Goalkeeper in Charge

by Matt Christopher

  “Sure, maybe I will,” Tina replied, managing a smile. Then she hung back, leaving Meg to chat happily with Zoe. Meg was obviously looking forward to this.

  It wasn’t that Tina hated malls or never went to the one nearby. She went, now and then. She sometimes shopped for clothes there with her mom, and sometimes she and Meg went to the movies. But Tina never hung out with other kids at the mall or anywhere else.

  Tina knew how it would be. She’d sit there trying to think of stuff to say, and nothing would come out of her mouth. Everyone else would talk and laugh and have a great time, and Tina would sit like a lump. Other girls would wonder what her problem was, and it would only get worse, until finally it would be time to go home.

  They locked up their bikes in the mall parking area, and Zoe led them toward the Food Court, where a dozen fast-food places sold all lands of stuff and there was a big central area full of tables and chairs. Sure enough, a group of a dozen girls sat together, chatting and giggling. Tina felt herself getting stiff and uncomfortable. A couple of the girls looked up, spotted Zoe, and waved. Zoe waved back and started in their direction, with Meg following eagerly and Tina bringing up the rear.

  Zoe introduced Tina and Meg to everyone. Tina heard a bunch of names: Cilia, Jane, Maddy, Lynn, Annette, Tiffany… she couldn’t remember which girl went with which name. She had met or at least seen a few of the girls at school, but she wasn’t even sure which ones. Tina sat down on the edge of the group and smiled and waited for it to be over.

  Zoe sat down next to her. “How do you like being a goalkeeper? Is it fun?”

  Tina was surprised, then remembered that Meg had probably asked Zoe to help Tina feel like part of the group. That had to be why Zoe was trying to talk to her.

  “Well, I’m not a goalkeeper — not yet. But practice was okay.”

  “When did you start playing soccer?”

  “I played on my first team when I was six. But my dad and I started kicking the ball around when I was three. He loves soccer.”

  Zoe smiled. “Really? That’s awesome! My dad and my brother don’t care about any sport but football. I mean, they go to my games, but I think it bores them. You’re lucky.”

  Tina shrugged. “Well, my dad is from Argentina, and soccer is, like, the number one sport there. He played when he was younger, and he watches it all the time.”

  Zoe nodded. “Uh-huh. See, my dad was a football player in high school, and my older brother plays on the high school football team. So I’m the only one who cares about soccer at home. I don’t think my brother even knows how many players are on a soccer team.”

  “That’s too bad. I mean, Dad can be totally boring when he goes on and on about great Argentine soccer stars, but at least he cares, and he knows the game. My little brother is totally into baseball, though.” Tina found that she was having no problem chatting with Zoe.

  “Yo, Maddy! Does your mom know you’re sitting here scarfing down junk food? Give me some of that pizza!”

  A skinny redheaded boy had come racing up to the table.

  The girl who had to be Maddy sneered up at the redhead. “Why don’t you go play in the Kiddy Korner, Sean?”

  Several other boys came along behind him in a noisy, laughing crowd. The girls knew and liked the boys, and a loud, teasing conversation began. Zoe was drawn in, and Meg, of course, was delighted with the new arrivals. Tina sat like a statue with an embarrassed smile on her face.

  She was wondering if she could sneak away without being spotted, when she saw her neighbor, Dave, standing alone on the edge of the crowd, looking as unhappy as Tina felt. He saw Tina, and his face brightened. He waved. She smiled back, and he came over.

  “Hi! How you doing?” she asked.

  Dave looked back at the crowd of yelling, laughing kids. “Better since I saw you. These guys from my class asked me if I wanted to come here with them, and I said yes because I want new friends, but… I guess it takes time.”

  Tina sighed. “Tell me about it. I came because a girl on our team asked Meg and me. Well, Meg is having fun. But I’d rather be somewhere else.”

  “Boy, me too.” Dave sat next to Tina and spoke quietly so only Tina could hear him. “I mean, I guess they’re nice guys and all. But it takes me time to relax with people I don’t know. I was happy to see you here.”

  “Really?” It was good to hear someone — especially a boy — say that her being here made him happy. “Me too. I mean, I’m not great in big groups like this, and I don’t really know these people, either. Except Meg, that is. Oh, and Zoe, who’s nice. But before I saw you I was thinking maybe I could just leave without anyone noticing.”

  Dave nodded, looking at the other kids. “Meg looks like she’s enjoying. herself.”

  Tina smiled and sighed. “Meg is amazing. She always fits right in. I don’t understand how she does that. I always freeze up. I wish I could be more like her.”

  “So, how’s soccer going?” asked Dave.

  “Pretty good, so far. Except it looks like I’m going to be the goalkeeper, or one of them.”

  Dave’s eyes widened. “No kidding! Hey, great! Congratulations!”

  Tina shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  Dave looked surprised. “Wow. How could that be bad news?”

  “It is if you don’t want a spotlight on you,” Tina explained. “Everyone watches the keeper. People cheer you one day and boo you the next, and I don’t want either one. You even wear different colors from the rest of the team.”

  Dave nodded. “I guess I understand. But I still think it’s a great chance for you. When you stand out on a team, you’re automatically popular. Then you get used to people wanting to spend time with you. This is your chance!”

  Tina stared at Dave. “If someone’s a good athlete, they’re popular even if they’re boring? That doesn’t make any sense!”

  Dave shrugged. “Maybe, but it’s true.”

  “But what if I do a terrible job as keeper? Then everyone will hate me!”

  Dave thought for a moment before replying. “At my last school, we read this poem in English class. It was about a guy who was so afraid of being disappointed or of doing things wrong that he wound up never doing anything at all, ever. I think that’s the worst thing that can happen to someone.”

  After a moment, Tina said, “So I should go to the mall and hang out with kids I don’t really know or feel comfortable with because it’s even worse to be alone and do nothing?”

  Dave laughed. “Well… yeah, I guess.”

  “Uh, Tina?” Tina was so involved in talking to Dave that she was startled to see Zoe standing there with two other girls.

  “Oh, hi. Uh … I… It’s … ,” Tina stammered. “Um, do you know Dave? Dave, this is Zoe. She’s on our team.”

  Zoe and Dave exchanged hellos.

  “I wanted you to meet my friends, Maddy and Lynn,” Zoe said. “This is Tina. She’s going to be a great goalkeeper. Tina, you saw Lynn at practice, she’s a midfielder.”

  Tina remembered Lynn, though they hadn’t talked.

  “I’m glad you’re going to be a keeper,” Lynn said, looking like she meant it. “I wish we had you with the Wildcats last year.”

  Tina held up a hand. “I don’t know how good I’ll be, yet.”

  “If Danielle and Pepper say you can do it, I bet you can,” Lynn replied. “Danielle’s a good coach, don’t you think?”

  Tina was surprised that Lynn wanted her opinion. “Yeah, she’s great. Pepper too.”

  A couple of other girls joined them, and suddenly Tina found herself part of a group of girls, talking about teachers, classes, and other stuff. Dave caught her eye and grinned. He mouthed the words “I told you so” and left to talk with other kids.

  A while later, Meg came over and tapped Tina’s arm. “I need to get home soon.”

  “Okay,” said Tina, getting up. “We have to go,” she said to Zoe. “See you next week.”

  “Bye, Tina, Meg,” Zoe said. The other gir
ls said good-bye. Tina and Meg waved to Dave and got their bikes.

  As they rode, Meg was in a great mood. “That was great! They’re nice girls —- and some of those boys too! Aren’t you glad we went?”

  Tina thought about it. She was glad, sort of. But something was still bothering her.

  “Teen, come on! I saw you in that mall! You were talking to those girls, and they were talking to you! Admit it! You had fun!”

  “It was nice,” Tina admitted. “But…”

  “But what?” Meg demanded. “Those girls liked you! Am I right or not?”

  “Did they like me?” asked Tina. “Or were they just being nice because I’m a good athlete, or because you and Zoe asked them to?”

  Meg stopped her bike with a squeal of brakes. Tina stopped to see what was wrong.

  “Sometimes I do not believe you!” Meg stormed. “You’re so sure you’re boring that if people do talk to you then it has to be for some weird reason! They feel sorry for you or they think you’ll be a soccer star or I asked them to be nice to you. Can’t you just accept that people may really like you? Right now I can’t see why, but they do! I usually like you! Maybe other people might, even if you were an awful soccer player!”

  Tina was so surprised by Meg’s outburst that she stood there with her mouth open. Then, realizing how silly she had sounded, she began to laugh. Finally, Meg joined in.

  “Okay, I sounded dumb just now,” Tina admitted. “You’re right, I don’t make sense sometimes. But that’s how I feel, even if it sounds stupid.”

  She held her hand over her heart and gave Meg a solemn look. “I pledge to try to believe that kids might enjoy my company. Okay? I really will.”

  Meg glared at her friend. “Well, okay. Teen, you’re not boring. But you are weird.”

  6

  Danielle? Can I talk to you a minute?”

  Practice was about to begin, and Tina wanted to get this little conversation over before she changed her mind.

  Danielle, who was writing on a clipboard, said, “Sure thing. What’s up?”

  “About goalkeeping,” Tina said. “I decided I want to. I mean, I’ll be the Wildcat goalkeeper, or one of them. If you want.”

  Danielle said, “I’m glad to hear it. You and Andrea will both get plenty of playing time, I promise you. It’s time to get started.” The coach clapped her hands loudly and called out, “Listen up, everyone! Over here, please!”

  The players, who had been stretching, chatting, and checking their gear, gathered in a group around Danielle and Pepper.

  “Today, after we finish our drills, we’ll be doing some scrimmages,” said Danielle. “We’ll begin with short-sided ones, four-on-four, and we’ll move on to nine-on-nine, which is the most we can do since we only have eighteen players. But we don’t have a great deal of time before we begin playing games, so we need to work on game strategies.

  “We’ll also practice corner kicks, throw-ins, free lacks, and other special situations. For now, we’ll split into two groups for drills. The following players will work with me, and the others with Pepper.”

  Tina was in Pepper’s group, along with Zoe and Cindy. One of the things Tina liked best about her coaches was that they had so many different drills for basic skills such as dribbling and passing. Because of the variety, what might have been a monotonous activity remained fresh and interesting.

  For example, today’s drills included one in which the players and Pepper formed a circle twenty yards wide. Every other player had a ball. When Pepper blew her whistle, those with balls had to dribble across the circle and pass to the opposite player, who would then do the same. As they dribbled, players had to watch out for each other, so they couldn’t watch their feet. Tina was an experienced player, but even she had some problems avoiding teammates coming at her from the side.

  In another drill, the girls paired off and took turns dribbling, keeping the other player from stealing the ball by screening her off with her body and making more use of the outside edges of the feet in moving the ball.

  Tina was paired with Cindy. Cindy had quick feet and had no trouble controlling the ball no matter what Tina did. When they switched, Cindy flicked the ball away from Tina with a lightning move. A moment later, she did it again. Tina couldn’t see how and wanted to ask her. But as soon as the drill ended, Cindy turned and walked away without a word.

  Tina walked over to Zoe. “Is Cindy mad at me? I’ve never even talked to her.”

  Zoe shook her head. “No, that’s just how she is. Last summer she went to soccer camp, and now she thinks she should be a star. Anyone who’s any good is a threat to her. You’re a threat because you’re good and the coach paid attention to you.”

  “Danielle doesn’t want stars,” said Tina.

  Zoe shrugged. “Cindy wants to be one anyway. Lynn asked Cindy how she did some move, and Cindy wouldn’t tell her.”

  Tina noticed Cindy with two other players. “Well, she talks to some people.”

  “Maybe they’re not good enough to be a threat to her,” Zoe replied.

  Tina was puzzled. Cindy’s attitude went against what Tina thought soccer was all about.

  After the break, the coaches set up two four-on-four scrimmages. Using cones, they outlined two half-sized soccer fields, each with a single half-width goal. Two teams of four played on both fields, and the ninth player of each group was the goalkeeper for both teams. Every two minutes, the keeper would switch positions with one of the other players.

  Tina was happy not to be in the goal for this scrimmage. Her team included Zoe, and Cindy was on the opposing side. Tina knew that Zoe was a better shooter than she was. When their side had the ball, Tina decided to set Zoe up. Taking a pass from another teammate, Tina dribbled toward the goal, hoping to draw players toward her and leave Zoe open. Sure enough, the defender who was marking, or guarding, Zoe moved in to block Tina’s shot. But Tina faked the shot and passed to Zoe on the left wing. Zoe’s low, hard shot went past the keepers dive for a goal.

  “Great defense!” sneered Cindy, and the girl who had been marking Zoe turned red from embarrassment. A minute later, Cindy, on offense, tried to dribble in for a shot, but Tina slid in front of her and knocked the ball away with her left foot. As Tina got up, Cindy glared at her but said nothing. The play had been perfectly legal.

  For the rest of the scrimmage, Cindy saw to it that she stayed in Tina’s shadow, so Tina’s teammates had trouble getting her the ball. When Tina did get it, Cindy was all over her. Then, Zoe intercepted a pass and caught Cindy by surprise. Tina raced toward the goal and Zoe passed the ball perfectly, setting Tina up for a shot.

  Before Tina could shoot, Cindy dived in from the side in a tackle that cut Tina’s legs out from under her. She fell, and the ball squirted loose. Pepper blew her whistle to stop play.

  “Cindy, that’s a foul! In a game, you’d get a yellow card for that tackle. Play the ball, not the player’s legs!”

  Tina got up, brushing away loose grass…

  “You okay?” asked Zoe.

  Tina nodded. “I’m fine.”

  Cindy neither asked Tina how she was nor apologized. As Zoe stared coldly at Cindy, Pepper called, “Okay, nobody’s hurt, play on!”

  At first, Tina felt an ache in her right leg, but it went away. Just before the scrimmage ended, Tina had the satisfaction of intercepting a pass meant for Cindy that would have left Cindy open for a shot. Once again, Cindy said nothing, but an ugly scowl appeared on her face.

  As the scrimmage came to an end, Pepper beckoned to Cindy and talked to her quietly. Zoe and Tina watched. It was clear that Cindy didn’t like what the coach was saying.

  “What’s with her?” Zoe asked.

  Tina shrugged. She didn’t have a clue.

  While Danielle took the rest of the team to work on corner kicks, Pepper went off with Tina and Andrea for some goalkeeping drills.

  To start, they did the drill in which they lay on their backs, threw balls in the air, and jumped u
p to try to catch them before they hit the ground. Tina had worked on this at home and was able to get to her feet more quickly. Andrea was still having trouble.

  After watching the other girl for a moment, Tina said, “Try rolling to the side and pushing yourself up with a hand.”

  Andrea did what Tina suggested and found that she could scramble up more quickly. She grinned at Tina. “Hey, thanks.”

  The two keepers then spent time throwing or rolling “shots” for the other one to catch or block. When Tina dived to her right to trap a ball, she found that her leg was still a little sore. But she played on, realizing that the problem wasn’t serious.

  For the last part of the practice, the team split into squads of nine for a full-field scrimmage. Tina and Andrea were the keepers, as they would be in regular games. Cindy and Meg were on Tina’s squad, and Cindy was a midfielder.

  A minute into the scrimmage, Tina was faced with a scoring threat as Zoe, Lynn, and another girl moved into position for a shot. Tina started out of the goal to try to cut down their shooting angle, but as she did, Cindy darted in front of her, blocking her view of Lynn and the ball. Tina suddenly saw the ball, headed for the left corner of the goalmouth. She made a desperate lunge to the left and managed to punch the ball away. But Zoe controlled it and got off a second shot. This one was high, and Tina had to leap for it. She caught the ball overhead, brought it down, and rolled it out to Meg, who was unguarded in the backfield.

  “Hey!” Cindy yelled. “I was right in front of you! That should have gone to me!”

  Tina fought back the urge to yell, Well, you shouldn’t have been in front of me! She knew that Danielle had to have seen what Cindy did, but Danielle didn’t say a word.

  As play went on, it appeared to Tina that Cindy had decided that Danielle approved of her behavior, because she kept on getting in Tina’s way in front of the goal and yelling at Tina (and at other teammates as well) when they didn’t pass the ball to her.

  During a brief break in the action, Meg whispered to Tina, “That Cindy is such a creep! Why don’t you talk to the coach about her?”