Saving the Team (16 page)

If Jessi could keep it up, she'd be a part of the Kicks again in time for our rematch against Pinewood!

After school I headed for the locker room to change for practice. None of us were expecting what was waiting for us on the field.

Coach Flores stood there, which was no surprise. But next to her was the coach of the boys' team, Coach Valentine. And on the field warming up were the boys!

“Seriously?” Zoe asked. She was still totally angry over how they'd called us losers at the dance. We all were.

“What, is their perfect field not good enough for them, they've got to play on our crummy one now too?” Grace sounded pretty mad. And I didn't blame her. The sight of Trey Bishop still made me want to punch him in the face,
and he was there, warming up with the rest of them. I spotted Steven and Cody, too. What was going on?

Coach Valentine blew his whistle. “Gather round!” he barked.

We headed over, more than a little curious, yet eyeing the boys' team nervously as we huddled around the coaches.

“It has come to my attention that my boys have not been behaving with true sportsmanship off the field, which they know is required of them to be on my team,” he shot them a stern look. The boys shuffled nervously and suddenly found something very interesting about their sneakers, because they all started staring at their feet.

Oops! I had forgotten that Coach Flores had gotten it out of me how the boys had teased us at the dance. So this is what this was about! I felt bad for Steven and Cody, who'd had nothing to do with it. But I know how team sports can be. If a few people mess up, the entire team can get punished.

“You are ALL Kangaroos,” Coach Valentine went on, while Coach Flores nodded her approval as he spoke. “Not just the boys. Not just the girls. All of you. And you need to respect your other players always, no matter if they're having a good season or a bad season. So today we're all going to practice together to remind us that we're all in this together!”

Practice? With the boys? The girls' team began to groan, but Coach Valentine shot us a fierce look. “Ladies,
I'm not accepting complaints today, only hard work, so hit the field.” He blew his whistle.

I exchanged wide-eyed glances with Emma. “Better do as he says,” she whispered.

We ran onto the field with the boys' team. It was a weird feeling to be sharing the field with them.

First up the coaches had us practice passing, with the ball traveling through both teams. At first the teams stood apart, but Coach Flores put a stop to that. “Mix and mingle, people!” she said. I wouldn't have minded being near Steven, but the lucky thirteen on my practice T-shirt must have been on the fritz or something, because I ended up next to Trey. He didn't even look at me.

“Okeydokey, fellow Kangaroo,” I whispered sarcastically under my breath. If he heard me, he didn't let on, just kept his eyes on the ball.

We kept doing drills. The boys' team was really good, and I could see why they were state champs last year. But we weren't the same team they had seen at the Pinewood game. We had improved a ton, and we held our own. The boys began to notice that.

“Devin, over here,” Steven called when I got the ball. I lobbed a perfect pass to him.

Turns out Trey was actually paying attention. “Nice one,” he admitted grudgingly.

Wow, something could come out of his mouth other than the word “loser.” Impressive.

The coaches kept changing up the drills. We were split
into two teams and played a basic keep-away game. Good old thirteen must have finally warmed up, because I was on the same team as Steven.

“I'm sorry that some of these guys can be such jerks,” he said to me as we got started.

“Me too,” Cody said. He was also on our team.

“I'm just glad you're both not jerks too,” I told them.

The game opened, with the other team trying to keep the ball away from my team.

Trey had control of the ball and needed to get rid of it because Steven was poised to pounce. I could see him looking for an open boy to pass it to, but there weren't any. “Zoe!” he called.

Zoe was ready. With Steven on him Trey got off a less than clean kick. It went wide, and another player from the boys' team went for it. But Zoe zoomed in like a rocket, taking charge of the ball and moving it down the field before the other player had a chance to intercept. The other girls were equally impressive. Emma's newfound confidence as goalie had improved her skills out of the goal too. She targeted one of the boys, swooping in and stealing the ball before he could receive the pass. And she didn't trip once! We were holding our own and then some.

We kept playing for a while and then switched to some other drills before Coach Flores blew her whistle. Practice was over.

“Nice job!” she called. Coach Valentine smiled at us as we left the field. “Good hustle, girls,” he said.

“That went better than I expected,” Zoe said as we left the field. “And I think we proved to them that we're not losers!”

Now all we had to do was prove it to Mirabelle and the Panthers, too!

In homeroom the next morning an announcement was made over the loudspeaker that all of the Kicks needed to report to the gym during lunch. Now what?

When lunchtime finally came around, Jessi, Emma, and Zoe walked with me to the gym.

“Even though I'm not officially back on the Kicks yet, Coach Flores came around to my homeroom in person this morning to ask me to come too,” Jessi said. She was so excited, she was bouncing on her toes as she walked. “She said she okayed it with my mom and everything!”

“I wonder what's going on,” Emma said, her eyes shining. “I love surprises!”

When we got inside the gym with the other Kicks, we couldn't believe our eyes. The entire boys' soccer team was standing in the center of the room, along with Coach Valentine and Coach Flores. The smell of yummy, hot pizza wafted through the air. It was coming from a pile of unopened pizza boxes.

Cody and Trey Bishop came forward to greet us. Cody nudged Trey to start talking.

“So, I, um,” Trey began. He looked over at Coach Valentine, who nodded encouragingly. “I wanted to
apologize to you for how mean I was to you guys at the dance. I'm sorry I called you losers. You're not. You proved that yesterday. We were really impressed.”

“Also,” Cody jumped in, “we know you have a big rematch coming up against Pinewood.”

“Yeah,” said Trey. “So after practice yesterday, the guys and I decided that you deserved a pizza party, to help get you amped up for the big game,” he said. “The Pinewood boys' team is our biggest rival too. Coach V. was right. We need to stick together as Kangaroos!” He sounded sincere.

“We also have a present for you,” Cody said.

On cue Steven and another of the seventh-grade players came out of the boys' locker room holding a big banner. It had “Kentville Kicks” written across it in big letters.

“We were thinking we could help you decorate a banner for your pep rally tomorrow,” Cody said. “Let's show those Panthers they can't
kick
around the Kangaroos!”

Wait, did Cody just say “
your
pep rally”? The Kicks all exchanged excited glances.

“No way,” Emma said, and then cheered, clapping her hands together.

“We'll make sure the stands are packed for your game against the Pinewood Panthers too!” Steven added.

“Wow!” I couldn't believe it. I hugged Coach Flores. I knew she was behind all of this. It turns out, telling her what had happened at the dance was a good thing. A very good thing! I was so happy, I hugged Jessi, too. Even Coach Valentine. And all the Kicks. It was a huge hug fest
as everyone joined in. I was so excited, I even grabbed Steven and gave him a big hug, but then I turned bright red. So did he!

Everyone began munching pizza and chattering happily as we decorated the banner together.

For the first time both the girls' and boys' Kangaroos felt like one big team. And I liked it.

The Kicks were all smiles as we gathered together in the hall behind the gymnasium the next day. We peeked through the doors as the auditorium filled up with our classmates.

“Can you believe they're all here for us?” Emma asked.

Grace smiled and shook her head. “This feels so good!”

“It's time! I'm going to go out there and introduce my girls,” Coach Flores said proudly. “One of our captains should say a few words. Devin? Grace?”

Grace gave me a hug. “None of this would have happened if it weren't for Devin. Go for it!”

“Okay,” I said, hugging her back. My stomach fluttered a little at the thought of talking in front of so many people. The butterflies had been on vacation, but looks like they were back! I glanced over at Zoe, who had her eyes tightly shut and was taking deep breaths. “You all right?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she said. “I was starting to get nervous, so I'm using the techniques Frida taught me.”

“She's doing great!” Frida beamed. “I think she should try out for the school play with me.”

Zoe turned pale. “Soccer is one thing, but acting? I'll leave that to you!”

Coach Flores headed for the microphone set up at the front of the gym. “Students and staff of Kentville Middle School,” she began. “Thank you for joining us today, on the day before our big rematch against the Pinewood Panthers girls' soccer team.”

The audience booed. I guess we weren't the only ones who saw them as rivals.

“Now please, put all your boos aside, and instead let's give a big round of applause for the Kentville Kangaroos girls' soccer team, or, as some of you know them, the Kicks!”

The auditorium cheered as our team, led by Emma, came ripping through the banner. My heart skipped a beat for a moment as Emma almost tripped and fell flat on her face. But she caught herself at the last minute and mimed a tip of the hat to the audience. The crowd loved it.

“And now a word from the Kangaroos' seventh-grade captain, Devin Burke!” Smiling, Coach Flores gave me a hug and handed me the microphone. “Good luck, kiddo,” she whispered encouragingly.

The gym bleachers were filled with students, cheering and smiling at us. Some of them held signs that said
GO, KANGAROOS.
It seemed unreal. I couldn't believe I had come so far since that first scary day of school. And I couldn't believe how far the Kangaroos had come either! Suddenly I knew exactly what to say.

I took a deep breath. “I know we haven't been the
greatest team in the school so far this season, but we've been working really hard for this rematch against Pinewood. We hope you'll all come out to see how far we've come. The last time we played Pinewood, we lost. But this time we want to show them that we're not pushovers. I just found out that back in the nineties, the Kicks were state champs two years in a row. With your support, who knows where this season will take us. Come out on Saturday and cheer us on our way to a win!”