by Cole Alpaugh
No matter how much they have lost, everyone needs to feel there is still hope.
Back under the glaring sun, Webster Jon Widgy moved the wrong way at the last second. The perfectly placed pass from Tylea somehow missed his dirty forehead by a foot, bounding harmlessly across the endline for a goal kick by the other team.
The moms began to cheer anyway. Tylea and Webster Jon ran back to their positions to defend, to try again. There was still plenty of time on the clock.
Hope was alive and well on their dirt field.
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Cole Alpaugh is a former journalist, having worked at daily newspapers along the East Coast, as well as spending several years as a war correspondent in numerous hot-spots around the world for Manhattan-based news agencies. His work has appeared in dozens of magazines, as well as most newspapers in America. He was nominated by Gannett News Service for a 1991 Pulitzer Prize. Cole is currently a freelance photographer and writer living in Northeast Pennsylvania, where he also coaches his daughter's soccer kick-arounds. You can find him online at www.colealpaugh.com.