Playing For Love

by Dana Burkey

  After we were warmed up, we started working on some drills. They weren't as hard as usual, but part of that was because the new crew started pulling girls aside to interview them. It was nice that they didn't start with me, and it gave me some time to focus on practice. No matter what drill was thrown my way, I put my all into it. Not to look good on camera or anything, but rather just to actually get ready for the next game. But, even with the distraction of practice, nothing could keep me from remembering the camera and news crew were just a few feet away the whole time. Especially when they finally called me over to film near the end of the evening.

  “It’s so great to see you again,” Stephanie said with a smile as she shook my hand. “I’m just going to have you stand right here while I ask you a few questions.”

  “Are you all going to ask me?” I stood there trying to look natural as I clipped on a microphone that the cameraman handed me.

  “No, just Stephanie,” Gloria explained.

  “We just wanted to be here to see the story ourselves,” Henry added. “You ladies are all anyone is talking about the last few days!”

  I nodded then took a deep breath. I was so nervous about actually being on camera that I'd never even thought about what questions I might get asked, or what I would sayin response. In my head I imagined a few dozen questions, really hard ones about each game we played, or like how it felt to break my nose. So, at the start of the interview I was sweating for sure! Thankfully, Stephanie only asked me three questions in the end:

  1. How did it feel when the team all got face masks to support you?

  2. Are you looking forward to playing without the mask once your doctor gives you the okay?

  3. How are you feeling about your games the rest of the year, and your chances to make it to state?

  It was actually really easy to answer the questions and stay calm. Stephanie had the questions written down as well and I read them a few times even after she asked each one so I could think and give a good answer. That's the only reason I remember them. Unfortunately I can't remember my answers at all! I think I gave them really simple answers, and tried not to fidget too much, or at least I hope so. Stephanie and the rest of the crew thanked me a lot while I took off my mic and handed it back to the cameraman. Then, I went back to practice while they finished the interviews. It was nice to have something to focus on after the questions, but I still didn't really feel relaxed until the news crew packed up and left.

  Now it's just about waiting to see what they put on the news Friday. We have a game tomorrow night and there'll be someone there filming, but I don’t know if Stephanie or the other news anchors will be there, so hopefully that won't be too distracting. Everyone said it should be an easy enough game, but I still want to make sure we don’t get lazy since it’s our last game before the tournament Saturday that will determine whether or not we get to play in the state finals!

  OCTOBER 23RD-THURSDAY

  I think the greatest thing about school today, was that the whole soccer team got attention, not just me! I was doing pretty good to not be nervous all day, but was still more or less freaked out by the attention the video Maggie made was getting. The questions from people about the interview started early, but thankfully didn't last super long since people realized I was giving a really basic answer. That’s right, the same one from yesterday! But, everyone else was happy to talk about their interviews. Well, to everyone but me.

  “So, what questions did they ask you?” I asked Skyler on the way to school this morning.

  “You’ll find out,” she said with a grin.

  I was a bit annoyed, but I figured Torri would tell me more during English. That was a bust. And it was the start of me striking out with everyone! No one would tell me about their interviews at all. But, I think the thing that makes all of this so awful is that I've been so stressed about the whole video and news thing I haven't really had many great moments with Jordan. It’s like he knows I’m really nervous about it or something, so he doesn't bring it up, but then he also doesn’t chat with me about anything else either. He’s not the only one who's giving me space. Corra was weird at lunch today until I assured her I'd let her know everything if it would make her calm down. Oh, and Taylor's been acting weird too. She tried to say hi to me when I walked by her in the hall this morning. I didn’t hear her at first and kept walking. I thought she said it to someone else, but when I glanced back I saw she was looking at me. It took me a second to think that maybe I should say something, and she just went right back to glaring at me after that!

  But with Jordan I don’t know what to do. I can’t just open up to him about it, since I feel like if I started talking I'd word vomit all of it and tell him I only joined the team to get him to like me. And I don’t want him to glare at me like Taylor does, so ignoring him isn't a good idea either. Yesterday when I was around Jordan, Ross kind of took over and steered the conversation away from everything with the news and all that. But today, Ross and Skyler were having a serious chat about something and I had to just sit there in silence with Jordan. Sure, he said hi to me when he got in the car, and then he opened the door for me when we got to school, but he didn’t really talk to me like he usually would've. I’m hoping he just didn’t know what to say since I was so stressed and he didn't want to make it worse or anything.

  Well, the good news is that we won the game tonight! I assisted in one of our goals, but Skyler really shone! She scored twice in the varsity game. We were playing Brighton High School, and they turned out to be a little harder to beat than we thought they might be, so the added challenge to really earn the wins helped me keep my mind from the fact that about half of our town was there to watch us play! The stands were filled with people wearing nose guards, holding signs, and cheering through the whole game. Clearly word about the video and the channel 4 news spot was making the game a big to-do!

  Speaking of channel 4, they were there cheering us on as well as filming. Henry, Stephanie, and Gloria were even there in the stand for the whole first half of the game. They left before the end of the game, but I figured they were heading off to actually do the 7 o’clock news, so it made sense that they had to leave. They still had one camera there until the end of the evening, so I am assuming at least part of both games will be in the news spot tomorrow.

  Now that the game's over and I know the filming is done I'm hoping tomorrow I can calm down a little bit. I want to actually enjoy a day without soccer or filming or interviews! There are plans to go to the football game, so that'll be a nice way to keep my mind off of everything with the actual news story. But, in a way I'm also kind of anxious to see the news at the same time! It's all kind of crazy and confusing for sure! Hopefully by the end of tomorrow it'll all be over and done with and I can just focus on our games this weekend!

  OCTOBER 24TH-FRIDAY

  So this morning people were asking about the interview and everything again, but thankfully I figured out it was easy to get them to talk about the game instead. The football game that is. Everyone was super excited for a home game after what feels like forever! After school Corra and I went with Skyler to the craft store to get supplies to help make some posters for the game. When we got back to school, we went right to work so everything would be ready in time for kick off.

  At first it was just Skyler, Corra, Ross, Beth, Hayley, and me. But, after about half an hour more people started showing up, including Beth and Trey. They brought pizza with them so we didn't have to wait in the consession stand lines at the game. We made a bunch of signs to hold up during the game, and then some we can attach to the fence for the guys to see when they first run into the stadium. Basically, we bought WAY too much crafting supplies, so figured we would make the most of them!

  About an hour before the game even more people showed up, including Jordan! We were finished up on the posters and using hair dryers to dry them. Skyler called some of her friends and had them bring the dryers so everything would be good to go for the game. That meant
just a few people were drying stuff while the rest of us hung out and ate pizza. And of course, the news story came up again. Thankfully the excitement wasn't just focused on me, but rather the whole team.

  “Do you think it'll show on the eleven o’clock or just at seven?” Hayley asked between bites of pizza

  “My mom said she's going to record both just in case they do like a long and short version or anything,” Ross explained, saving me from answering.

  “My parents are recording it too!” Torri added. “They said even if I don’t make it on the air it'll be really cool to see the story and everything.”

  “That’s exactly what my mom said!” Skyler nodded.

  “Both of my parents thought it was cool that for once a sport other than basketball and football are making it on the news,” Jordan explained. “My dad said they're going to leave the game early tonight to watch it and record it and everything.”

  It was awesome to hear everyone's excitement, but it was also making me a bit uncomfortable. Eventually everyone moved on from talking about the news and we headed over to the stadium. We set up the posters and headed to The Pit nice and early so we would be ready to cheer the entire game! And boy did we! We literally cheered the whole time from start to finish! It was a really intense game, tied 21-21 from the second quarter until the last minute when the other team kicked a field goal and took the win.

  During the game I honestly was so into cheering on the team that I didn't even think about the news! But, as soon as we got in the car, Skyler let us know that her mom sent her a text about how great it was. And then I looked at my phone and saw I had a LOT of missed messages. A lot of people were sending me texts and posting online about how cool the news had been. Corra was spending the night, so as soon as we got to my house we both ran inside to watch the news.

  As soon as we got inside we crowded around the TV to see the recorded story. The piece started with the announcer standing on the empty field talking about how good both the JV and varsity teams were doing, and also how many people were coming to the games. But, she explained, people were coming to see a team that looked like never before, and not just because of our playing.

  That was when the footage switched to shots of our Wednesday night game. There were shots of us playing while Stephanie Wells explained that this season we were all wearing masks to protect our noses, all because of me. They described me as a “sophomore team member, whose early season injury brought the team closer than ever before.”

  “When Fiona got hit in the face with the ball during that game, it was really scary!”

  The quote was from Skyler and was followed by a few girls that also explained how scary it was to see me bleeding so much and watch as I got carried off the field. There was also a quick comment from Coach explaining that he expected me to quit since I was so new to the team when I suffered the injury.

  “But Fiona Mealing decided to stick with the team. She was determined to see the season through, but would need to do so through this headgear.” Stephanie held up a nose guard similar to mine before it was decorated. It was funny now to think how upset I was when I first saw it.

  That was, of course, what the girls on the team started talking about in the interviews next. Sam, Kaitlyn, Skyler, and Maggie all talked about how hard it was to see me so upset about wearing the nose protector. They explained that seeing me in tears at practice after all I'd been through with breaking my nose made them know they needed to do something to fix it.

  “Even though we'd only been on the same team with Fiona for a few months it was really hard seeing how upset she was,” Maggie explained in the interview that was taken during practice. “We all talked about it and decided we needed to show her that we're more than just a team, we're a family.”

  From there the screen showed an image of me in my face mask after it was decorated by the other girls. It was from the game on Wednesday, taken when I was standing and looking around the field before one of the throw-ins. It was really cool though, because it also showed the other girls on the field in their masks again, while they added in a quote that Skyler said.

  “Decorating her face mask wasn't enough,” Skyler's voice explained over the footage on the screen. “While the paint on her mask was drying we realized that we needed to show her we didn’t just feel bad for her that she had to wear the mask, we needed to show her we'd be there for her through it all.”

  That was when they played a clip from the video Maggie posted. Stephanie explained that the now viral video showed the moment I got my new mask, something that truly brought the team together.

  “And they truly have been working together ever since,” Stephanie smiled to the camera. “Both teams are on winning streaks that are getting them closer and closer to the state championship. With only a few games between now and the end of the season, one question is on everyone's mind. Will Fiona wear the mask once her doctors tell her she's okay to go without?”

  As expected this was followed by my answer to the similar question I'd been asked. It was weird to watch that part, since it was me, first of all, and second of all I didn't remember what I in reply! Surprisingly, I gave a pretty good answer in the end.

  “Honestly, when I first got the mask I couldn't wait to be done wearing it,” I said with a little laugh after it. I’m sure some people thought it was me being cute, but I knew it was actually my nerves. “But now I don’t know if it'll be the same playing without it. It kind of became our good luck charm since then, and seeing the support from fans makes wearing it a lot less scary than when I first saw it. I actually never even asked my doctor when I could stop wearing it. It’s too much of a part of our uniform to take it off now.”

  For the rest of the news spot, Stephanie explaining that Saturday (tomorrow) was our district tournament. She explained that if we won we'd be heading to state next weekend. All of this was voiced over while they showed shots of us practicing. Most of the shots had me in them, but it wasn't embarrassing or anything like that. Instead, it felt good to see that I didn’t look totally stupid on the film.

  Finally, just before the piece was over there was a quote from me, one that was from when I answered a question about the face mask, but worked to sum up the whole story. “Seeing my team support me by getting their own masks was so cool. I was shocked. And seeing the fans jump on board too was amazing. We’re trying to win games and get to state this year, but seeing them all support me like that made me feel like we already won it all.”

  The shot then went back to Gloria and Henry at the news desk, who were of course wearing face masks now. They gave info about the tournament tomorrow and also where fans could go to get their own mask to show support before they sent viewers to commercial. In all, the whole thing was maybe ten minutes, but it was more amazing than I ever could've imagined!

  Tears were flowing down my face as I gave Skyler and everyone in the living room big hugs! Then I made sure to log onto Facebook to post a big thanks to everyone who helped make the whole news spot happen, especially my teammates who said such great stuff about me. Everyone of course replied and started commenting and liking and basically going crazy, so it actually got to the point where I was on my phone texting while I was also on my laptop trying to message people at the same time. Corra had to help me out as time went on, since more and more people were getting home from the game and watching the news. I actually had to turn my phone off completely to write this and so I can actually get some sleep. And I’m going to bed right now since I have to be up super early for the tournament. I'm certain people online are all still talking about everything, but it'll just have to wait until after tomorrow is over!

  OCTOBER 26TH-SUNDAY

  It's a little bit after noon, and I just now finally woke up! I'm so exhausted from yesterday, and clearly needed all the sleep I could get! And, I don’t even have a lot of time to write since Beth is coming over to work on homework since I feel like I am super behind for studying for our English text on Tuesday.
But I'm going to try to get the important stuff down.

  I guess I should start by saying that yesterday morning when I got to school to catch the bus to the tournament, all anyone could talk about was the news spot! Everyone was talking about the whole team and how cool it was to see everyone on the news. It was nice to know I wasn't the only one with a Facebook page and phone that was totally blowing up thanks to everyone getting super excited about it all last night!

  Well, we got to Chesterfield for the tournament and from there the day was a huge whirlwind! Both the JV team and the varsity each had games through the whole day, all at different times and in different fields. The Chesterfield Sports Complex has about 20 soccer fields, so the whole place was super busy and crazy the whole time. Our first games weren't long after we got arrived, so we did a quick team huddle and someone even said a quick prayer, and then we were off!

  The way the tournament works is that every team's playing and trying to rack up points during their first games. You get points for winning, tying, and even for getting a lot more goals than the other teams. Everyone plays the first three games and then the points are determined and the top teams in both varsity and JV move on. Next up, teams still in the tournament play two games knockout style, so if you lose you're done for the day. From there, the top four teams in each division play a series of three shorter games that will determine the overall top two teams that move on to state based on the same points from the first three games and also the final three games. Confusing, right? But it's the way they've done things for a few years now and seems to work pretty well. Some parents feel like good teams might be tired by the end of the day and might not win games due to that, but basically everyone else just kind of figures if you're a really good team then you shouldn’t be getting that tired!