Big Girls Don't Cry--They Score

by Taleen Khleifat

  Everything changed one day at school, when Coach Samir came to me, announcing something called “little league” where we would train twice a week and have games during the weekend against other people from school. He said we would be offered uniforms and trophies at the end of the season. It seemed pretty big at our school, as all of the boys in my grade signed up. I therefore decided to sign up as well, and maybe I would meet a girl who played football from the grade above me or under.

  I attended the practices and games, and played with my teams, and at least this time, the other players passed to me occasionally. This wouldn’t have been the case if my team’s coach hadn’t forced them to. I didn’t like the fact that they were forced to pass to me, but at least this way I got to play. I took advantage of my time and use of the ball when I was passed to. I would go and charge at the goal and shoot or run up the field with the ball and immediately pass to someone else if there were too many defenders surrounding me.

  I really enjoyed playing the little league, and was sad that it came to an end so quickly. It only lasted for about a month, and then it was over. It was the only time where I truly could play and benefit from the advice of the coaches. After little league was finished, recess play times with the boys went back to normal.

  I started to occupy myself with different sports like basketball and swimming and I did well in both. Playing both these sports wasn’t as rewarding and fulfilling as playing football had been, but I couldn’t resist playing sports. Our basketball team had won many games and tournaments, and we were the champions of most, but I did not care about it as much as being first in football. For swimming, during swim meets and competitions, I would usually win the races but it was still not as satisfying as winning a football match. I had longed for the little league, so I could return to the sport I loved most.

  The next year, while I was in fifth grade, I returned back to the little league. It wasn’t much, but it was something to me, and anything about football, even in the slightest, intrigued me. For the very first little league practice, I had come late. The coach was giving a speech about something but I couldn’t understand it because it was in Arabic. I sat down, and then I noticed a girl. Happy and surprised I went and sat next to her. I then realized that she was a new student in my grade.

  “Oh thank God there is another girl here; I swear I would have left if I was the only girl,” she said.

  I chuckled and replied with “Well I have to live with being the only girl here who plays, so I’m glad there is another girl here.”

  “Okay cool. Hey can you translate what he is saying, because I don’t understand.”

  My head fell into a pit of laughter and I told her “I have only been living here for a year, I could barely understand what he was saying.”

  “Oh great, well I guess you and I will just sit here and pretend to understand.”

  “Hey it is what I have been doing for the past year” I said with a slight chuckle.

  “My name is Victoria by the way. What is yours?”

  ”My name is Taleen and it is nice to meet you.”

  The rest of the practice, we stayed together, and talked and laughed. She was really fun, and I am glad I found a girl similar to me. She came from New York but she has been all over because her mom works with UNICEF; so about every couple of years she moved.

  After practice, my parents and her mom exchanged numbers, and she came over and we ate pizza together.

  After little league was over, we remained friends, and we got even closer and became best friends. We were sad that little league was over, but next year we would be old enough to play with the girl’s football team even though we would be the youngest players.

  Chapter 11

  Back in Action

  As middle school began, so did the football season. I was so excited to finally come back to the team, and Victoria was excited to be able to join the team. We didn’t even need to try out, because Coach Samir had wanted me to return to the team and wanted Victoria to join, as he had seen our performance in the little league.

  Once we got to join the school team, we practiced twice a week with the older girls that I had previously trained with before. They were happy I was back and so was I. My relationship grew with the team captain, and she taught me a few things to enhance my performance. She was one of the greatest contributors in helping me grow as a player and learn new skills.

  Although Victoria and I were the youngest at the time, we still went along with the team and attended tournaments and friendly matches. We rarely played, but when we had the opportunity, we did our best, and the coach was always proud of our efforts. We always received great feedback from the players and the teams we played against, as well as their coaches. They would always mention how we had a bright future ahead, but I had wanted that future to be now, so I could play more often. We learned a lot from watching the older girls play, because we knew what would be in store for us when we were older. They were very talented and were very skillful and knew lots of techniques that we learned from.

  We spent most of the season being bench warmers, but we knew that we were a part of our school’s varsity team; the only girls’ team we had. If we stayed, it meant we would be able to ease our way in to playing when we were old enough, and it was an opportunity we wanted.

  On the other hand, Victoria and I grew bored of sitting and watching the other girls play. Therefore we started to encourage girls throughout our school within the same age range to want to join a U12, U14, and hopefully a U16 team to represent our school. We were determined there were other girls who played football, but were just too afraid to admit it. We did everything in our power to make the team seem like an outlet for them; a way to escape from the discrimination that they do not want to inflict upon themselves.

  Chapter 12

  A New Beginning

  The year after, we promoted the girls’ team so successfully that we were able to form a full U14 girls’ team. We now had separated ourselves from the older girls and had the opportunity to be starting players. Victoria had played as right back and I had played as left back. We had other girls who filled in the spots of midfielders and center back and strikers. We had a very good team, and we wouldn’t have been able to form such a team, if we did not encourage a lot of girls to play. The coach saw many hidden talents in the girls older and younger than us, which is why we were able to form a team.

  With all the practice and preparation we did for this new team, we were able to win major local tournaments such as the AAC, and we were even invited to play in a tournament in Lebanon called METS. This consisted of teams from Syria, Kuwait, Lebanon, and of course Jordan. Coach Samir had accepted the invitation and before you knew it, we were off to play against some of the best school teams from throughout the Middle East.

  This had been the first time I had traveled for football, and I was extremely excited for what was to come. I had felt confident in our team and wanted our team to win so badly. When we first arrived in Lebanon, we ate at a Middle Eastern breakfast restaurant and then checked into the hotel. By the next morning we were headed to the field where the tournament was taking place, and warmed up for our first game against a team from Kuwait. We did not know what to expect, and we did not know if we were going to be good enough to make it far in the tournament, but one thing for sure was that we would play our hardest.

  The whistle blew signaling the match to begin. Since we started the ball, our strikers immediately decided to apply pressure in order to test the defense. This was risky, because there was a possibility that we would lose control of the ball giving them a strong counter attack. As the two strikers passed to each other and made their way around the defenders, one of them shot at the goal and into the back of the net. Our team cheered and screamed out of pure excitement as we had scored a goal within the first thirty seconds. We continued to play, controlling most of the ball possession, and eventually won the match 4–0. In celebration we all went out to eat a post-game
lunch, and spent the free time having fun and enjoying ourselves.

  Later in the afternoon, we had a game against a Syrian school team. In this game, the Syrians attacked more frequently than the Kuwait team, and therefore adding pressure to the defense. However, we managed to defend extremely well, which kept us in the lead. We, as defenders, pushed forward to stop the counter attacks more quickly. Victoria and I also backed each other up when the pressure of the offenders was focused on one of our sides. If the pressure had shifted to her side, I would move closer to her side a little just in case the opposing players had passed her, I would be there to retrieve the ball. If the pressure had shifted to my side, she would move closer to my side and do the same. We had played extremely well in this game too, and ended up winning 2–0. Our coach was really proud of us for winning our two matches so far, and was especially impressed with the defense, because we did not have any goals scored on us.

  The last game of the day was against the hosts of the tournament; a Lebanese school team. They had proven to be the best, so as the beginning of the match neared, we grew nervous. We started out the match with the Lebanon team in the upper hand, adding stress to the defenders. I knew that we had to win this game to make it to the finals, and because of that my determination grew. I would quickly defend and apply pressure when needed. We continued the routine of pushing forward, and backing each other up when the pressure grew. The coach continuously cheered us on as we continued to defend really well, and would encourage us in times of pressure. I would run with the player if they tried to escape, I would stop them in their path and retrieve the ball, and I helped keep the ball away from our half of the field. I had felt that my performance was definitely at its peak, and I could feel that the coach felt the same. Later, when I had tried to stop an opposing player from passing by, she tripped me, and sent me flying into the air. When I hit the ground, I had fallen pretty hard, and gave myself a huge turf burn. I had held back my tears in front of my teammates and coach, but the excruciating pain had only worsened. I was immediately taken to a nurse that was there during the tournament where she cleaned the wound and bandaged me up. Once I had gotten back, it was half time and the coach congratulated me on my performance.

  “Well done Taleen. You were the man of the match,” he proudly said while everyone clapped and congratulated me. I had chuckled at the word “man” knowing that my coach had not realized the mistake he had made, but my laughter was mistaken as a form of gratitude for the kindness received from my whole team.

  Knowing that he recognized my efforts made me feel accomplished, and enhanced my motivation to want to win the tournament. Even though I was not playing during the second half, I cheered my teammates on and showed my support. It was just like when I had gotten a staff infection when I was much younger, and watched my team play games; a full circle. We started retrieving the ball back more often and ended up scoring during the game. We ended the match at 1–0 sending us off into the finals the next day against our rivals from Jordan. We had beaten them in the AAC tournament in the finals, but we were afraid of their determination and effort in wanting to have their vengeance.

  After the tournament, we headed back to the hotel, showered, changed, and went out to dinner to celebrate our accomplishments. We all sat and ate together, bonding as a team and creating everlasting memories with each other. We were extremely proud of ourselves for beating teams that are considered among the best, and we were extremely proud of ourselves for playing our best. After dinner, we then decided to go shopping for a while in one of the biggest malls in Beirut, Lebanon and ended the night back in our hotel room preparing for the long day ahead of us the next day. Well, we partied a little first before going to sleep.

  The next morning, waking up with sore and pained bodies, we shuffled out of bed and prepared for our final match of the tournament. During breakfast we had discussed game plans, and how we were going to win the tournament and be considered one of the best teams in the Middle East. After our brief team discussion and meeting, we went straight to the fields and practiced before our game. We kept glancing at the other team recognizing the amount of practice they endured since the AAC tournament, and how well prepared they were. In our team huddle, we reviewed what we were going to do and said our prayers.

  The match began, and we were ready to win. Since the opposing team started with the ball, we strengthened our defense and prepared for a counter attack. A striker came racing down my side of the field and I slowed her down by standing in her way. She tried to trick me and confuse me by changing the way in which she would go with the ball, but I was able to stop her quickly. I had taken the ball from her possession and passed it to one of our midfielders who ran down to the other corner of the field to spread out the defenders. She then passed the ball using an overhead kick, and the striker quickly took action and headed the ball straight into the goal. We were now in the lead, but this then created more tension between the two teams.

  There were many close calls where they almost scored, but we managed to counter attack many times and one of them resulted in another goal. We now led 2–0. The game ended up with us taking the championship trophy home, crushing the hopes and dreams of the second place team. We were ecstatic and thrilled that we had won the METS, since it was only the first time we participated in this tournament and the second tournament this team has ever participated in. I was glad that Victoria and I were able to get so many girls to join the team and then also win all the tournaments we participated in.

  When we arrived back home in Jordan, we were congratulated by several people, and they were extremely proud of our accomplishments.

  Chapter 13

  Kicked Her Way to the Top

  The next football season both the AAC tournament and the METS tournament were held in Jordan. We kept our AAC title and hoped to do the same with the METS. This METS tournament included many more teams from across the Middle East making it a bigger deal. We were up against several more teams this time around, making it more difficult to defend our title.

  Our first match was against a Syrian team. They were much more difficult than before, however we managed to win again by a score of 2–0. During the game, I had been able to change my rate of speed very quickly and match it with the players I defended. This made it easier for me to take the ball from them, and pass it to my other teammates, or proceed to do an overhead kick towards one of the strikers in order to have the opportunity to score easily.

  Later that day, we played against our rivals who lost to us last season. We beat them again, winning 3–0 this time. When defending, I was able to create a locked position that would allow me to direct and control where the opposing players would go, making it more difficult for them to have opportunities to score against us. I also managed to effectively perform slow defense, where I slow down the attacking player, enabling me to retrieve the ball quickly. My coach acknowledged my defending skills and how I was able to keep the opposing team off our half of the turf most of the time, and congratulated me on doing so well.

  The next day, we played against an Egyptian team, who were known to be really good. We were afraid we might lose our title against them but kept up our confidence. They were much bigger than we were, giving them the advantage in strength. Within the first half of the match we were able to score two goals as their defense was extremely weak. We added another two goals in the second half, ending the game at 4–0.

  We then played against a team from Kuwait, and were able to defeat them as well, by a score of 3–0. We didn’t have much trouble with that team, because we played them last year, and we knew their weak points that we used against them. Their offense was weak; therefore there wasn’t much work for me to do, and it made it easier for me to be able to take the ball away quickly from the opposing players.

  In the final match of the tournament we played against Lebanon. They had improved since the last time we saw them and were much stronger now. They were not going to give up this championship wit
hout a fight, so we had to prepare ourselves for what was about to come. When the match began, they dominated play and had better ball possession. I defended really well and was able to be there for support when needed. I was able to stop the approaching players very quickly, even when I was playing two against one. During corner kicks, I was able to keep the balls out of the goalie box by heading them out in the opposite direction. We ended up winning 2–0, and ended the tournament without giving up any goals because of our great defensive play throughout all the games.

  At the ceremony, Victoria and I were awarded the MVP awards as our coach and other coaches from different teams believed we were very consistent in continuing to give our best throughout the game and how we had grown as players and truly become very skilled. It was a proud moment for me, as I was becoming much better as a player and opening options up for myself and my team. Being the MVP of the champions had meant a lot to the football community, and it was a great title to receive.

  Chapter 14

  No Goals But There is Glory

  Because our team defended its title, we were invited to play against the U14 National Team of Jordan. Surprised and grateful for this great opportunity, I delivered the message to the team from Coach Samir. I explained how they were scouting for new players specifically from our team, as we had defended our championship. This is why they wanted to play against us.