My Football year
“What do you think you were doing!” Coach Carter said yelling at me in the girl’s locker room, yes the girl’s, in front of the cheerleaders. “That was a GAME not SOCIAL TIME”
I looked straight at the floor of the locker room, at my cleats. “I dunno,” I whispered feeling very small just then.
“You better get your stuff straight if you want to stay on the team Cool.” With that he left for the guy’s locker room to yell at them, I wasn’t the only one who screwed up in the game.
My best friend Sara came over to me and put her arm around me, “Awww what’s got the Royal all up in a bunch?” I just glared at her; she saw the end of the game. I got from her grip and went to my locker and started to undressed pausing every now and then from the bruises that I got tonight. She stood there in her uniform just staring at me “it’s not your fault he kissed you first” I winced at the comment.
“That’s not how coach took it.” I sighed and started to change into my school clothes on; I’d get a shower at home.
She just shrugged and walked away to change herself. I sat down on the bench by my locker to get my shoes on, which was VERY painful, and looked back at the few months leading up to this horrid game.
***
I’m an only child, some say an orphan, but I wasn’t always like that. I had two brothers, twins, and I had a mother and a father, but that changed just a few months before my 16th birthday, they were going into town to get my brothers new stuff for the upcoming football season (that was a year ago from my awful game), it was raining hard, and had been for a few days then. I told them I would stay home to do my chores and my homework and for them to be careful.
They were gone for a full two hours when I got the phone call from the hospital. They told me that my family was in a car crash, their car had slipped on the slippery road and went into the pond down the road from our house, and all of them were dead. I didn’t cry, not then, not at the funeral for all four of them, and not even at the football memorial game for my brothers, when I was called onto the field. After that I moved in with my Aunt and Uncle and became an only child (they didn’t have any children).
This year when Coach came up to me at my work this summer and talked to me about a yearly award in honor of my brothers was when I realized I WANTED to get that award, I wanted to play football. The only problem was that I was a girl, but I started to train anyway, day and night. I scared my Aunt and Uncle when I told them what I wanted to do but they were for me to do it.
I wasn’t like the other girls at my school, they were all preppy and I wasn’t. I played tackle football with my brothers and their friends, and was always part of the winning team. I also played Lacrosse in the spring, so I was pretty tough. I was also tall for my age and bigger (round ways), but I was still pretty skinny.
My Uncle was the one who asked coach, who was more then happy to let me play on the team (he was one of the “coaches” of our playground football games). I remember the first time I talked to coach, the day before try-outs, about playing like it was yesterday.
“Coach?” I asked walking into his office after he nodded.
“Royal, your going to be at try-outs tomorrow right?” he didn’t wait for me to answer him and he didn’t look up at me, “I have some of your brother’s older stuff for you to wear unless you want to make a statement and wear pink”
I shook my head laughing “no coach I wouldn’t do that. I just wanted to ask you something, which locker room should I change in?” that got his attention and he looked up at me.
“I’ll get the key to the girl’s locker room for you” I nodded and he went back to his paper work “now go and train like I know you do” he laughed.
As I started to walk out the door he stoped me “Royal, I’m not going easy on you cause you’re a girl and I’m not just gonna say no to you cause you’re a girl, I’m doing this cause I knew your family very well, and if you can still play like you did three years ago, then I know you’ll make the team”
I nodded to him and left with his last words in my mind, man did I wish that I had my brothers that day to help me train.
***
I put my head in my hands, and for the second time since my family left I started to cry. I screwed this up big time now. My brothers were right, relationships ruin football for you. While I cried I thought of try-outs.
***
I thought my job, working at my Uncle’s farm, was brutal. Thank god that I trained all summer, and I knew how they went from watching and listening to my brothers.
The first thing Coach made us do was sprints. I smirked to myself. I was the fastest person on my lacrosse team; I knew I could do this. When we finished our third set I was running in second with Zack, our QB. He looked at me and snorted, apparently he didn’t like the idea of me on the team (not a lot of them did then). By the last one Zack was in the back and I was first. The whole team was breathing heavily, but me.
After he yelled at them for running like girls (and apologizing to me), Coach then made us suit up and run some drills. We went to the locker rooms and I had to stop coach. “Do you have the girl’s key?” I asked him.
He nodded and handed one, brand new shiny key. “I made a copy for you, the school board let me, keep it with your car keys and guard it with your life” I looked up at him and he grinned at me, I smiled and went to the locker room with my bag.
When I was suited up I walked out into the hallway and noticed that I was the first one done. I stood by the door waiting and heard coach yelling at them to hurry up he didn’t have all day. I smiled remembering the Christmas when he said the same thing to my brothers with their touch down dance after they scored during our yearly Christmas football game (he always came to Christmas with my family before they died).
When we finished running drills he told us to go home and he will announce it tomorrow who made it and who didn’t. I went to the girls locker room, unlocked it and changed into my work clothes, I ached a little bit from the drills and smiled at the bruises on the back of my legs just like my brothers got. (My family has easily bruised skin). I laughed at the thought of coach and my brother’s teammates picking on them about their bruising.
***
I whipped my eyes of the tears stains, blood, and mud. I sighed and stared at my face in the mirror. I heard footsteps behind me, I looked up from the sink and saw coach in mirror with my face, “I didn’t make you cry did I?” he asked me gently putting a hand on my shoulder. (By then all the cheerleaders were gone)
I shook my head and got out from his grip to get my bag. “I was just thinking of my brothers and my parents.” I paused in grabbing my school bag, “and how much I miss them” I sat down and he came and sat beside me
“I miss them too, you know.” I looked at him and HE looked like he had been CRYING, “I miss how your brother captained the team, Zack isn’t anything like him.”
I laughed, “He is with his temper.” We both laughed and I thought of when coach told us who made the team.
***
I pulled my old white, Dodge Ram into the school parking lot. I sat in it for five minutes till I saw David Sheppard go in the gym, where it would soon be announced who made it. I got out of my truck in my blue work jeans and a school Lacrosse team shirt; I found my seat in the upper corner of the gym risers. Coach came out with the list and a big box of tee shirts, (for anyone who doesn’t know, my school’s tradition is hand out gold shirts to the Varsity team and green to the JV, to wear the first day of school).
“Alright, Shut up.” Coach bellowed (he defiantly didn’t need a microphone). “Here’s JV.” I listened carefully to the list and when he finished, my eyes got wide when I wasn’t listed (I assumed I would be on JV cause I’m a first year, even though I’m a junior.) “And now Varsity” he announced, I had a harder time listening, but when he finally said my name “Royal Cool” I slowly stood up and almost tripped my way down to him, he handed me my gold shirt and said “hope a medium fits ya” I just nodded still in shock and went to my place in the line
***
When we finally stoped laughing I looked at him, “You remember when Zack told me I shouldn’t be on the team, cause I was no where near as good as my brothers?” after I said that I looked down at the ground and played with my hands
I felt his hand on my shoulder again making me look at him “and then I chewed him out, cause you’re actually better then your brothers, except tonight I mean.” He tried to smile at me and I did them same looking down still now thinking of tonight’s game
***
We all walked out onto the field as they called our name and number, when mine was called, I was shaking (our first game and I was starting QB, STARTING QB!). The team we were playing against had my ex boyfriend of a few years back on it and he was starting too, that was what was making me nervous (he’s cute tall and QB and their captain YIKES!). I stood in the middle of the field with the rest of my team and watched as the other team was being called out. Then we did the star spangled banner and I looked at the flag like everyone else with my helmet off.
Let me tell you, the whole game was a blur to me, but I’ll tell you what I heard from the announcer, before it got blurry.
“Welcome everyone, we have a new player among our varsity team. Royal Cool our starting QB tonight, the younger sister of Brad and Terence Cool. This is her first year and our first year with a girl on our team, how lucky are we?” the announcer got a few cheers and a few boos for saying that.
Then we played, I don’t remember what he said after that cause I was busy passing the ball down the field to Zach (he wasn’t too happy that he was going to be receiver when Coach first told him, but he told me he liked it better then QB). We scored three times and they scored once, making the game 21-7. Then it was halftime.
We went to the locker room (the guys only cause they weren’t changing). Coach said some encouraging stuff then looked at me and said, “we have to win this one for the twins, they hated this team (hmmmm I wonder why?! Oh, that’s right they guy who broke my heart is on the team). I looked down and felt everyone staring at me.
Then Coach told us to get out there and win, and that’s what we did. We won 54-7. Our school had a policy on good sportsmen ship, so we had to slap hands with the other team and say good game (just like little league!). I was last in line and so was Jon (my ex). When we got to each other, and the rest of our teams were gone, we stood in the middle of the field.
He took his helmet off “take it off Royal” I did and he put a hand behind my head playing with my hair “I miss you Royal” then he kissed me. I dropped my helmet. My head was already spinning from winning the game, now it was even worse. I kissed him back (it was amazing!).
Then I felt someone pulling me from him. I looked to see who it was and it was coach, his face was red and he had my helmet I let my head drop and I heard the announcer say “this is why girls don’t play football”
That’s when I started to cry for the first time.
***
After my little confrontation with Coach he just looked at me, “see you at practice Monday,” and he left
I grabbed my bags and headed to my truck. There was someone at the bed of my truck I sighed and threw my bag in the bed and looked at the person and gasped. It was Jon.
“What are you doing on my truck?” I asked him as he jumped down.
“I came to say sorry for getting you in trouble, and to ask you something” he smiled and put his arms around me “will you be my girlfriend?”
I nodded speechless (and I’m never like that). We both smiled at each other and he kissed me again. I put my arms around his neck and he pulled me tighter to him
The rest of the football season and school year, well… it kind of went like that.
Epilogue
I played football for the rest of my junior year, and I got the award that was in dedication for my brothers that year. I played my senor year and took our team to nationals, we lost but we still went. Jon and I dated all throughout high school and we got married two summers after I went to nationals. Jon went to collage and played ball while I worked from home. Now, we’ve been married for 3 years and were about to have our second child together, our first was twin boys. I’m hoping that our next one is a girl and I hope she plays football like me.