AR - Meet your team

It’s a nice day for November. Yesterday, this field seemed big and empty. Now it feels crowded with these kids and their parents. You and Adella have already gotten introduced to everyone and outlined a few simple drills for the girls to do. You have just enough for a team. Your goal here is not to practice, just to see what you’re working with.

You and Adella, along with the parents, watch with interest. Not all the parents are politically inclined. Some of them just want their kids to have fun. But some of them also want to see Ellen get a black eye. People don’t exactly hate her, but she’s far from being universally loved. The girls are all ten or eleven years old. Most of them seem happy to be here, but not all. That’s understandable. You were nervous your first day too.

As you watch the girls kick the balls around and take shots on a mom who is actually a very skilled goalkeeper, several of them stand out. You look over at Adella. She sees it too.

There’s Valeria, a delicate little girl whose parents brought her to get her some socialization and to give her a break from ballet. Maybe it’s the ballet, but she has incredible natural talent. You see a precise attacker in her, although she’ll need a lot of work to get there. She’s shy and hesitant. The skills will come easily, but the mindset is a different problem. It takes a lot of nerve to take shots in matches. It takes confidence.

Then there’s a girl named Julika, a little blonde who’s ten years old and wearing more makeup than you do most days. She’s the center of attention, and obviously friends with several of these girls. She’s a distraction, but she’s also not a terrible player. She might be the only girl here who has played on a team before.

A quiet, serious girl with dark skin and braces named Hanna has also caught your eye. She’s not chasing and kicking. She doesn’t know anything about soccer, but she’s earnestly trying to learn. This is an eleven-year-old who’s hanging back and keeping an eye on things, trying to gain an advantage. She’ll probably be a lawyer or something one day.

And finally… the first one that you and Adella both zeroed in on: Alice. She’s a tall, scrappy brunette. She’s rough, ready to tumble and play, and somewhat clumsy… but it’s that height that has your attention. She has long arms already, lots of reach and power.

If your fears are founded and the opposition plans to cheat by bringing in overqualified girls, you will need someone like Alice to anchor this team and push back against that.

One of the moms nudges you, and you look over at her distractedly.

“Yeah?” you say.

“What did you decide to name the team?” she asks.

“Oh,” you reply. You forgot about that.

Adella shoots you a sidelong look, and you know that look. You step on her foot. There are kids around. Flirting is forbidden.

But Adella doesn’t take the hint. Her eyes twinkle.

“This is America,” she murmurs. “Cowgirls?”

You blush.

“Cowgirls,” the mom repeats, looking thoughtful. She’s not picking up on Adella’s smoldering, totally inappropriate horny vibes. “I like it,” she says.

You put your face in your hand.