Honestly, it’s been remarkable. The overwhelming support we’ve seen from staff is humbling.
One of the last-minute things we did was allow betting. Now, I know that it’s a bit controversial, but it’s controlled. For each game, it’s like a fifty-fifty raffle. You can buy tickets for one team or the other and whichever team wins, those who bid on them are in a lottery for whatever that team brought in as a prize.
The students came up with it and the admin was willing to allow it to see how it went. Ithinkit’s going rather well.
There are three gymnasiums in the common building and then a large grassy field right outside in which we erected nets to keep the balls contained and divided it into two playing fields. This affords us five ‘fields’ to play on. Which is fortunate since we ended up having twenty-two teams.
If we went with bracket style games, then we wouldn’t have needed the five fields, but the students didn’t want to take a chance on just playing one game and then they’re out. So there are two qualifying rounds, then quarterfinals, semi-finals, and then the finals.
There’s already an overwhelming request to keep this a tradition and pass around a trophy for the team who wins every year. So, with part of the funds we raised, we purchased a trophy that we’d have engraved with the sports team who won for the year and the names of their players.
Honestly, I’m in love with how the teams have come together. More often than not, I found my players sitting outside on the bench with other athletes as they talked about the tournament and what things they’d like to see take place.
They grudgingly agreed to put off some things because it was short notice. But they’d already been talking about next year. If I leave no other legacy behind at Rainbow Dorset, I think I’ll be leaving behind a closer athletic department. Not just between coaches as we collaborate, but between the players as well.
My gaze catches on Lemon and my smile falters. Well… maybe not all coaches and players.
Refusing to let myself be discouraged because of him, and because I’ve been avoiding him like the fucking plague, I head out of the gym and cross the hall into another. There’s only one player left on each team. One of my teams and one of the soccer teams.
I stand off to the side as they move around each other. Sizing each other up. Faking throws. Trying to shoot a ball so it heads for their target, but in such a way that it can’t be caught.
It goes back and forth for several minutes, and the crowd in the room is both cheering and taunting. I haven’t been present when one of the games ended, so I stick it out to watch. Sethjumps over a ball and while this kid is in the air, he sends two at either side of the other player.
I’m surprised when that tactic works, and the soccer player dodges one but fumbles when trying to catch the second ball. Which puts him out. The gym cheers and I watch as Seth’s team crowds around him.
Hakeem jumps into his arms and plants a kiss on Seth’s lips. Seth is both startled and elated as he grips Hakeem’s thighs to hold him in place. When Hakeem picks his head up, his eyes meet mine, and he gives me a smug look.
Shaking my head, I leave gym number two and head into the hall. I absently wonder whether one of Seth’s many partners is present today.
“Coach!” I pause and turn as Alka comes toward me with a smile. “This looks like a success.”
I chuckle. “Honestly, I’m floored by the turnout. Not a single field is lacking spectators.”
“Dec and I are betting on whether there are going to be groupies by the semi-finals with people being followed around.”
“I would not be surprised,” I say, laughing.
“Hey, I know we’re in the middle of something here, but it seems to be running smoothly; so think we can talk a minute about the next event?”
“You’re a little too enthusiastic for me,” I tease as we bypass the third gym. Alka isn’t wrong. I made sure that I’d be available for the entire tournament in case someone needed something. It’s been a couple hours now and I’m almost feeling useless as I wander between the different fields and vendors set up.
Alka laughs. “The auction makes me nervous, and I think I just need some reassurance.”
“Sure,” I say and open a door in the hall. There are a couple generic offices that we’ve been granted permission to use. Mostly, I have them used as storage. Extra balls. Back up merch.That kind of thing. I take a seat and Alka sits across from me. “What’s up?”
“I’ve been hearing some pushback about the age restrictions. Mostly, the kids are saying they prefer to date older,” he starts, raising a brow. “The thing is, I can’t say I necessarily blame them. But at the same time, I know how important it is to protect them.”
“Damari mentioned the restriction the other day too, reminding me that he’s almost twenty-two. If he wants to date someone twice his age, that’s his decision,” I say, nodding. “I can’t even say I disagree with that.”
“We’re also closing the pool and limiting it to basically those on campus,” Alka adds. “Which, okay, but these are students. They don’t really have the kind of money we’re hoping to bring in.”
“So we just make it a free-for-all?” I ask, not liking the idea. It gives me an uneasy feeling.
Alka laughed. “When I was eighteen, I dated a thirty-one-year-old for two years. My husband is six years younger than me, and we started dating when he was twenty, arguably outside of the age restrictions we’re trying to put in place. The fact of the matter is people mature differently these days. Some remain twelve-year-olds well into their thirties, while others are more mature than thirty-year-olds by the time they’re ten.”
I nod. “I’m not even going to mention the cougars I’ve been with.”
He laughs again. “Exactly!”
