by Fred Bowen
“Mr. Daniel would never have cut anyone.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket and started checking her e-mails.
“Coach Hodges isn’t a parent,” Josh explained. “She’s a real coach.”
“You better get out of your sweaty soccer stuff and wash up,” Josh’s father said. “We’re going to eat soon. Two-minute warning.” He looked over at his wife. “Any life-changing messages?” he asked with a smile.
“There’s an e-mail from Coach Hodges.”
“What’s it say?” Josh asked. Changing his clothes could wait.
Josh’s mother looked at the screen. “It looks like you have a tournament this weekend, Saturday and Sunday.”
“Awesome! Coach said we were going to be in a couple tournaments before the season started.”
“All right!” his father said, grabbing a fistful of air. “The United are going to take the pitch.”
“It’s in Johnstown,” Mrs. Bradshaw said.
“Cool!” Josh exclaimed.
“Johnstown?” Mr. Bradshaw’s arm fell to his side. “But that’s a hundred miles away.”
“Actually, it’s 127 miles. I just checked,” she said coolly. “The team will be playing at Johnstown Soccerplex. Coach Hodges booked rooms at a nearby hotel.”
“Really?”
Mrs. Bradshaw handed her phone to Mr. Bradshaw.
“It looks like the tournament will take up the whole weekend,” he said.
“We’re in a real tournament!” Josh exclaimed. “I can’t wait to text Aidan.”
Mrs. Bradshaw turned to her husband and smiled. “I’m sure you and the United will have a good time in Johnstown this weekend.”
Chapter 4
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet waaa-aaave … o’er the land of the freeeeeee … and the home of the …
Happy cheers drowned out the last word of the anthem. Eight teams in shiny uniforms stood proudly on the perfectly lined, sun-drenched field. Josh was standing with the United and couldn’t believe he was part of all this excitement. It was never like this with the Flames.
The voice on the public address system boomed: “Let the twenty-fourth Annual Johnstown Labor Day Soccer Invitational begin!”
Some of the teams left with their fans to play on other fields. The United’s first game was there in the main stadium. They were about to face the Phantoms.
“Come on, United!” Coach Hodges called. “Let’s huddle up.”
This is going to be great, Josh thought. He looked around the huddle and once again tried to match the faces with names. “What’s the name of the big guy who plays defense?” Josh whispered to Aidan.
“Demetrius.”
Coach Hodges began calling out the names of the starting lineup. “Aidan and Demetrius on the back line. Evan, you’re at center midfield.”
Josh leaned into the circle, hoping to hear his name.
“At forwards, Josh and Victor.”
Josh and Aidan traded a quick nod. Yes! They were starting for the United!
Now I’m going to show them—Evan, Victor, everybody—that I’m as good as they are, Josh thought.
“Hands in,” Coach Hodges ordered. The team crowded closer and piled their hands on top of each other. “The Phantoms are good,” Coach warned. “We’re going to have to play hard and play smart. Hustle on three. “One … two … three …”
“Hustle!” the players shouted together.
The United hustled but it didn’t help. Their passes were a little off, their offensive attack a step too slow. Evan threaded a pass to Josh as he rushed to the Phantoms goal, but the ball bounced off Josh’s heel and he lost control. After that, Evan just passed to his buddy Victor, the other United forward—even when Josh was open.
Later, the United backline fell apart. Both Aidan and Demetrius moved to cover the same player. That left a Phantom forward wide open. In an instant, his team got him the ball and he blasted it into the United net.
Goal! The United was behind 1–0.
“C’mon, guys,” Evan barked. “Don’t bunch up. Play your position.”
Aidan and Demetrius glared at each other.
“That was your guy!” Demetrius shouted.
“I thought you had him!” Aidan shouted back.
“Come on, guys, forget it,” Josh said, clapping his hands. “Let’s get it back.”
The United couldn’t get it back. They spent the rest of the game chasing the ball and trying to get their offense in gear. The Phantoms added another goal late in the second half to finish the scoring … and the United.
The United lost, 2–0.
Coach Hodges didn’t say much after the game. She just shook her head. “You guys play like you’ve never seen each other before. This is a team sport. You better start getting your act together or get used to losing!”
Josh knew Coach Hodges was right, but that didn’t make it easy to hear.
The players quickly gathered their stuff and went to check the large board showing the scores of the first games. Josh got there first.
“Who do we play in the second round?” Aidan asked.
“The Vipers,” Josh answered. “We’re in the losers bracket.”
“Maybe they’ll be easier to beat.”
“I guess we’ll find out.”
But the second game was almost an exact replay of the first. The United players weren’t clicking. There was no teamwork. No passing. No communication.
The United lost 2–0. Again.
After the game, Coach Hodges tried to keep the team’s spirits up. “Good hustle. But we have to tighten up the defense and play more like a team.”
Josh looked at the team’s tired, discouraged faces. The coach wasn’t lifting their spirits. Or Josh’s either.
“Let’s all meet in the lobby of the hotel,” Coach Hodges suggested, “and go to dinner together as a team.”
“Sorry,” someone said. “We can’t make it.”
Other parents at the edge of the team circle chimed in. Everybody, it seemed, had other plans.
“We have some friends in the area. We’re going to eat with them.”
“What time is the game tomorrow?”
Coach Hodges threw up her hands. “All right, then. Everybody is on his own for dinner tonight,” she said. “Just make sure you’re in bed by ten o’clock. We have an early game tomorrow.”
The United players and parents scattered. Josh and Aidan walked together toward Josh’s father.
“Who are we playing tomorrow?” Aidan asked.
“I think we play the Thunder,” Josh said.
“Are they any good?”
“Probably not,” Josh said. “They’re in the super-losers bracket—just like us.”
Chapter 5
You look tired,” Josh said to Aidan. The two boys were sitting in the hotel’s breakfast room, eating cereal.
“I didn’t sleep great last night,” Aidan admitted.
“Why not?”
“It was so noisy. I don’t know how you slept through it,” Aidan said. “The bell on the elevator door kept going off. And somebody was getting ice from the ice machine every ten minutes. He must have been building an igloo in his room or something.”
The boys laughed. Mr. Bradshaw sat down with his plate piled high. “Nothing I like better than a big country breakfast,” he declared. “You boys ready to play?”
“Yeah.”
“I guess so.”
Mr. Bradshaw looked around the breakfast room. “Where’s the rest of the team?” he asked. “I’ve hardly seen anyone.”
Josh shrugged. “I don’t know. We’re pretty early. I guess we’ll see them at the field.”
The soccer pitch was quiet as the teams warmed up in the early morning chill. The dew was still on the grass, sparkling in the sunlight. The players’ parents sat scattered in the stands, sipping coffee from thermoses.
“All right, let’s play hard!” Coach Hodges shouted, clapping her hands together. “Same starting lineu
p as yesterday. Hustle on three.”
Josh noticed that the team huddle was not as tight as the day before. And the shout of “One … two … three … hustle!” wasn’t as loud.
Josh and Aidan walked onto the pitch, side by side. “It looks like you’re not the only guy who had trouble sleeping last night,” Josh said.
Sure enough, both teams were sluggish. The action stayed stuck in the middle, with neither team managing a single shot on goal.
Late in the first half, Evan intercepted a crossing pass and dribbled upfield. When two Thunder players charged him, he tried to slip a quick pass to Josh. But the ball hit Josh’s foot at a bad angle and sailed out of bounds.
“Oh, no!” Josh shouted.
The goalkeeper boomed a long punt back toward the United goal. Josh ran back to get in the action. Man, nothing is working today, he thought.
The score was tied 0–0 at halftime. The sun was rising and the morning warming. People kept coming in, filling up the stands. Many of them had come early to watch the next game.
The bigger crowd seemed to wake up the Thunder. They pounced on a turnover at midfield and sailed a crossing pass by the confused United defense. An alert Thunder forward knocked it in.
Goal! The United trailed, 1–0.
A few minutes later, the Thunder outhustled the United for another goal. The United was behind 2–0. Again.
Coach Hodges put in some reserves.
Josh and Aidan stood on the sidelines with their arms folded across their chests. “Looks like we’re going to lose another one,” Aidan said.
“I don’t know why.” Josh dug his right cleat into the dirt. “We’ve got a lot of good players. Patrick West is a terrific goalkeeper. Victor is super fast and Mario can handle the ball.” Josh lowered his voice. “I don’t like Evan, but he can really play.”
“Maybe we should all start wearing red shoes,” Aidan said.
Josh didn’t laugh. “We definitely need to do something.”
Just then Coach Hodges called out, “Josh, Aidan, go in for Dylan and Thomas.”
Josh raced back onto the pitch, eager to do something—anything—to get the United going.
Right away, Aidan, playing right fullback, stole the ball. He smartly dribbled away from the United goal and spotted Josh on the right wing. Instantly, the two old friends sensed the same play.
Josh spun and sprinted upfield. Aidan blasted a long pass up the right side. The Thunder scrambled after it, but Josh used his speed to outrun the defense and get the ball.
The Thunder goalkeeper jumped out to cut down Josh’s angle to the goal. As Josh dribbled closer, he could sense the keeper hanging back, waiting for Josh to send a centering pass across the middle.
Josh knew that a centering pass to Evan or Victor was the correct play, but with the Thunder closing in, he decided to take a chance. It’s worth a try, he thought.
He tapped the ball with his left foot, then blasted it with his right. The ball sizzled by the surprised goalkeeper, grazing the post before skipping into net.
Goal! The score was 2–1. Josh jumped up with a high fist-punch. His teammates swarmed him.
“Way to go, Josh!”
“We needed that!
“We’re on a roll now!”
But the United were not on a roll.
The Thunder tightened their defense. There were no more goals. Not even any more shots on goal.
The United lost 2–1.
“We looked a little better this game. Way to go!” Coach Hodges shouted as the United players gathered their equipment and water bottles and the parents came down from the stands. “Remember, practice on Tuesday. We’ve got a lot to work on. Good goal, Josh. I’ll e-mail everyone the information about next week’s tournament.”
“Where is it?”
“Perryville.”
“Perryville?” Josh’s father muttered. “That’s even farther away.”
In no time the team had disappeared into the parking lot and behind slamming car doors. Josh and Aidan lingered on the edge of the field. The sun was overhead and felt warm on Josh’s back. The second game of the day was about to begin.
“Do you guys want to watch some of the next game?” Josh’s dad asked.
Josh looked across the field, remembered the three United games—the three losses—and said, “No, let’s get out of here. Maybe we’ll do better next week.”
Chapter 6
The second tournament was like the first—only worse. The United lost three games, playing once again in the losers bracket and then the super-losers bracket.
Josh had a goal in the second game but it wasn’t enough. The team couldn’t come together. It seemed that each United player was trying to score all by himself.
“We’ll get better,” Josh said to Aidan the next Monday at school. “We’ve got to. We can’t get worse.”
“Yeah. No wins. Six losses. That’s bad,” Aidan agreed as the two walked into the school cafeteria for lunch.
Josh could smell the food and see the steam rising from the silver heating trays. He grabbed a plate from a tall stack and moved down the cafeteria line. Aidan was right behind him.
“Man, I’m hungry,” Aidan said. “What are we having today, spaghetti?”
“Nope. Sloppy joes,” Josh announced.
Aidan made a face. “Maybe I’m not that hungry.”
When they had their food, Josh looked for a place to sit. “Hey, look,” he said, lifting his chin to point to a table across the room. “There’s Chris and Nick from the Flames. Let’s sit with them.”
Josh slipped through the sea of middle schoolers, balancing his tray with one hand above his head like a waiter in a fancy restaurant. His old Flames teammates were busy eating, talking, and laughing.
“Got some room for us?” Josh asked as he swung his leg over the bench and squished in.
“Hey, watch it,” Chris warned. “You’re gonna knock my sloppy joe off the table.”
“So what,” Nick teased. “You’d still eat it.”
“That’s gross.”
“Five-second rule,” Nick said.
“What’s that?” Josh asked.
“Don’t you know anything?” Nick asked. “You can eat something that falls on the floor as long as you pick it up in less than five seconds.”
“Maybe for something like potato chips,” Josh said. “Not a sloppy joe.”
“Well, now that depends,” Aidan said. “If it falls on the bun, you’re cool. But let’s say the bun slips and sloppy joe stuff hits the floor. No way I’m eating it!”
“Especially off this floor,” Josh added.
Chris held up his hands. “Could you guys change the subject? I’m losing my appetite.” He took a bite and then eyed Josh. “How’d you guys do in that tournament this weekend?”
“They lost three games: 3–1, 2–1, and 2–0,” Nick said before Josh could answer.
“How’d you know?” Aidan asked.
“I went on the United website,” Nick said. “I always check on you guys. Looks like you’re losing, big time.”
Josh could feel his face burning. He bit into his sloppy joe and secretly wished the United didn’t have a website.
“Have the Flames started their season yet?” Aidan asked.
“Yeah, we played our first game on Saturday.”
“How’d you do?” Aidan asked.
“We beat the Rampage, 3–1,” Nick said. “You should’ve seen it. I set up Chris for the sweetest goal.” Nick grabbed a couple of ketchup packages to demonstrate. “Chris passed it to me on the wing and I passed it right back to him in front of the goal. A perfect give and go.”
Chris laughed. “Even I couldn’t miss that one!” The two Flames traded high fives, and for a second Josh wondered if he should have stuck with his old team.
“So what gives with the United?” Nick asked. “I thought you guys would be great this season. That kid Evan Perry is supposed to be terrific. You got Kadir and Mario.” He put his arm
around Josh. “And the two best players from the Flames. Your team is loaded.”
Aidan shrugged. “I don’t know. We got a lot of guys who can play. We just don’t play very well together.”
Nick laughed. “If you two want to come back to the Flames, we might take you back.” He took a bite of his sandwich. “By the way, Mr. Daniel says hi.”
Josh kept his mouth closed and ate in silence. He was relieved when his friends stopped talking about the United and started arguing about whether LeBron James would be a good soccer player.
“LeBron’s too tall to play soccer.”
“Yeah, but he’d be great at heading the ball.”
“And he’d be an awesome goalkeeper,” Aidan declared. “He might even help our team.”
Finally, Josh pushed away from the table. “These sloppy joes taste like they really did fall on the floor,” he said as he swung his leg over the bench.
“Where are you going?” Aidan asked.
“I don’t know,” Josh said. “I just gotta get out of here.”
Josh felt better as soon as he left the cafeteria. It was good to get away from the guys and all the talk about the United losing. Playing for the United was not nearly as much fun as Josh had thought it would be.
He headed straight for the media center and pulled up the United’s record on one of the computers.
SCHEDULE & RESULTS
September 1 Labor Day Tournament
Phantoms L 2-0
Vipers L 2-0
September 2 Thunder L 2-1
September 8 Perryville Invitational
Extreme L 3-1
Real Team L 2-1
September 9 Dynamo L 2-0
September 15 Kings* 2 P.M.
September 22 Magic* Noon
September 29 Storm* 10 A.M.
October 6 Red Devils* Noon
October 13 Dynasty* 2 P.M.
October 20 Columbus Day Tournament TBA
October 27 Future* 10 A.M.
November 3 Galaxy* 10 A.M.
November 10 Veterans Day Tournament TBA
November 17 Majestics* Noon
November 24 Arsenal* 2 P.M.
December 1 League Tournament TBA
December 2 League Tournament TBA
* League Games—All League Games will be played at the Soccerplex
