Chapter 19

July 4, 2017

Dear Ms. Diary,

[Written on July 5, 2017]

[Whew! My life is obviously getting hectic. Yesterday’s entry was another long entry and I’ve still got to catch up on today; actually, tomorrow in diary time.]

At the 6:05 alarm, we got up and dressed in knockabout t-shirts and shorts for breakfast; no sense spilling something on the uniforms. When we got to the kitchen, Mom was busy finishing up making breakfast (eggs and waffles), so hadn’t hugged us. Dad had no such constraints. After he hugged me, he cocked his head at Heather. She nodded and stepped toward him; Dad enveloped her.

As we were heading to the garage, Heather and I in our uniforms, Rhee came in the back door, right in front of Heather. Apparently, Heather’s eyebrows went up and Rhee explained to her that she and I had keys to each other’s house. I heard a quiet, ‘wow’ from Heather.

“Just tell me if I’m out of line, but your two families don’t really seem like different families. They seem more like a single extended family. Like, maybe, nearby cousins or siblings.”

Dad, who had come up behind us, answered, “It’s Rhee’s fault, as she’s the primary connection between the families. You’re not the first to make such a comment.”

In the meantime, Rhee had hugged Heather ‘Good morning.’

Then she said, “Let’s go kick some Watermelon Mountain ... uh ... posterior.”

Dad responded. “Rhee is the primary connection, Heather, but she’s still a capital-b ‘Brat.’”

The Brat came back with, “I love you, too, Dad,” and she proceeded to hug him.

Heather shook her head, as if she’d just taken one hit too many, then said, “You guys are incredible. I don’t have a lot of experience with families, but I’ve never seen anything like this. You’re not remotely insular; more like peninsular, and a broad peninsula at that.”

Dad looked at her, his brain obviously processing rapidly. He glanced at me; I shrugged. Yeah, she’s either damned smart or very well read. Or both. I may probe that. Carefully.

The ride to Watermelon Mountain’s field was long, but enjoyable, with a wide-ranging conversation that revealed more of Heather’s knowledge set. Dad seemed astounded, as he shook his head a couple times in disbelief, particularly at a couple instances when neither Rhee nor I knew the topic on which she was expounding.

We arrived at the field 45 minutes before the 9:15 game time. We had the ball bag and the bag of stuff about the team that Coach had given me. Shortly after we arrived, other team members started arriving. Gracey’s mom brought Gracey, Mia, and, thank god, Ann. The six of us started stretching. As other players wandered in, they followed our lead.

At 8:40, I got a text from Coach: “Arrival ~9:30; usual line-up, including you. I let WM coach know.”

I pondered the situation briefly, then nodded my head. I probably couldn’t go too wrong in 15 minutes as both player and coach.

After we finished stretching, I informed the team that Coach would be here, but a few minutes late. I also let them know that we were running the usual line-up, but with Heather starting for the injured Lissa, who had come out to watch the game. She had cornered Heather and, from what I could tell from the bits that I overheard, was telling her about Watermelon Mountain’s defense (it hadn’t changed much from last year, so most of us were familiar with it).

That discussion, though, jogged something in my brain, and I made a note to mention it to the team after the usual pre-game warmups were done, but before the game started. Ann and I got those warm-up drills going, and I then sauntered over to Lissa and sat beside her on the bench.

“Thanks for bringing Heather up to speed on the WM D. Did you see, or do you know, if they have the same left fullback as last year?”

She nodded and said, “They do.”

“Do I remember correctly that she’s not the fastest defender that they have?”

Again, she nodded. “Yeah, I had a hectic weekend – family and urgent care visit about the ankle. Oh, nothing bad there, but my mom was concerned, so ... Anyway, I had meant to call you, but forgot. I was just telling Heather that if she got into a one-on-one situation with their left back, that she could probably kick it past her and run around her and still beat her to the ball. As long as she put the ball past her on the sideline side.”

“Yeah, that was the thing that popped into my own head when I overheard your talk with Heather. I think that we can make use of that. Thanks, Lissa.” I then hugged her. “You know, since you’re not doing much, it would be great if you could watch their D and see if you think of any other ways to exploit it and let Coach know if you do.”

“Yeah, I was planning on that.”

“Hmm. I think that you need an official position with the team, something like ‘Strategy Assistant.’”

She chuckled. Her face got more serious and she said, “Actually, I’ve been thinking about something else. I’m coming to practice tomorrow. Maybe, you and Coach and I ... oh, maybe Ann, could talk ahead of time about it. Oh, since it’s an offense thing, maybe include Rhee and Mia?”

I looked at her for only a few seconds, then said, “My life has gotten hectic of late. So much so that I had mostly forgotten yesterday that Coach might not have made today’s game. So, could you send a text to all those that you mentioned and request ... what? ... ten?... 15 minutes before practice?”

She nodded, and I thanked her.

I was walking toward the field when I saw what must be WM’s coach walking toward me.

“You’re Beth Williams, right?”

“Yeah, you’re the coach?”

He nodded, then said, “Pam ... your coach ... called me this morning to say that she’d be a little late and that you were filling in for her.”

I nodded, and we dealt with the usual pre-game details. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Ann had everything under control, so I focused on WM’s coach, Richard something-or-other (I didn’t quite catch it).

We were just finishing up when the referee came over to give us the usual details from her perspective and introduced the “linesmen” (neither one was an adult and only one was male). At that point, the referee gave us five minutes before the whistle blew.

Ann had obviously seen the referee join the coaches conference, so she had gotten all the balls put away and gotten everyone together.

As I came up to the team, I said, “Thanks, Ann. You’re a lifesaver. All right, huddle up.”

I waited for the team to close in around me, and I continued in as quiet a voice as I could manage and still have everyone hear me.

“Lissa remembered this defense from last year’s game and came up with a great idea. Their left fullback is one of the slower defenders that we’ve seen. Given that she’s going to be trying to guard our fastest member, Lissa thought that we could take advantage of that. Now, Lissa would just dribble around her, but she suggested that if Heather gets the ball on the wing in behind their midfielders, Heather could probably just chip it past her and beat her to the ball deeper on their side. This means that with our other speed demon playing center forward, we should be able to get a two-on-one on their center fullback.”

I looked at Mia and continued. “That should mean that their right fullback will probably shift left to help, and I’m sure that you can think of something that might make her pay for leaving you unguarded. Yes?”

Mia grinned and nodded.

“Anyway, folks. We’re going to use our front-line speed a lot today. That will probably mean lots of chips over the top from midfield or farther back. So, I expect the midfield and the defense to keep a weather eye on the forwards, particularly Heather and Rhee who, I hope, will be unabashed at streaking.”

I got the expected chuckles and carried on.

“I want our offense to cause them so many problems that they have a hard time getting their own offense going – and it’s a respectable O, don’t forget. I want to push hard. Of course, Ann, that will probably leave you and the D a little threadbare, so please let me or Coach know if it gets to be too much.

“Last thing. Rhee, Rathi, Heather. If we get the kickoff, I’d like to try a lightning strike; get them back on their heels as soon as possible. Rhee tap it to me, and I’ll send it back to Rathi. Rathi, I want you to watch Heather and, Heather, I want you to get deep quickly. If their left half doesn’t go with Heather, I want you, Rathi, to get her the ball if you think that you can. Heather, if you get it and think that you can chip it to yourself behind their fullback, do so. Rhee and I will be ready for an outlet or a cross or to support you if you have the chance to take the ball to the goal. Mia, I’ll bet that the far corner will be open for you, so place yourself accordingly.”

“Okay, everybody in,” I said, and we did our usual chant.

Ann and I then went to midfield, joining the officials there for the coin toss. We all introduced ourselves and then the ref reminded me that as the visiting team that we got the call. I asked Ann to make it, and the coin went in the air.

“Tails,” called Ann. It was heads; we would kickoff.

We all shook hands and headed to our respective sides of the field.

The kickoff was beautiful. As soon as Rhee tapped the ball to me, she took off, and I could see out of the corner of my eye that Heather did the same. I turned, passed it back to Rathi, and turned back upfield, again. I purposefully ran straight at their center forward in hopes of slowing her down on her way to the ball in Rathi’s possession. She side-stepped me, which did slow her down, and I then started sprinting downfield.

I expected Rathi, whose ball-control skills are second on the team only to Lissa’s, to easily blow by their center forward, though in my headlong sprint for the goal, I didn’t see it. My expectation was correct. Apparently (as I didn’t see it), Rathi deked their center half and then sent the ball to Heather. At that point, the ball entered my field of vision, so I knew that we were on track. I quickly noted that Rhee was still running down the center of the field, but only fast enough to keep pace with the ball, now.

Heather pulled a sweet move, one-touching the ball over their fullback’s head and went sprinting after it. She got to the ball with probably three yards on the fullback and started angling toward the goal. I could see in my peripheral vision that their defense was already reacting, shifting left to cover for their left fullback.

I kept myself to Heather’s left and Rhee’s right. As we arrived just outside the penalty box, their center fullback was shifting farther to her left to intercept Heather; their right fullback was in the middle of the penalty box, and their midfielders were sweeping to the penalty box from behind me. We had, at least, a three-on-two and then I saw Mia ghosting in unchecked.

As Heather got inside the penalty box from near her corner of it, the center fullback went out to meet her; the left fullback was still chugging up behind Heather. She then made it look like she was going to go right and try for a crossing pass – a typical tactic in this situation, as that puts the ball on her “good” foot. The fullback fell for it, and Heather went left. I had some open space, but Rhee was tightly marked by the right fullback, so I expected the pass to come to me, and I developed a plan on that assumption.

But with two of the fullbacks behind her, Heather just charged at the goal. I dropped back a bit to give her more space in front of the goal and to give her an outlet. At that point, the right fullback just had to challenge her, else Heather could have just run the ball to the goal and hope to beat the goalie. As soon as the fullback started coming to her, Heather shifted slightly to her left. I assumed that she had done that to clear her left foot for a short pass to Rhee, but she chipped it over Rhee. I watched the ball sail over to the left side of the goal box and get re-directed by Mia’s head into the left side of the goal; the goalie had no chance.

I immediately ran the few meters to Heather and wrapped her in a ferocious hug, and nearly yelled in her ear, “Superb!”

We then ran to Mia, who was celebrating to the left of the goal with Rhee, creating a scrum that was soon joined by Rathi and others.

As we got back on our half of the field for the other team’s kickoff, I noticed that Coach was on the sideline and that she was smiling. She saw me looking at her and gave me a thumb’s up. At halftime, we were up 6-1. I had a goal and three assists. Rhee, Mia, Heather, Rathi, and, of all things, Gracey each had goals. Gracey’s was on a set piece off a corner kick and it was her first-ever goal in competition.

At the half, we huddled up at Coach’s “Gather ‘round.”

“Okay,” she said, “we’re going to make some changes in the second half. First, Gracey. Congrats on your first goal. Obviously, you now need more challenges, so I want you and Ann to switch positions. Ann, you’re doing fine; I just want to see what Gracey can do there. Remember, Gracey, you need to quarterback the defense, so speak up out there.

“Padme, you’re starting the second half at sweeper. Beth, please give Ann the captain’s arm band. If we get 10 or 15 minutes into the second half with at least a three-goal lead, NOT that I expect the defense to start acting like Swiss cheese, we’ll start subbing in more of you. Heather, I hope that you’ve got some oxygen left, ‘cause we’re going to keep using you. Any questions? Okay, then. Take a breather, get some fluids, stay loose.”

As she finished, she gave me a look, so I stayed behind. As the rest drifted off to the bench and the bathroom, she sidled over to me.

“I’ve been interrogating the backups about practices. Good job, Beth. Of course, I didn’t expect any other result. I hear that you organized an extra practice for Heather. No one on the sidelines knew much about it, because all of the participants were starters. So, what’s the story?”

I responded, a little nervously. “When I approached Heather on Friday about starting at right wing, she indicated that that was her preferred position, as she both liked it and her skill set matched the job. She admitted that her left foot could use some work, so I got Gracey, Rhee, Heather and me on the field on Sunday. I told her that she was not to shoot with her right foot at all and was to preferentially pass with her left if the situation called for it. We put her through two hours of two-on-two and about 15 minutes of her taking left-footed shots on goal. She did well.”

“Yes, she must have. That pass to Mia for the first goal was really good.”

I must have let my surprise show, as she then said, “I got here in time to see you pass back to Rathi. That play was a thing of beauty.”

Then she grinned at me and squeezed my right shoulder. “Good job! Now, go get some fluids.”

I headed for Heather, who was talking with Rhee and Mia. She was really animated, and the three were laughing a lot. I walked up to her and gave her a hug.

“You rock, girl,” I said. I guess that, like the rest of the gang, I am picking up Liya’s term of endearment.

Mia shouted, “Can I get an ‘amen?’”

Despite that most of the team couldn’t have heard what I said, a lot of them came back with ‘AMEN!”

Heather blushed.

I shared the sideline with Coach for the second half, and we had a desultory, off-and-on conversation on what to do about the overabundance of offensive players that we needed to get game time. In the span of two weeks we had promoted two backups into, at least, part-time starters – Padme and Heather, and both were shining. There were no solutions that would make everyone happy. To keep getting those two some more game time, others were going to have to give up game time.

“There’s the biggest dilemma,” Coach said. “Your position is one of the ones on the table. While you’re better at it than Padme is, she’s not very far behind you. It would be criminal for us not to get her more experience, particularly as you’ll move on after next year.

“I have to admit that Heather is something of a surprise. I expected her to fill in adequately, but not superbly. So, what do we do with Lissa? Her skill set has never really matched that of a wing, but she’s more than good enough to be a starter. But where?”

“Actually,” I responded, “Lissa wanted ... Oh, first, you should know that she came up with the idea on how to use Heather today against that left back. Anyway, she wanted to have a pow-wow before practice tomorrow. She says that she’s got an idea about what I inferred to be restructuring the offense.”

“Ahhhhh ... I think that I see where she may head with that. Okay, let’s have the front line, you, Padme, and Ann, I suppose, meet at the field at 9. That should give us enough time.”

“Yeah,” I responded, “that’s who Lissa suggested be involved. I suggested to her that we needed an official position for her with the team, something like ‘Strategy Assistant.’ As you know, she and I have spent no little time talking strategy and tactics. She’s good at it.”

Coach cocked her head, then nodded. “Not a bad idea, though I’m not wild about the title. How about naming her another co-captain?”

“That works for me.”

The team was jubilant and quite loud in the locker room after the game. Coach was obviously letting us bleed off energy. I don’t know how Heather has any energy left, but she was at the center of a scrum of girls having a grand old time, most of them being backups. I had checked in with many of those on the list of invitees for tomorrow morning’s strategy session, though I didn’t bother trying to get to Heather and Padme in that scrum.

I was hanging out with Rhee in our sports bras and undies, when Coach yelled, “Gather ‘round.” The noise level dropped abruptly.

“I have a lot to say, so let’s quiet down and get through all 163 items.”

There was much chuckling.

“I also have a game ball to award.”

[Ms. Diary, for this to make the most sense, you have to know that Coach always saves awarding the game ball to the last of the kudos offering. ALWAYS.]

“First off, I want to thank Heather for filling in for Lissa in a somewhat acceptable manner.”

There was much laughter.

“Before I go on, I need to know who came up with the idea for the first play of the game.”

Before I could say anything, Rhee chimed in. “Who else? Beth. She gave it to us in the huddle right before kickoff.”

“Wait a minute,” I objected. “Lissa was the one that suggested the fashion in which to use Heather against their left fullback. She remembered playing against her last year.”

Coach then jumped in. “That may be, but if I’m right, you concocted the play on the spur of the moment, and, I’m guessing here, probably during the huddle. Am I right?”

I blushed and said, “Yes and yes.”

I’m gonna kill Mia. She shouted, “Can I get an ‘amen?’”

The resultant “AMEN” was resounding.

“Settle,” Coach yelled. “Good. Before I was interrupted...” and she gave Mia the hairy eyeball, but ruined it by grinning, “I was talking about the opening play. I told Beth already, but I wanted to tell the team: That was a thing of beauty. Rathi’s ball-handling at the beginning and then her on-the-money pass to Heather were wonderful. Heather’s one-touch redirection of the ball over the defense was great, exactly what was needed. But then, things got surprising. Heather’s decision not to cross immediately and, instead, head to the goal was, though a bit surprising for a first-time starter, the right one.”

I quickly looked at Heather and she was staring straight at Coach, her face getting pink.

“It was the right one, because the entire front line and our sweeper were behind the midfielders, and Heather had quickly dispensed with one of the fullbacks. That left a four-on-two. In that situation, it’s virtually always best to pass as little as you need, as every pass is a chance to lose the ball. Then, Heather angled toward the goal. This decision not only eliminated any chance of their left fullback cutting the chord on the angle and getting back in front of her, it also put the center fullback in an invidious position. She couldn’t just let Heather walk in, so had to go challenge her.

“Heather, was that a conscious decision that you made?”

Despite her scarlet face, Heather kept her head up and eyes on the coach’s eyes. “Yes, Coach.”

“How did you know to do that? I don’t recall discussing such a situation in training, practice, or anywhere else?

She hesitated, but answered, “Umm. I was watching videos of Messi and Barcelona at Beth’s house on Sunday, and one of the videos was a cut showing a similar situation. It wasn’t Messi with the ball, but I don’t remember who had it. Probably Xavi, though.”

“Did Beth point that out to you at the time?”

“No, Coach.”

“Did you watch that piece more than once.”

“No, Coach.”

I could see that Heather didn’t see where Coach was going, but I did. It was hard to hide the grin that felt like exploding onto my face.

“Has anyone else mentioned that situation to you and what the best response is?”

“No, Coach.”

“So, you saw the situation once on a video, recognized it at the time on your first touch during your first start on this team with a fullback trying to catch up to you, and you responded accordingly.”

Coach nodded, then turned back to the team as a whole and continued.

“The other important point about the decision that Heather made, which would result in sucking the center fullback out of the middle, is that it left only the right fullback to deal with three of our attackers. Had we not scored in that situation, there would be a pile of people joining Whatshername on the bench.”

Pandemonium.

Coach let things go for a few seconds, then yelled, “Settle!”

She waited for a few more seconds, then continued. “Then, with Beth open near the top of the box at the right post and Rhee clogging up the middle and occupying the attention of the right fullback, Heather again decided not to pass the ball and took on the center fullback, a position that is usually filled by the very best defender on the team.

“She then seemed to start going for the crossing pass, briefly angling right to clear her right foot. Since that’s one of the usual jobs of either wing – clear the defense wide and cross to the middle, the fullback went that direction. Only, Heather wasn’t there, as she’d switched back to an angle on the goal, thus getting two steps on the center fullback, two steps that the fullback was probably not going to get back against our fastest player.

“So, that neat little maneuver then put the right fullback in the same invidious position as her predecessor. Heather already had two fullbacks behind her and there was now just one defender left in the goal box ... and four attackers. The right fullback had the same poor choice: Let Heather walk in or challenge. She made the right choice, but it was decidedly the lesser of two very demonic Evils.

“With the last fullback’s correct decision, the league’s leading scorer was unmarked in the center of the penalty box. A quick pass and I don’t know a single goalie in this league that would have stood much of a chance at stopping her. The pass angle wouldn’t have been great, but it was there. Beth was also still open at the top of the box and that pass would have been much easier than the one to Rhee. So, Heather, why didn’t you pass it to either of them?’

Blazing scarlet, Heather responded. “I thought about that. The pass to Rhee would have been a little tricky, but I could have done it. But I saw Mia unmarked on the left post and Beth has been working me hard on my left foot for a couple of days, so I just chipped it to Mia, a simple pass and there was no way that the goalie, who had to be figuring on a pass to Rhee, was going to be able to get to the left side of the goal to stop Mia.”

Coach let the tension build for a few seconds.

“Absolutely correct. There were no downsides to that choice. You might get the pass in to Rhee, but you might not. Beth had more options, but she was farther from the goal and probably would have had to deal with the right fullback and the oncoming center half.

“As I said, folks, that play was a thing of beauty, yet it took only 25 seconds, from kickoff to the ball hitting the back of the net. That was the quickest goal off the kickoff that I have seen in my coaching and playing career. Yup. A thing of beauty. Beth may have designed it and Rathi may have made the critical pass to get it going. Heather, however, made all the right decisions and made the play work. Attagirl!”

I almost pitied Heather. She was bright red. She was ecstatic over the Coach’s praise but trying not to show it. She really didn’t know what to do. And I was sure that even more was coming. Then Coach started in again.

“And that Thing of Beauty [yes, it had become capitalized] was just the first of ... SEVEN goals in which Heather was involved. In case anyone has forgotten, we scored nine goals. I’ll leave you all to do the math on what the final score might have been without Heather’s contribution.”

There was chuckling, since we had won 9-3.

“I remind you that this was Heather’s first start and the first time that she played more than 10 minutes for us in a game. The game ball goes to Heather Wilkerson!”

Pandemonium. Heather was mobbed. When I saw the ball later, Coach had written the usual: date, opponent, score, awardee’s name, and the rationale behind the award – in this case, two goals, five assists. However, she had also added a phrase: “A Thing of Beauty.”

Coach went on after the commotion dropped to a dull roar.

“There are more attagirls to give out, so pipe down.”

“In no particular order, they are: #1 to Mia for putting herself in precisely the right place for that Thing of Beauty. #2 to Ann for booting the long ball on the money to streaking Heather’s foot for her second goal. #3 to Gracey for her first-ever goal; that was a great shot. #4 to Lissa for coming up with the strategy for Heather’s use in this game. #5 to Rathi for the great pass on that Thing of Beauty. #6 to Whatshername for her seven millionth multi-goal game.”

There was much chuckling.

“#7 to the team for having seven players tally goals. I don’t recall any of my teams matching that feat. #8 to Beth for filling in for me so superbly while I was taking care of my mother; for working with Heather to get her ready to shine today; for being the center of gravity for this incredible team. Beth, even if you don’t wind up playing professionally, I can see a great career as a coach for you. For your sake – and for mine, I sure wish it paid better.”

There was much blushing. And laughter.

“Finally,” Coach continued, “an announcement. Lissa is now a Co-Captain. As such, she will be heavily involved in strategy, and a few of us will be having a strategy session before tomorrow’s practice. Once we come up with a coherent idea for the offense, we’ll bring it to the whole team. I assume that at least some of you have realized how ... umm ... over-blessed we are with offensive talent. Of course, that’s a much better problem than the opposite, but with Padme and Heather coming along so well, we need to figure out how to stuff six players into four slots. I’m sure that you can see what that means.”

While there might have been some mildly unappreciative thoughts about the offense being praised, once the end of that paragraph came, that situation changed. The starters at midfield and defense didn’t want to share their positions and the backups were shown the possibility that they, too, might break into more playing time. Many of that latter group got quite a few minutes on the field today.

Dad was waiting when we came out of the locker room freshly showered. (As usual after away games, Rhee did not wash her hair.) He immediately noted the ball under Heather’s arm.

“I think that someone deserves a hug for her great play today.”

Heather walked up and leaned into Dad, the right side of her face on his chest, her left arm still cradling the game ball. Dad wrapped his arms around her. I quietly noted that Heather has quickly gotten used to hugs, in general, and blazingly rapidly to hugs from what was an unknown man only a few days ago.

“I’m really proud of you,” he said quietly. He continued a little louder, “You are a speedster!”

Rhee and I chuckled.

Dad released Heather and said, “You all played well. By my figuring, at least one of you three was involved in all nine goals. That first goal was spectacular.”

He glanced at Heather, then looked at me.

“I don’t know the game well enough to be certain, but it seemed to me that Heather had to make a number of snap decisions and that she was the main reason that that play worked. Am I right?”

I nodded and glanced at Heather. Her face was warm again, though only pink. Dad continued, looking back-and-forth between Rhee and Heather.

“The other goal that I really liked was when you two passed back-and-forth through what seemed to be the entire defense for Rhee’s second goal.”