If you asked them what an offside was, none of them would be able to tell you.
They were playing rough. They were clearly trying to take our girls out. And it was more than obvious that their coach had told them to do it.
“Win by whatever means possible” was the asshole’s motto.
“And remember,” I continued. “This is a scrimmage. In the end, this game doesn’t matter. If we win or lose, we’re still going to start fresh in three weeks. We’ll play teams of our own caliber. And we’ll play knowing that this game didn’t matter. Okay?”
More nods.
“All right,” I said when the ref blew her whistle, indicating halftime was over. “Let’s get out there.”
They all huddled close, and we called out ‘Bos!
The girls hustled out onto the field, and the six left on the bench huddled in close to me.
“Y’all really need to remember to bring your own blankets next time.” I laughed as I gave them my blanket and stood up.
They huddled under it and shivered.
I rolled my eyes.
“Weak. Y’all are all weak.”
“It’s thirty degrees out here with a windchill of twenty. You’re the weirdo,” Nettie called.
I discreetly flipped her off.
Nettie snickered and got in closer to the last girl on the bench and wrapped her into a hug.
They were right.
It was chilly.
But we were soccer players.
We were used to chilly.
I actually never remembered a time when we didn’t play when it was cold.
I was decked out in my warmest boots, several layers of clothes, and my soccer parka that said JCHS LOBOS on it.
The ref blew her whistle and the game was on.
I watched with a keen eye as my girls started the game, clearly intending to play their game this half instead of the other team’s game.
Ball movement was perfect for a solid ten minutes until our forward went down when the goalie went for the girl instead of the ball.
Everyone was on their feet at that, including the girl’s parents.
I held up my hand when I saw the dad start to hop the fence.
He stilled, but I could tell he didn’t want to. “I’m going.”
I hustled out onto the field along with our athletic trainer.
My ribs protested only a small amount as I got to Saraha’s side and dropped down to my knees. “Hey, hey. You’re okay. What hurts?”
“My head,” she admitted. “I’m seeing double.”
