Goalkeeper in Charge (2 page)

Mr. Esparza loved to talk about the great Argentine soccer stars he had seen, such as Maradona and DiStefano. Finally, even
Tina, who loved soccer, would roll her eyes.

“Daddy,” she’d say. “I’ve heard this all before. Like, maybe a hundred times.”

“I’m never tired of talking about those great athletes,” her father would reply. “But, okay. I’ll stop for now.”

Today, however, Tina was lucky. He didn’t start off on the old-timers. He only said, “How do you feel about this new team?”

Tina took a last swallow of milk. “Okay, I guess. Well, a little nervous.”

“Nervous?” he repeated. “Why? You’ll do fine! You’re very good! I ought to know, I’ve seen some of the greatest —”

“Yes, Daddy,” she interrupted. “Maradona, and all those guys. But this team is better than the ones I’ve played with. Maybe
I’m not good enough yet. Some of these girls will be two years older than me, and more experienced.”

Mr. Esparza waved these worries off. “You’ll be fine. You’re very good for your age. Plus, soccer is in your blood. You wait
and see, you’ll be a star.”

That wasn’t what Tina wanted to hear, though her father had no way of knowing it. Mrs. Esparza must have seen something in
her daughter’s face, though, because she said, “Even if you’re not a star, honey, you’ll have fun. And I’m sure you’ll be
good enough for the team.”

“Sure you will!” Sammy said. “I’ll go to your games and hold up signs and everything.”

Tina joined the laughter at Sammy’s enthusiasm, but she was definitely nervous; she was trembling inside. It was partly because
she was worried about whether she would be good enough, but it was also because she knew that a new team meant a new coach
and teammates.
Strangers
. She couldn’t bring herself to talk about these fears. Her family wouldn’t get it.

Tina lived a few blocks from school, and on nice days, she liked to walk. As she headed down the front path, shrugging into
her backpack, Dave came out of his yard and smiled at her.

“Hi! Mind if I walk with you?”

Tina couldn’t see any nice way of turning him down, and Meg’s advice about being nice was in her mind, so she smiled and said,
“I don’t mind. Let’s go.”

Before she could work herself into a panic about what to say, Dave solved the problem by speaking first.

“I hate starting in a new school. Being the new kid. You don’t know anyone, you don’t know where people hang out. It’s the
worst.”

Tina nodded. “It must be pretty bad. I don’t know what I’d do if it were me. I’m not good with people I don’t know.”

“Me neither,” Dave said. “I always feel like I’m taking some kind of test that I’ll probably fail. They’ll think, ‘What a
wuss. ’”

Tina was surprised to hear somebody else say things that she might say. She always figured that her problems were special
and that few others shared them. But here was this boy, a boy that Meg thought was cute, who said that he had trouble dealing
with new faces. Amazing! She found herself in the unusual position of wanting to make him feel better.

“Well,
I
don’t think you’re a wuss,” she said. “Neither does my friend Meg. And I bet no one else will, either.”

Dave smiled gratefully. “Thanks. It’s good to hear you say that. Because, sometimes, you know, I’m not too sure what… well,
what other people think about me. Especially girls.”

Tina smiled. “I have the same problem. I mean, I’m not really great with other people, either. Especially a big group of them
together.”

Dave turned and stared at her. “Really? Huh.” He thought for a moment, then said, “It’s funny. I just figure it’s a problem
I have that most people don’t.”

Tina adjusted her backpack. “I always think it’s just
me
. I mean, I have my first soccer practice this afternoon, and I’m really nervous. Not just because I may not be good enough,
but because there’ll be a coach and players I don’t know. That’s even worse.”

Tina was finding it easier to talk to Dave than she had expected, even about subjects she usually kept to herself. They were
at school before she knew it.

“Good luck at soccer today,” said Dave as they went inside. “I bet you’ll do great.”

“Thanks,” Tina answered. “And I bet you’ll make lots of new friends really soon.”

Dave grinned. “I’ve made one or two already.”

The school day passed without a problem. After school, Tina walked home, then she biked to Meg’s house. The girls rode to
the field where the Wildcats were to meet for practice. They brought their soccer shoes — with aluminum studs on the bottoms
so that they wouldn’t slip on wet grass or mud — and shin guards. Tina mentioned walking to school with Dave.

“He was nice,” Tina said. “Speaking of nice, I hope this new coach is nice. I —”

“Did he talk about me?” Meg demanded.

Tina was a little annoyed by Meg’s one-track mind. “I didn’t… well, he said that he was glad to have made two friends here.
I guess he meant you and me.”

Meg said, “I was hoping we’d have some of the same classes, but I didn’t see him. But maybe we’ll see him at lunch sometime.”

Before Tina could turn the conversation back to soccer, they had arrived at the field.

Among the girls already there, talking, lacing up their shoes, and stretching, were some Tina was happy to recognize: teammates
from past years and a few she knew a little at school.

Two women were setting up bright-orange traffic cones on the field. One of them had to be Danielle. A couple of girls waved
and called hello to Tina and Meg. Tina laced her shoes, telling herself to relax, that there was nothing to be nervous about.

As Tina finished tucking her molded plastic shin guards in place under her knee-length socks, she heard a shrill whistle.
One of the women signaled for the girls to gather around her. She was tall, with
curly brown hair held in place by a red sweatband. She wore a yellow workout suit and held a clipboard.

She smiled brightly. “It’s good to see so many of you. It looks like we have eighteen players here — that’s excellent.

“My name is Danielle Barron. I’ve been a coach for several years, and I played soccer in college and, for a time, professionally
as well.”

Danielle gestured to the woman standing at her side. She was not as tall as Danielle, had short, glossy black hair, and wore
shorts and a sweatshirt. “This is Pepper Schmidt, my assistant. She was a top college player and really knows the game. For
part of our practices, we’ll split the team in half, and Pepper and I will each work with a group. Before anything else, I’d
like each of you to call out your name so that we get to know each other.”

When her turn came, Tina shouted out as well as everyone else, which was a relief to her.

After the introductions, Danielle said, “I believe we can have a successful season, and here’s what I mean by success.” She
ticked off the points on her fingers. “You all have a good time; you all give your best effort; you all get to play meaningful
minutes;
you all play
as a team
. If we do that, we’ll have a great year.

“Playing as a team means that when you’re in the game you know where the ball is, what the situation is, and what your job
is. A team that plays as a unit will almost always beat a team with one or two outstanding players trying to do it on their
own. Soccer is the ultimate
team
sport. Anyway, that’s how I coach. I hope you have shin guards, because you can’t play without them. Any questions?”

There were no questions. Tina liked what Danielle had said. It fit in with her goal of not standing out. As she glanced around,
she noticed that a few girls looked doubtful. Maybe they didn’t like the fact that Danielle didn’t see winning as the only
thing that mattered. Maybe they saw themselves as stars and didn’t like Danielle’s downplaying of the role of stars. But maybe
Tina was misreading the expressions on the girls’ faces, and they were as happy with the coach as she was.

Danielle divided the team in half and took her half to the far end of the field to work. Pepper stayed with the others, including
Tina and Meg. Pepper gathered them together behind a line of orange traffic
cones that were five feet apart. She rolled a soccer ball in front of one of the girls.

“We’re going to do a dribbling exercise. I want each of you to dribble the ball, weaving around those cones; go to the left
of the first cone, to the right of the second one, and so on, to the end of the line. Then come back, doing the same thing.
Remember, use only your feet. Okay?
Go
!”

Tina watched the first girl, who did well until she mis-hit the ball so it rolled away. She looked at Pepper, not sure what
to do.

“It’s okay,” Pepper said. “Jus* get the ball and finish the course.”

On Meg’s turn, she went through the cones carefully, not losing the ball, but taking more time than the other players. Pepper
said nothing. Tina got through faster because she used the outside as well as the inside edges of her feet to move the ball
along.

After they finished, Pepper said, “Good! Here are things to work on. First, you should dribble without watching your feet.
In a game, you need to keep your eyes on the field and other players, or a defender might steal the ball before you know what’s
happening. Or you might miss a chance for a pass to
set up an attack or a shot. Practice until it feels natural to look up as you dribble.

“Another thing: Did you see how Tina — is that your name?”

Tina blushed and nodded wordlessly.

“— how Tina was faster through the cones because she used both the inside
and
outside edges of her feet? Practice that too. Let’s do it one more time.”

The girls went through again. Some were better, but a few, trying not to look down, lost control of the ball.

“Don’t worry,” Pepper said. “You’ll improve with practice. Before long, it’ll be natural. Let’s work on passing.”

Pepper paired off the girls and had each pair place two cones five feet apart. The players stood thirty feet from each other
with the cones midway between them. The coach gave each twosome a ball and partnered herself with Meg.

“What you do,” she said, “is pass to each other, between the cones.” She demonstrated, kicking the ball to Meg. “See how I
kick with the inner surface of my foot? You can’t control the ball when you kick with your toes. Okay?”

Tina already knew the technique and did fine, as did other girls with a lot of soccer experience. A few had trouble getting
the ball between the cones. Pepper knelt by one of the girls. “First,
plant
the foot you’re not kicking with, and then
swing
your other leg so the inside surface of the foot hits the ball. Lock the ankle of your kicking foot — don’t flex it.”

The girl’s next pass was between the cones. The players worked on passing with both right and left feet. After a while, Pepper
moved them ten feet farther apart.

“Great!” Pepper said, after the drill was over. “You’re all getting the idea. Now for some passing on the run.”

She had pairs of players run twenty yards one way and back the other way, passing to each other as they ran. Tina quickly
realized that her partner didn’t know how to pass on the move. Her partner’s first pass was yards behind her, forcing Tina
to stop short and backpedal. The other girl then lofted her next kick high in the air, forcing Tina to lunge forward and stop
the ball with her forehead. So it went, up and down the field. Tina was embarrassed for the other girl and herself. At one
point, the other girl, whom
Tina didn’t know, actually gave Tina an annoyed look, as if everything was Tina’s fault. Tina, who had just made a desperate
but unsuccessful try to reach another bad pass, said nothing. She did notice, however, that Pepper was watching them closely.

Afterward, Pepper said, “Remember: When you pass, lock the ankle — don’t flex it. Swing your foot in a line toward the receiver
and allow for her being a moving target.” She didn’t say a word to Tina’s partner, but Tina realized that Pepper knew what
had happened.

Pepper then split the group into threes. Two players would pass back and forth, with the third as a defender trying to intercept
passes.

Tina was relieved when the girl who couldn’t pass well was put in a different group. Tina’s threesome included Meg and a third
girl, who could pass. Tina and the other girl, a tall redhead named Zoe, had little trouble keeping the ball away from Meg.
Meg was slow to react and see where the ball was going.

Then Tina was the defender. On Meg’s first pass, Meg almost came to a full stop and looked hard at Zoe before kicking. Tina
easily intercepted. Zoe managed to get the ball by Tina, but Tina picked off
Meg’s second pass too. She could have intercepted almost every pass Meg made because Meg did everything but yell, “Fm going
to pass now” before passing. But Tina felt bad for Meg and deliberately let passes through. She thought that Pepper knew what
she was doing. She did it anyway.

After the drill, Pepper said, “Be careful not to let defenders know you’re going to pass or who you’re passing to. Kick on
the run, and don’t stare at your target. Tina, good ‘
D
’!”

Once again, Tina felt uncomfortable at being singled out, even for praise. A minute later, Pepper came up to Tina and said
softly, so no one else heard, “Meg’s a good friend, right?”

Tina turned red and nodded.

“I understand,” Pepper said. “But try not to be embarrassed about being a good athlete.”

Again Tina nodded but said nothing.

Pepper studied Tina for a moment, smiled at her, and went to pick up the cones.

The team took a break. Danielle and Pepper huddled together, and at one point, Tina thought she caught them looking her way.

Meg came up to Tina while the coaches talked.
“You were taking it easy on me in that last drill. You don’t have to. I know you’re better at this than I am, and I’m okay
with it.”

“Pepper sort of told me the same thing just now,” Tina admitted.

“She’s right,” said Meg.