Snow Soccer
Page 8
Every time a Sparks player tried to pressure the Blizzard, they moved the ball. Eventually, the Sparks retreated. They formed a defensive shell just outside their eighteen-yard box.
The Blizzard moved ahead easily. But they had to shoot from far away because of the tough defence. Few of their shots got close enough to threaten the Sparks’ goalie.
Sarimah and her teammates weren’t smiling as the first half ended.
“Don’t worry so much about the time,” Coach K said, during the break. “The chances will come. The Sparks know they can’t catch us.”
Sarimah grabbed a water bottle and took a drink and then handed the bottle to Molly. Sarimah saw someone coming toward her.
“Papa?”
The other girls looked at Sarimah, and then at her father. He was standing just outside the field. Coach K walked over to him and smiled.
“Welcome,” he said. “It is wonderful to see you again.”
Sarimah ran to give her father a hug. He shook hands with Coach K and then wrapped an arm around his daughter’s shoulders.
“What are you doing here?” she asked him.
“I do not wish to interrupt. I love football,” he said in halting English. “I have a plan.”
“We’re happy for the help. Let’s hear it,” Coach K said.
Sarimah’s father spoke to Sarimah in Arabic.
“It’s too complicated for his English,” she told the coach. “I’ll translate.”
“He says we need to crowd the right side,” Sarimah explained. “That is where the defence is weak. Overlap and look for a pass into their area. But not just in the air. We should go along the ground and sometimes behind the play, back to the top of the box.”
Sarimah knew her father liked soccer and knew a lot about it. But she had never heard him speak with such authority. He sounded just like a real coach. She tried to sound the same way.
“I was thinking the same thing. Let’s try it,” said Coach K. He grinned. “And maybe your father should come to more practices and games.”
Sarimah hugged her father again before he returned to his seat. Sarimah had never been more proud of him.
20
Name Game
Coach K called the Blizzard into a huddle. He told the girls what to try in the second half. Most of it was what Sarimah’s father had said.
Within minutes, the girls had found a way down the right side.
Sarimah and Rosy controlled the ball along the wing. Each girl kicked a crossing pass right at the goalie. Giorgianna was there to go for the passes.
Coach K urged Kaelynn and Molly to join the rush to help her. Suddenly the Blizzard’s players were able to find some open space in the penalty area.
Rosy crossed two passes in a row. But the Blizzard couldn’t get headers on goal. Lisa tried a pass along the turf from the other side. Molly was there to one-time it, and her shot forced the goalie to dive across her net.
Sarimah thought that Molly was going to score for sure. But she watched as the goalie made another great save. Even so, the Blizzard was getting somewhere with the new strategy.
At least the smiles have started to appear again, thought Sarimah.
Sarimah and Izzy continued to chase down everything in the middle of the park. Lisa and Rosy ran up and down the sidelines, getting more chances to cross the ball into the goal area.
The Sparks’ goalie was tall and fast. Until now, the Blizzard players hadn’t really tested her. When they did, they found that she was up to the challenge.
Sarimah was starting to get nervous. She thought the game must be nearly over. The smiles and the energy on her team were fading. And the Sparks were starting to take more chances.
It was still 0-0. Sarimah decided she needed to take a chance.
Rosy was battling a defender on the right wing. Rather than join her, Sarimah sprinted to the centre of the field. The Sparks player didn’t see her and tried a pass back to her goalie. Sarimah was there to intercept the ball in the penalty area. She stopped it, dragged it back a little and looked for an opening.
Before she could shoot or pass, a defender knocked her down from behind.
“Oof!”
Tweeeeet!
Everyone on the Blizzard side jumped and cheered. Sarimah looked up in time to see the referee pointing to the penalty spot.
The Sparks shouted in protest.
“My player was going for the ball!” screamed the Sparks’ coach from the sideline. “It was fifty-fifty! The Blizzard player is so tiny! She falls so easily!”
The ref didn’t even look at the Sparks’ bench. He just motioned everyone away from the penalty spot and called Sarimah to the dot. He handed her the ball and walked back to the goal line.
Sarimah held the ball in her hands. It was spongy, yet firm. The Soccer Centre’s lights reflected off its surface. She looked around. Everyone was staring at her, players and fans alike.
Sarimah decided it was okay to be centre of attention this time. She was on the field, playing a game. That made it all right for people to stare at her. Besides, the last time she took a penalty shot she had been wearing snow boots. The time before that, she had been in a refugee camp with Hassan and Aamir. She couldn’t believe how much had changed in such a short time.
She could only hope her friends from the camp were as happy as she was now. She hoped they had been able to find somewhere better to live.
“This is for Hassan and Aamir,” she said to herself.
Sarimah put the ball down and stepped back. She looked at the bottom-right corner of the goal before starting her approach. Sarimah studied the same right-hand side until she noticed the goalie’s eyes glance in that direction. The goalie shuffled a little to that side.
That was what Sarimah was hoping to see. She started her run, picking up a little extra speed at the end. She raised her right foot and swung hard. She used the side of her foot to keep the ball low.
Instead of shooting for the right, though, she hit the ball hard to her left. The goalie fell for the fake and jumped in the opposite direction.
Sarimah scored into the open side of the net.
***
After the celebrations following the game, and once the Blizzard players accepted their gold medals, Sarimah found herself sitting alone.
She had hugged everyone on her team twice. Coach K came over to shake her hand. “I want to talk to your father,” the coach said. “I think I have a job for him.”
Sarimah watched the two men talk, off to one side. She put her soccer cleats into her bag and stood up to join her father.
“You had better keep those boots somewhere safe,” someone said.
Sarimah turned to see Izzy standing alone, behind her.
“Well, I will be able to use them in the future,” Sarimah said with a smile. “They are a little too big, still.”
Izzy laughed.
“Hey, that was a great game,” Izzy said. “I am so glad you played with us this year.”
Sarimah gathered her equipment. Together, the two friends walked slowly toward the exit.
“Did I ever tell you, I admire your name?” Sarimah asked. “Isobel is a very holy name.”
Izzy stopped walking. She scrunched up her nose as she looked at Sarimah, but she didn’t say anything.
“Don’t you know what your name means? It means pledged to God. I looked it up in the library. Where I am from, what your name means is important.”
“That’s cool. Thanks. I’ve always gone by Izzy, after my grandmother, Elizabeth. Are you very religious?”
“Oh,” Sarimah said. “It is important for most Muslim people, at least a little bit. For my family, it is important. But it’s not all we think about. We like soccer, too.”
“I think that’s just like our family. What does Sarimah mean?”
“
Well, it means many things, but mostly it means brave.”
Izzy looked over at Sarimah as they reached the door that would lead them into the spectators’ area.
“Brave, huh? That’s awesome.”
“Thank you. It could also mean strong or courageous, and wise, too.”
Sarimah could see a smile start to spread across Izzy’s face.
“Oh, sure. You’re just fooling with me now, aren’t you? It can’t mean all those things.”
“No, I am being honest,” Sarimah said.
“I’m sorry,” Izzy said, turning a little red. “Wow, that’s an amazing name. But, you know what?”
“Yes?”
“It makes total sense. All those things you did, all that stuff you had to go through in Syria? That was so brave. Your name fits you perfectly.”
Sarimah could feel her heart beating quickly. She had not been this happy since before the war started. She felt more at peace than she had in years. Being in Canada and playing soccer with her friends made her feel at home.
“You know,” said Sarimah. “My name, it also means beautiful. And smart. And really good at soccer.”
Izzy gave Sarimah a puzzled look. Then they both burst out laughing.
“You believed me, didn’t you?” asked Sarimah.
“Not for a second,” Izzy said, laughing. “But I believe you are going to do just fine here in Canada.”
Acknowledgements
This book wouldn’t have been possible without the thoughtful and thorough guidance of editor Kat Mototsune. To all the staff at Lorimer for their work in helping this book become reality, thank you. Special thanks to Alya Ramadan and her family for their insights. I’m grateful for early guidance from Project Literacy in Kelowna. Finally, this is for any girl who just wants the chance to play soccer.
About the Author
DAVID TRIFUNOV is an award-winning sportswriter and freelance journalist based in Kelowna, B.C. His work has appeared in newspapers, magazines, and websites across Canada and the United States and he is the author of the critically-acclaimed Sports Stories novel Ice Time. When not writing, he’s raising three daughters with his wife, Erin.
Copyright © 2017 by David Trifunov
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
James Lorimer & Company Ltd., Publishers acknowledges the support of the Ontario Arts Council. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities. We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts which last year invested $24.3 million in writing and publishing throughout Canada. We acknowledge the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Ontario Book Initiative.
We acknowledge the [financial] support of the Government of Canada.
Nous reconnaissons l’appui [financier] du gouvernement du Canada.
Cover design: Tyler Cleroux
Cover image: Shutterstock & iStock
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Trifunov, David, author
Snow soccer / David Trifunov.
(Sports stories)
Issued in print and electronic formats.
ISBN 978-1-4594-1193-7 (paperback).--ISBN 978-1-4594-1195-1 (epub)
I. Title. II. Series: Sports stories (Toronto, Ont.)
PS8639.R535S66 2017 jC813’.6 C2016-906036-5
C2016-906037-3
This digital edition first published in 2017 as 978-1-4594-1195-1
Originally published in 2017 as 978-1-4594-1193-7
James Lorimer & Company Ltd., Publishers
117 Peter Street, Suite 304
Toronto, ON, Canada
M5V 0M3
www.lorimer.ca