VI Day 5 - Sunday

You wake up a bit tired and groggy, but still relaxed... but not for long. You can hear the other girls who are already up. You better see what's going on. You find Ingrid and Viti and go.

At breakfast, everyone quiets down at the coaches gather at the front of the room. Everyone stops eating and talking to listen. Something is going on.

Michelle steps forward, apparently the spokesperson.

"So, announcement time. Everyone listening?" she asks.

"Yes," everyone says together.

"OK. Remember how you have all been gossiping about a new league? And how that's our fault, kind of?" She gestures at the other coaches.

"Yes," everyone says.

"About that. There's no new league," she says.

The room explodes with shock and from some girls, outrage.

"What?" You can't believe it. It's all anyone could talk about yesterday...

"Shut up and listen," Michelle says impatiently. "It's not a league. It's a TV show."

She has to wait again while you all freak out.

"But! But! It's not getting produced yet," she goes on. "Seriously, guys. Let me finish. The producers are here to do a trial run. Your coaches and supervising coaches all have the contract, and you will get your chance to look at it and make your decision."

You want to laugh... like anyone is going to NOT want to be on a TV show about soccer. Everyone will sign.

"For this show, we are going to do a scaled down league, which means teams. But it's a show, not a league. That means these people want to see drama. They want rivalries and things like that. You're sorted into teams, and you *stay* with your team. Your team is like your family," Michelle says.

Wait a minute. What are the teams? Who is on which team? You and lots of the other girls start demanding to know, but Michelle shushes everyone.

"We'll post them in a minute. And I know! I know there's romance here at this camp where we are supposed to be concentrating on training," she says, kind of irritatingly. "So this is how it works. On Mondays you train. On Tuesdays, you have a half-day of training and a practice match. On Wednesdays, you do strategy and light training. On Thursdays, a half-day of training and match prep. On Friday, you have a real match against another team. There will be six teams. Three matches. The winning teams get to spend the weekend here at the lodge. The losers have to stay at camp. What happens at the lodge stays at the lodge. This is the only place where you can mingle with other teams. So if you want to mingle, you have to win. If you don't care about mingling and you just care about soccer, you still have to win, because only winners get interviews. That's how this is going to work."

Whoa. That's a lot. But wait... there are a lot of girls at camp, but not enough for six teams.

"Are these just very small teams, then?" Beth pipes up.

"No. Full teams. More girls arrive tomorrow, and a few of the girls from the Swim Camp are going to come up and join. We..." she says, pointing at herself and the other coaches. "Are your subs if there are injuries. Yes, we know there are some girls here who don't have to sit down to pee. Those girls don't have to hide that. No secrets. Any other questions?"

Wow! You can shower with everyone else now? And share a changing room? And yes, there are lots of questions, but you just want to know what team you are on... but you don't get to see that until after you sign a contract, and none of the coaches will let anyone sign a contract that they have not read yet.

Going over the contracts takes most of the morning. You finally get yours signed, and are handed a sheet with the teams on it. You are officially a contestant in the pilot shoot for Football Ultimate Television Association, or FUTA for short.

You check out your team.

PINK TEAM:

1. Riley (USA) Captain, Striker COACH: Tiff

2. ATT Aki (JAP)

3. ATT Lara (UK)

4. MID Sun (KOR)

5. MID Sam (UK)

6. MID Elena (KEN)

7. DEF Rebecca (USA)

8. DEF Sheva (SEN)

9. DEF Lili (MON)

10. DEF Max (USA)

11. GOAL Viti (IND)

Everyone is freaking out... even after signing contracts. Actually, they are freaking out more now that they have done it. Especially Viti and Ingrid, who are having a meltdown together.

You are not surprised. Being on TV is exciting... but those two are both still very shy and nervous. You go to join them outside on the patio. It's a beautiful day, but they are too busy panicking to notice.

"I don't know what my family will think," Viti is saying.

"What if I am nervous on camera?" Ingrid asks, putting her face in her hands.

"We shouldn't have signed!"

"We should not have!"

They are both just making it worse for each other... you have to stop them. You go back inside and get your soccer ball, then drop it on the ground and kick it at Viti. As an expert goalkeeper, she catches it and rolls it back. You kick it at Ingrid, forcing her to stop it with the side of her knee and trap it underfoot.

"Kick it back," you order her, and she does it because she's Ingrid... it's not like she would argue. You get it and kick it back. Ingrid and Viti are easily roped into the makeshift practice. They can't stress out or give each other anxiety when they are busy dealing with you. You are an accurate, powerful shooter, and they have to pay attention if they don't want a bruise.

You easily tire them out, then flip the ball up and catch it. You spin it on your finger and walk over to where they are catching your breath.

"You guys are good players," you tell them. "I don't know what you're afraid of."

They don't know what to say. They are less nervous now... they just had to get it out of their system.

You notice some of the other girls looking like they are going somewhere. It sounds like a lot of them are going into the city to shop... now that they are going to be on TV, they want to look good... most of the TV stuff will have you wearing either the practice clothes for FUTA or the uniforms that they provide... but the girls just want an excuse to shop.

You, Viti, and Ingrid quickly change and join them.

At the department store, you break away from them to look through some clothes on your own... you are a captain, so you should look the part... and now that your anatomy is accepted, you can wear leggings and things like that.