin Clarkson, case manager-YouthLink, as the YouthLink UpTop Street Soccer team visits Washington D.C. to compete in the 2010 USA Street Soccer Cup.

Wow, Friday has been jam-packed. Our day started with breakfast in the hostel, ready to go. First match: Up Top Men vs. Charlottesville. The guy’s team got in and was off to the races instantly. We scored within the first couple of minutes and momentum kept building from that point. The team won 6-2, an exciting start to our first day.

We found out afterwards that our women’s team was in the same pool as all of the men’s teams, so our women’s team had a tough battle ahead of them against Seattle. Our women stayed strong throughout the game, things were neck and neck at many points. Up Top has practiced hard though, a true team that has put in the time and effort to become a favorite here at the tournament. The women came out on top winning the game.

Each of our teams played three games during the day. The women won two of the three and played well. The men won all three of their games and did not trail in any of the games. Up Top definitely has a reputation here as having a lot of energy and coming with some of the loudest and unique cheers. At the end of our first day, some staff were losing their voices-the players were ready to keep going though.

At night, the team had an opportunity to take in some of the cultural sightseeing of D.C. We walked the short 10 minutes to the White House. One players asked, “is Barack Obama here”, so I asked a security guard the same question. Players were ecstatic to hear that he had just arrived. One exclaimed, “We are just feet from the president!” We also visited the Washington Monument and after walking and playing all day it was time to call it a night…

When I say D, you say C…