by Holly Bell
She got out of bed and put on her sports Chapter Seven uniform and runners. She found a red, blue and yellow hairclip that matched her uniform colours, and looked in the mirror.
‘I’m not going to spend the whole day stressing about the speech,’ Maddie whispered to her reflection. ‘I’ve worked too hard to throw it all away. I have to think about one thing only … winning!’
When Maddie arrived at school, the place was buzzing with excitement. There were banners, streamers and balloons hung all around the sporting fields. Everyone was dressed in the same school colours as Maddie. It was a sea of red, blue and yellow. It looked awesome!
Maddie was soon caught up in the thrill of it all. She was eager to get out there and do her teams proud!
The students from the other schools started arriving. The Flinders Primary buses rolled up, decked out in purple and white. Then the Phillips Cove buses, in green and yellow. The Davey’s Bay students cheered loudly, giving them all an enthusiastic welcome.
When everyone had arrived at last, Mr McNamara made a short speech. He welcomed the other schools to Davey’s Bay and wished them luck. Then he announced, ‘I now declare this sports carnival open!’
The teachers walked around with megaphones, reminding everyone where they were supposed to be. Maddie didn’t need reminding, though. She knew where to go.
First up was basketball. Maddie’s team was called the Eagles. The Eagles were doing their warm-ups before the game. Maddie could hear her friends on the sidelines, chanting and waving their pompoms.
‘Go Eagles, we’re all fans! If you can’t do it, no-one can!’
Maddie gave them a quick wave as her mum started the team talk. Maddie tried to listen to what her mum was saying, but she couldn’t stop jiggling her legs. She was itching to get out there and start playing!
The game started out great. Maddie was short for a basketball player, but she was fast and a good shot.
Two minutes into the first half, Maddie dribbled the ball down the court and took a shot. The ball sailed through the air and whooshed through the basket.
Score!
Maddie pumped her fist in the air. She was feeling fantastic! The sound of the ball thudded on the court and the team’s runners squeaked as they dodged and jumped through the game.
At half-time, the players sucked on some orange slices. They were winning by a few points, but the game wasn’t over yet!
Once the second half started, the Eagles played like champions – cheered on by the Forever Clover girls on the sidelines.
When the final buzzer sounded, the Eagles had won 24–18. The team hugged and cheered. Maddie’s mum ran over to join them – she was jumping around just as much as they were!
After that, the day flew by for Maddie. She cheered on Abbey and Kate in the relay race. She was there when Matilda competed in the long jump. She watched Emma in the high jump, and Olivia in gymnastics.
Then it was finally time for the girls’ 100-metre sprint.
Maddie did her final stretches. She crouched down into the starting position alongside the other runners.
Bang! The starter’s pistol sounded and Maddie took off as fast as she could. She could hear someone breathing just beside her. It was a blonde girl from Flinders, running in the next lane.
Maddie pushed herself even harder. She crossed the finish line with the Flinders girl just behind her.
‘Maddie! You won!’ Olivia called from the side of the track as the teacher in charge announced it over the megaphone.
‘You’re a champ!’ yelled Kate.
‘Woohoo!’ screamed Abbey.
The last game of the day was soccer, against Phillips Cove Primary. Maddie knew they were just as good as Davey’s Bay – maybe even better. It would be a close match, but that only made her more determined to play her best!
Maddie’s team scored the first goal a few minutes into the match. But Phillips Cove scored a goal quickly after that.
The game was a tough one. The two teams were constantly running from one end of the pitch to the other.
Maddie was exhausted as the clock ticked down. With only minutes to go, the score was level at 2–2.
Maddie passed the ball and ran fast as her team mate set her up for goal. The ball seemed to dance at the end of her toes as she weaved her way into the penalty box.
With the goalkeeper closing in, Maddie set up the ball and kicked it hard. The ball sailed past the goalie and hit the back of the net, just as the whistle went. They’d won!
Maddie was tingling all over as she and her teammates hugged and screamed. Then she ran over to celebrate with her friends on the edge of the pitch.
She was so caught up in the excitement that she almost didn’t hear the announcement over the loudspeaker.
‘Would all teams and spectators please make their way to the main stage for the final scores and presentation of trophies!’
Maddie’s tummy began to tie itself in knots again. Speech time was here!
Maddie felt like she was floating as her friends half-carried her towards the main stage. The crowd was a blur of people and banners and bright colours.
Mr McNamara stood at the microphone on the stage. He waited for the students to gather around before speaking.
He began by handing out trophies to all of the winners. First for the team sports and then the individual sports.
Maddie couldn’t stop beaming. She’d won three trophies!
Abbey and Kate’s relay team won a firstplace trophy, too. Matilda and Emma had come second and third in their games, and Olivia had won the overall gymnastics trophy. Maddie was so proud of them all.
Then Mr McNamara read out all the scores for each sport. They were added up for each school to find out which had won.
‘And I am very proud to announce that the overall winner of today’s sports carnival is … Davey’s Bay!’
Everyone went crazy. Maddie jumped and cheered along with everyone else.
But then she saw Mr McNamara waving her towards the stage. Maddie felt the joy drain out of her. The time had come for her to make the speech.
Maddie’s mum was suddenly by her side. ‘You can do this, sweetheart,’ she said, giving her a big hug. ‘I’m so proud of you.’
Maddie gulped. ‘Thanks, Mum.’
She started to walk towards the stage. Her face was burning red and she was twitchy with nerves. She felt a light squeeze on her hand. Maddie looked down to see Olivia pushing her four-leaf clover charm into her hand.
‘For luck,’ Olivia said with a grin.
Maddie had just enough time to get changed into her casual clothes and do some warm-up exercises behind the stage. She was just doing the funny-face one when she heard Mr McNamara introduce her to the crowd.
‘And now, here is Davey’s Bay’s soccer and basketball captain – Maddie!’
Maddie took a deep breath. She could feel her cheeks still burning, but she didn’t feel so twitchy now. In fact, she felt amazingly calm.
The students clapped and cheered as Maddie walked across the stage to the microphone. She took three more deep breaths. One. Two. Three …
‘Thank you,’ Maddie began. She heard her voice through the speakers and was pleased that it didn’t sound shaky.
She took another deep breath before continuing. ‘On behalf of Davey’s Bay, I’d like to thank everyone from Flinders and Phillips Cove Primary Schools for coming to this year’s sports carnival. Well done on your great performances. We’re looking forward to next year’s carnival already! Thank you.’
She’d done it! She couldn’t believe it. And it’d been so easy after all that worrying! Maddie was grinning from ear to ear.
Everyone from both schools applauded loudly. Maddie’s friends were cheering for her.
‘Could the other team captains please join Maddie on stage?’ Mr McNamara said.
The winner’s trophy for Davey’s Bay was placed in Maddie’s hands. She quickly passed it to another captain, who raised it above hi
s head before passing it on. The students went crazy with cheering.
The trophy was handed back to Maddie. She raised the trophy up high and grinned over at her five best friends.
Abbey was doing that loud whistle through her fingers. Maddie laughed as Emma clapped her hands over her ears and scowled at Abbey.
Maddie could see how proud they all were of her. She knew that she could never have got through the day without them.
Mum was right that a problem halved is a problem solved, Maddie thought happily as she waved at her friends. And it’s even better when you’re a Forever Clover girl, because a problem is split six ways!
