Chapter 241

July 7, 2018 (Saturday)

Dear Ms. Diary,

Krypton started against Petaluma, who were tough, keeping us scoreless until the 29^th minute, but after which we snagged three more goals in the next 16 minutes.

“Gather ‘round!”

Coach looked around the team, then said, “That was a good D you faced. Despite that they kept Krypton out of the goal for nearly two-thirds of the half, it looked like Beth figured them out. Hands up from Argon. What did Beth figure out?”

I suspected that Coach waited for Lissa’s hand to go up, as she called on her as soon as it did.

“Their back line is incredibly good in one-to-one situations and covered for each other very well. Beth figured out that they were susceptible to sudden runs behind. At least, all four goals came in such situations.”

“Exactly. I assume that you’ll be taking advantage of that knowledge, Lissa.”

“Yes, Coach.”

“I noticed,” Coach continued, “that Krypton shared the wealth, with four members each tallying goals and four tallying assists, with the midfield getting one of each, Rathi a goal, Zala an assist.”

Argon notched a very pretty goal about midway through the second half, one that began and ended with Padme, one reminiscent of the ATB corner-kick goal. Padme received a pass from Haven and carried the ball upfield on a longitude outside the penalty box. When their left back met her, she backheeled the ball to Dakota and sprinted left and into the box. Dakota one-touched the ball over to Lissa, who one-touched it up to Tonda. Tonda faked a shot from just inside the penalty stripe which got their goalie moving to her left but rolled the ball behind herself in time for the ball to meet Padme’s left foot slamming it into the goal well to the goalie’s right.

In the locker room after we won 8-2, Coach said, “For only the second time this season, Argon matched Krypton’s goal tally, with both of those games being against good, non-league teams, the other being our sixth game of the year, against Centerville. Although I’ve discussed this topic briefly after a prior game or two, I want to spend a bit bragging on Argon. I believe we all thought that Krypton would have little competition in the league this year, but even I’ve been surprised at how much Argon has come together and how much better that lineup has become during the course of this season. And, now, Argon has become good enough to thoroughly outplay a very good non-league team, one that has lost only two games this year ... prior to today. While I’m not sure how we can replace 16 graduating seniors next year, the seven of you not graduating will provide an excellent and skilled core for next year’s team. You seven will also need to fill most ... probably all ... of the leadership positions then. Thankfully, you seven are scattered nicely across the front line, midfield, and back line, although we’ll have to find a goalie.

“Therefore, Parkinson, Smythe, Kanda, Dakota, Tonda, Padme, and Civ, I’m going to include you more in the planning and strategy sessions for the rest of this year. In fact, I’ll be coming to you seven first so that you become familiar, but also comfortable, with making decisions about how we play, what our particular game strategies will be. Once you seven come up with a strategy, I’ll want the seniors to try to pick it apart, find any weaknesses, and then have them suggest any changes they think important. You seven will then incorporate ... or not ... their suggestions. If you reject any, you will need to justify your rejections. Dakota has become quite comfortable with making suggestions this season, but I want to hear more from the rest of you, particularly you two junior Emmas, who will be anchoring our D next year.”

Coach looked at each of them, pulling a head nod or a verbal acceptance of the charge she had just laid on them.

“Sophia, please take some time to teach the Emmas more about playing center back. Pull them aside during breaks in play if recent play provides a teaching moment, explaining why and how you reacted to the situation... and how successful or not your decision and play were.”

“Okay, Coach.”

“Haven, I’ll want you to do the same about center half with Kanda and Dakota, for the same reasons. We’ll be giving the back-line wings and the midfield wings time at the respective center positions for most of the remainder of the league games. Please give those girls a good grounding in the center-position tasks that are slightly different from those of the wing positions. For the rest of the season, you four wings will be splitting time in the center positions during practice scrimmages. Understand that you’re going to be scrimmaging against Krypton. Don’t get disheartened should they walk all over you a time or two, but learn from any mistakes. Pay closer attention to how Haven, Sophia, and Gracey play those positions during games. Finally, Dakota, you’re going to learn that showing me skills I didn’t know you had will cause me to pile more responsibility on your back. You will be spending some time in scrimmages playing Lissa’s ... even Beth’s position.”

“That sounds great, Coach!”

“Don’t get too excited, as we have no idea if we’ll be using a sweeper next year. Padme, I haven’t forgotten that you showed a lot of promise as an O sweeper last year, so you’ll be spending some time in practice there, too.”

She slowly looked around the team, then smiled, and stated, “Both lineups played a great game, and I’ll now hand the floor to Cera who will give out Argon attagirls.”

Brit announced, “With her brace of goals and an assist, today’s game ball goes to our eleventh recipient of the season, Padme Fahrad!”

Seamus came with us to the compound, as we had invited him to spend the afternoon with us. He agreed to teach all of us ... including all five W parents ... some life-saving techniques in the pool. Before that, he joined us in the shower ... we were all wearing swimsuits ... so that we players could rinse off dried sweat from the game, then met the parents at the pool. He had various of us being the potential drowning victim, spending an hour teaching us how to safely get someone to the edge of the pool and then cooperate to get that victim out of the pool. He stayed and joined us for a late lunch.

During lunch, Sandy said, “Thanks, so much, Seamus, for doing that for us today. I understand that you do not hold a Red Cross teaching certificate. Yes?” When he nodded, she asked, “Is that something you’ve contemplated?”

“I have but haven’t gotten around to doing it.”

“If it would help you and if you’d then be willing to teach some of us in an official capacity, we would gladly cover any costs you incur, both direct costs for the training and any transportation costs in obtaining that teaching certificate.”

Seamus gazed at her for a few moments, then responded, “I’d be happy to do that for you without that.”

“We appreciate that, but we would be the greatest beneficiary from your efforts, so we’d insist on covering your costs. With soccer and our various jobs, you training various of us here would make it much easier for us to take the training you could provide.”

He gazed at her again for a few moments, then stated, “I understand, and I appreciate that. While I’d probably have to miss some practice and games, I could get that training done before August.”

Dad responded, “That would be great. Thanks, Seamus. Weekends or weekdays after we parents get home from work are the times when most of us would be available.”

We spent time while eating lunch discussing the options for training, then chatted for nearly an hour about soccer and life in general. After that, the whole family, except for Katie and Kath, spent the afternoon in the pool with Seamus, some of us doing a bit of serious lap-swimming, but all of us horsing around – in a safe manner – in the pool.

While we were lounging after swimming, Seamus asked, “Were you serious about possibly offering the compound for a team party?”

Rhee answered, “Yup. That’s one of the main reasons we want to have you do the training for us.”

“What do you think the ... parameters would be governing any team party?”

Liya replied, “Our parents have agreed that so long as many or most of us have completed your training, we ... the team ... can have the compound to ourselves for the day and, if anyone would want to spend the night, the night and the next morning.”

“You’d be willing to host the whole team overnight?”

“Yes,” I said, “although we don’t know whether or how many would be allowed to do so by their parents.”

“You’ve already got nearly half the team, players and staff, living here. I’m sure a lot of the girls would love an overnight here ... and ... I’d like that, too.”

Civ came back with, “We probably would have insisted that you be here for that, as even though we’ll have gone through your training, we’d still be much more comfortable having everyone here around the pool if you were here. Besides, everyone, team and staff, likes you and it’s not like you’d be the only older one here. Meka, Kim, Katie, Andy, Rache, and Celeste will be here, too.”

Seamus gazed at Civ for a few moments, then replied, “I’d like that. I’d like that a lot.”

I said, “Our parents suggested the possibility of a sleepover, so they’ve already agreed to it if the girls want that to happen. We have more than enough bed space for everyone.”

“Have you let Coach know?”

“No,” I answered him. “We didn’t want to broach it with Coach until we were fairly certain that we could get you to train us on safety and first aid. We think having those certifications would make it more likely that some, many, or most of the various team parents would be willing to allow the girls to be here for an overnight.”

“You’re planning on Coach being here, too?” When I nodded, he added, “Good. This is sounding more and more fun. And ... thanks for suggesting that I help out with the team this year. The ... whole thing has been so enjoyable, and I’ve learned so much from Coach ... and from many of you. I’m now completely sold on going into coaching of youth teams. I understand that not all teams I might coach would be as ... responsible, interesting, and fun as this team has been. However, I was surprised at how ... great this team was in those various respects. Coach has asked, and I’ve put her off, but I’m pretty sure I’ll tell her that I’d love to help next year. I’ll definitely help with the school team this fall!”