Goalkeeper in Charge

by Matt Christopher

  “I shouldn’t have yelled,” Tina muttered, staring at the ground.

  Zoe patted Tina’s shoulder. ’“Well… no, but Cindy shouldn’t have, either. It’s cool. Really.”

  Play resumed, and a minute later, Tina made a nice save, stretching herself full length in the air to get a hand on the ball and send it out-of-bounds. Meg made the corner kick, which came rocketing toward the goal. Tina got a hand on it and drew the ball into her belly, cradling it with both arms. Seeing Cindy sprinting toward midfield, Tina kicked it in her direction. Cindy headed the ball and dropped it at her feet. For once, she passed off— to Zoe, who dribbled toward the opposing goal and then passed back to Cindy. Cindy tried to kick a goal from forty feet away — too far again, giving Andrea time to catch the ball. When Danielle ended the scrimmage with her whistle, Meg’s team still led, two goals to one.

  As the Wildcats grouped around the coaches, Meg whispered to Tina, “You looked good.”

  Tina shook her head. “I wasn’t that good. You guys beat us.”

  “You stopped more shots than. Andrea,” Meg replied. “And we wouldn’t have scored the first goal if Cindy hadn’t been in your way.”

  Before Tina could say anything more, Danielle called out. “Listen up, everyone. It went pretty well. I saw a lot of good play and hustle today. There are a few things we need to watch out for, though.”

  Danielle mentioned problems she had noticed: players being out of position, not passing to open teammates, and so on. She didn’t mention names, but twice, Meg glanced at Tina and silently mouthed, “Cindy”

  “Finally,” Danielle said, “we have to remember that we’re a team. That means there’s never any place for anger or yelling. Teammates support each other. Arguing hurts the team. I hope I won’t have to bring this up again.”

  Tina knew that this was aimed at her, at least partly. As she unlaced her soccer shoes, Meg nudged her and pointed. Tina saw Danielle talking to Cindy, who was red-faced.

  “I knew the coach wouldn’t let Cindy get away with that stuff,” Meg said.

  As Cindy walked away from the coach, Danielle beckoned to Tina.

  “Now it’s my turn,” sighed Tina.

  Before Danielle spoke, Tina said, “I’m sorry I yelled. I won’t do it again.”

  “That’s all right,” said the coach. “I’m sure you won’t lose your temper. But there are times when it’s not only okay for you to raise your voice to teammates — it’s necessary. You need to start doing that when it’s called for.”

  Tina was startled.

  “Pepper talked to you and Andrea about goalkeepers being field generals,” Danielle went on. “That means, when a player is blocking your view in the penalty area, or when you want a player to move so you can pass her the ball or for any other reason, you have to tell her. You have to tell her loud enough to be heard. That isn’t yelling because you’re angry, that’s part of a keeper’s game. Don’t be afraid to do your job, okay?”

  “Okay,” Tina said. She knew it was something she would have to work on.

  Later on, Tina and Meg sat on Meg’s front porch. “It was good to see Danielle talk to Cindy,” Meg said. “She deserved it.”

  Tina curled her legs under her on the porch chair. “I never though I’d say this, but I feel bad for Cindy, now.”

  Meg stared at her friend, then laughed. “You’re amazing! After what happened today?”

  “Yeah, but Cindy’s mom must give her a lot of grief,” Tina replied. “Cindy must feel that if she isn’t a star, her mom will be all over her. With most of us, if we do well, fine, and if we don’t do well, it’s too bad but it’s no big deal. If Cindy doesn’t do well, it is a big deal. I think she’s afraid not to be a star.”

  Meg was quiet for a minute. “I guess,” she finally said. “What did Danielle tell you?”

  Tina smiled. “She says I have to yell more — it’s part of what goalkeepers do. They have to let players know they’re out of position, move them around. So, yelling can be a bad thing, or it can be a good thing, and I have to figure out which is which. Soccer is complicated sometimes.”

  Meg smiled. “Life is complicated sometimes.”

  “That’s the truth,” said Tina.

  9

  Tina was doing some stretches while waiting for practice to begin the next day, when she heard someone say, “I’m sorry I yelled at you yesterday.”

  Startled, Tina looked up to find Cindy standing in front of her, looking grim, as if she were doing something she really disliked.

  For a moment, Tina was stuck for a reply. Cindy waited a moment, then turned and began to walk away.

  “Wait!” Tina called, and ran after her. She got in front of Cindy, who stopped and looked at her, unsmiling.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything just now, it’s just that I… anyway, I’m sorry too. For yelling. I mean. It won’t happen again.”

  “Okay,” Cindy said, without a smile. Tina was sure that Cindy hadn’t apologized because she felt she’d been wrong, but because she’d been told to.

  “You know,” Tina said, “I —” She stopped just before blurting something out about how rough it must be for Cindy to deal with her mother’s demands. She suddenly realized that this would be a bad idea. Once again, she stood there without knowing what to say next.

  Finally, Cindy shook her head and left.

  “What did she want?” asked Meg, who had arrived just in time to see Cindy and Tina together.

  “She apologized for yelling,” Tina explained.

  “Huh,” Meg said. “She didn’t look really sorry, did she?”

  The girls heard the sound of a whistle. “Gather round, everyone!” called Danielle.

  Once the team was together, the coach said, “Our first game, against the Rockets, is in two days, so let’s make good use of our time. We’ll start with drills. Tina, Andrea, work with Pepper. Everyone else, stay here with me.”

  While most of the team practiced passes, shooting, free kicks, corner kicks, and other skills, Tina and Andrea worked on goalkeeping. During the workout, Tina saw that her throwing hadn’t improved, but at least it wasn’t any worse. Her hands, she thought, were too small to control the ball, but she could kick it a long way. Andrea’s kicking was still not great, but her throwing was excellent. The girls spent time throwing and kicking shots for the other to block or catch.

  “I wish I could kick like you do,” Andrea said at one point. “That makes a big difference. “I’m not coordinated enough.”

  Tina smiled. “I wish I could throw like you do. Sounds like we’re even.”

  After drills, before the team split up for a scrimmage, Danielle said, “Here is the starting lineup against the Rockets. Now, remember: Everyone will play. And I don’t mean just for a minute or two. Everyone will get a lot of playing time. That’s because you’ll all need rest and also because everyone is working hard and deserves to play. Any questions?”

  There were no questions, and the coach named the starters. Tina would be the keeper, Cindy was left wing, and Zoe was midfielder. Meg would come in off the bench. This was no surprise; Meg had expected it and wasn’t unhappy. She knew she wasn’t a top player, and the coach had said everyone would play.

  Once again, the team was divided into two squads of nine, with Pepper and Zoe’s mom as referees. This time, Meg was Tina’s teammate, while Cindy and Zoe were on the other side. Danielle told Tina and Andrea that they’d get to play a position other than keeper, for part of the time anyway, so that they’d stay in practice for other positions—just in case.

  For the first ten minutes, nobody could score, as both Tina and Andrea stopped several shots. Cindy, whose mother did not show up, threatened to get to a loose ball directly in front of Tina’s goal, but Tina sprinted out and scooped up the ball before Cindy could reach it. Tina rolled it to Meg, who dribbled it away from the cage, out of danger.

  A few minutes later, Zoe, from midfield, dribbled through two defenders and passed to Cindy o
n the wing. Cindy made a clever side-step move to get past one defender, then passed to a teammate. She then moved within five yards of the goal and waited for a return pass. Trying to mark Cindy, Meg stepped directly in front of Tina, so that Tina lost sight of the ball.

  “Meg, out of the box!” Tina called.

  Meg was startled, but stepped away just in time for Tina to see the ball headed straight for where Cindy could head it. Tina rushed out to the edge of the penalty box and snatched the ball out of the air. If she’d left the box, she would have been penalized for using her hands; a keeper can only touch the ball with his or her hands while in the penalty box. This time, Tina kicked the ball long and hard, and one of her teammates managed to control it and send it toward the other goal.

  “Sorry,” Meg called to Tina as she ran after the action. Tina wondered if she’d be able to yell at someone who wasn’t her best friend. She hoped so. A little later, when Cindy led another rush on the goal, Tina called out to another defensive player, signaling her to mark one of the forwards. The girl nodded and did what Tina wanted. But Cindy made a beautiful move to get past her defender and put a shot through the goal, just under the crossbar where it met the left upright. There was no way for Tina to stop it; the shot was perfectly placed.

  Cindy’s squadmates came up to exchange high-and low-fives. “Nice shot,” Tina called out.

  Cindy swung around and stared at Tina in surprise. “Excuse me?”

  “I said, nice shot,” Tina repeated. “It was perfect, no way I could get to it.”

  Cindy’s mouth dropped open. She looked so astonished that Tina almost laughed. Finally, Cindy closed her mouth, nodded, mumbled something that might have been “Thanks,” and walked away.

  After a half hour of scrimmaging, both squads had allowed one goal. Tina thought she’d done a pretty good job and was happy that she seemed able to get players to move when she needed them to. Danielle ended play with a whistle. The players trotted toward her, and most of them sat down for a breather. They’d been playing hard and needed a break.

  “Great hustle today!” Danielle said, clapping her hands and looking as pleased as she sounded. “We’ll take a ten-minute rest and shuffle the squads around for a second session. Here are the new lineups.”

  For the second scrimmage, Tina would be on the same squad with Cindy and Meg, while Zoe was an opponent. After naming the squads, Danielle said, “When we begin, I’d like Tina and Andrea to be midfielders, for a while anyway. “She named two other girls who would start as goalkeepers.

  Once her breathing was normal, Meg turned to Tina and rolled her eyes. “Wow! I never ran so long in my whole life!”

  Tina grinned. “It was rough, huh?”

  Zoe, who had heard Meg’s comment, said, “Sure it’s rough, especially when you’re not used to playing that long at a stretch.”

  “Right!” Meg agreed. “You keepers have it easy, standing there with your hands in your pockets most of the time.”

  “Want to switch?” Tina offered.

  “No thanks,” said Meg. “No way. But it’s still rough, running around like that.”

  “First of all,” Tina replied, “you won’t be playing that long without breaks in real games. Second, you’ll get used to it.”

  Meg shook her head. “Maybe, but it won’t happen today.”

  When play started again, Tina was playing midfield. She quickly understood what Meg had been talking about. She hadn’t been doing as much running as most of the team had, and she soon found herself breathing hard and sweating. For the first time, she realized that being a goalkeeper had its good points. She was an okay midfielder, Tina thought, but she might turn out to be a better-than-okay keeper.

  A ball came her way from a squadmate. Tina dribbled and passed to Cindy, who pivoted to her right, screening the ball from the player marking her. Then she did something so fast that Tina wasn’t sure what happened, except that Cindy had passed the defender behind and was racing toward the goal with another forward. I could practice forever and never move the ball as well as Cindy, Tina thought.

  A few minutes later, Danielle called a time-out and moved Tina and Andrea back to their usual positions as keepers. Tina was relieved.

  Shortly afterward, Cindy raced to try to get to a ball that had rolled into the penalty box near Tina. Tina, who was closing in on it herself, called out, “Mine!” almost before she was aware of it. Cindy slowed down to let Tina have the ball. As Tina looked over the field to see where she should release the ball, Cindy said, “Sorry.”

  Tina nodded, too busy to say anything, but she rolled the ball to Cindy so Cindy could move it out of danger.

  A few minutes later, Meg made a bad pass that the other squad intercepted. Zoe passed the ball down-field to a wing, who avoided a defender and dribbled to within fifteen feet of the goal. She faked a shot with her left foot and drew Tina to her own right, and then let fly with a hard shot toward the other side of the cage.

  Tina recognized the fake and shifted her weight back to her own left side. As the opposing forward fired the shot, Tina took two long steps to the left and flung herself toward the ball, stretching herself out in the air a foot off the ground. If the shooter had aimed for the corner of the cage, she would have scored a goal. But it wasn’t far enough into the corner, allowing Tina to get a hand on the ball and deflect it to the right. The ball hit the upright, bounced away, and rolled out-of-bounds.

  As Tina got up, she heard someone say, “Good save.”

  She looked behind her and saw that it was Cindy. “Thanks,” she said, smiling. Cindy hesitated and then smiled back.

  Hearing clapping from the sidelines, Tina saw Dave standing there. He waved and gave a thumbs-up sign. Tina also saw Cindy’s mother, standing not far from Dave. She stared straight ahead, unsmiling.

  When Cindy caught sight of her mom, her smile vanished. Tina, whose father had always been encouraging, felt sorry for Cindy, whose mom seemed anything but.

  At the end of the second scrimmage, Pepper spoke briefly to Tina. “Very good. And I see you can be the general when you have to be.”

  Danielle then gave everyone her thoughts. “I know you all must be pretty wiped out today, but you need the work to be ready for the games. Remember, when you’re on offense and you’re off the ball—when you’re not the one who has the ball—be careful not to let yourselves bunch too close together. It makes the defending team’s job harder when you’re spread out. And don’t get in the keeper’s way in the penalty area, it’s the keeper’s job to deal with it. Okay, everyone, good work, and we’ll do it again tomorrow!”

  Dave came out to talk to Tina, who was standing with Meg. “You made a couple of great saves! You two want to go to the mall?”

  “I can’t,” Meg said. “I promised my mom I’d help her with some stuff at home.”

  “I’d like to go,” Tina said.

  “Great!” Dave answered. “Let’s—”

  “Tina? Can I talk to you?” It was Cindy, who looked unsure of how Tina would treat her.

  But Tina was happy to be friendly if Cindy was. “Sure! Oh, this is my friend Dave.”

  Cindy smiled at Dave. “Hi. Um, I just wanted to say that … I’m glad we’re on the same team. I think you’re a great keeper and I … I’m sorry if I was mean before.”

  “That’s okay,” Tina said. “Hey, we’re going to the mall, want to come?”

  “I’d better ask my mom,” Cindy said, and ran over to Mrs. Vane.

  Dave asked, “Is that the one who gave you trouble?”

  Tina nodded. “That’s her. She seems different now.”

  Dave grinned. “You stood up to her, huh?”

  “Well, no,” Tina admitted. “But she stopped anyway.”

  After a short talk with her mother, Cindy walked over with a disappointed expression. “I can’t go, too much homework.”

  “Maybe some other time,” Tina said.

  Cindy smiled. “Maybe. See you.”

  As they b
iked to the mall, Dave said, “Cindy kept looking at her mom during the scrimmage. What’s the deal?”

  Tina sighed. “Mrs. Vane wants Cindy to be a star, but I think Cindy just wants to be part of the team. I hope they work it out. Cindy’s a good athlete, and I don’t think she’s happy.”

  At the mall, they headed for the Food Court. Tina, who really wanted a cold drink, saw a big group of kids sitting at some tables and suddenly felt panicked. She thought of turning away, but somebody called her name. With a sinking heart, Tina recognized Zoe.

  “Hey, Tina, over here!”

  Dave said, “Come on!”

  Tina said, “Okay,” but she knew it would end up just like it always did: with her stuck for things to say, looking dumb.

  Here we go again, she thought.

  10

  It started the way it usually did, with Tina sitting like a statue and saying nothing. But Zoe leaned over and poked her arm. “Great save you made! That was an awesome move.”

  “What happened?” a girl asked, one whom Tina didn’t know.

  “Teen made this totally amazing dive,” Zoe explained. “It looked for sure like the ball was going in, but suddenly she’s, like, hanging in the air, and the ball is headed out-of-bounds.”

  The other girl looked at Tina with interest. “Yeah? How’d you do that?”

  Tina shrugged. “I don’t know, exactly.”

  “You don’t know?” The girl gave Tina a look that said, You must be weird.

  “It sounds funny,” Tina said, “but when something happens really fast in a sport, you don’t think, you just do it. If you stop to think—it’s too late. It’s like your brain lets your body take over.”

  A boy who had overheard nodded. “I can see that. It’s the same in baseball when you swing at a pitch.”

  The girl thought for a moment. “Sure, like when I dance, I don’t think about how to move, it just happens.”

  Tina nodded. “Right. My brain shuts off sometimes in soccer.” She grinned. “Too bad it also happens when I take science tests.”

  The kids who were listening laughed. Tina could hardly believe it. She’d made a joke, and it had gotten a laugh.