Go for the Goal! (5 page)

J
osh and Aidan stepped out of the car at the High-Top Adventure Park. The gravel parking lot was surrounded by woods. Through the just-turning leaves, Josh could see zip lines, swinging ropes, and wobbly bridges high in the trees. And he could hear the sound of distant laughter and happy yells.

Josh eyed Aidan. “I told Coach about this place. I wasn’t sure she’d let us come.”

“Yeah, I remember when we came here with the Flames last year,” Aidan said. “It’s cool.”

“When will you guys be done?” Josh’s mother asked, leaning out of the car window.

“In two hours. Like a regular practice.”

“Okay, I’ll pick you up then.”

The two boys saw the rest of the United team gathered near a small cabin at the edge of the woods.

“Come on, guys,” Coach Hodges called, waving them over. “Hustle over here.”

Coach had a big grin on her face as she addressed the team. “Josh tells me this place is a lot of fun.” She looked back at the trees. “The park has lots of different climbing elements and courses. I’m going to break you into small groups. After you get safety instructions from one of the park rangers, you can spend the rest of the time climbing. Remember, stay together and help each other out. Be good teammates.”

She glanced at her clipboard and started calling out the climbing teams. “The first group will be Josh, Evan, and Kadir.”

Josh’s group walked over to a big ladder made of angled logs nailed to a board. It led up to a platform that looked like the world’s coolest tree house.

Evan glanced around at the ropes and cables high in the trees. “This is a pretty weird soccer pitch.”

“Don’t worry, it’s cool,” Josh said. “I came here last year with my old team, the Flames. We—”

“Whoa! Look at that!” Evan’s eyes widened and he pointed into the trees.

Josh turned toward a loud, metallic whirring sound. High above them, a girl with her harness attached to a zip line flew between two trees.

“Yeeeeaaaaahhhhh!”
Her voice filled the air.

A park employee approached Josh’s group. He was tall and wore a bright orange T-shirt with the words “High-Top Adventure Park—It’s Tree-mendous!”

“Hi, I’m Berkeley,” he smiled. “How are you guys doing today?” Berkeley eyed their United shirts. “Let me guess. Same soccer team?”

“Yeah.”

“How’re you doing this season?”

“Not so good,” Josh admitted. “Our record’s 0–7–1.”

“But we played a lot better our last game,” Evan added.

“Maybe this’ll help you play even better,” Berkeley said. For the next fifteen minutes he explained the park and its safety features while the boys stepped into their climbing harnesses, fastened the straps, and put on thick leather gloves.

“We use a double-clip system, so there’s no way anyone can fall. It’s totally safe. Stay away from the black-diamond and double-diamond courses. Those are for the expert climbers. Stick to the yellow, green, and blue courses. Those are easier. Remember, only one guy on an element at a time. And one more thing—have fun.”

“Aren’t you coming with us?” asked Kadir.

Berkeley shook his head. “No, I’ll stay down here. But don’t worry, somebody will climb up and help you if you get in trouble.”

The boys scrambled up the log ladder and stood on the platform. A maze of cables, ropes, planks, beams, and barrels spread out into the trees like a midair obstacle course.

“Which way should we go?” Evan asked.

“Why don’t we try the blue course?” Josh suggested, pointing the way.

The boys started off with Josh leading the way, Evan next, and Kadir going third. First they tried a hanging bridge made of strung-together wooden footboards. Josh gripped the taut wire railings and moved slowly, getting used to the height, taking one careful step at a time across the bridge. He tried not to look down. When he reached the other side, he let out a rush of air. “Come on, it’s fun,” he called back to his teammates.

Evan started, moving even more slowly than Josh across the hanging bridge. Kadir was the slowest. Standing on the platform waiting, Josh whispered to Evan, “He doesn’t look like he likes it up here.”

The boys proceeded through the other elements on the blue course: a rope pulled tight like a high wire in the circus, a bridge made of horizontal logs spaced really far apart, and a maze of boards hung at different heights and angles.

Best of all was the zip line, where Josh sailed through the air for about twenty yards, screaming all the way. When he reached the end, he yelled to Evan and
Kadir, still on the starting platform. “C’mon! It’s great!”

Evan hesitated for a few seconds before pushing off, but as he flew fast and high toward Josh he was smiling from ear to ear.

Kadir waited forever on the platform. He seemed to be trying to summon up the courage to step off. Finally he closed his eyes, leaned forward, and stepped out into thin air, letting the zip line propel him through the trees.

Josh watched Kadir zoom toward him. As Kadir got close, Josh—still clipped to the safety cable—pulled him to the platform.

“Way to go!” Evan yelled.

The final element was the toughest. It was a bridge made with high “railings” and a series of long U-shaped cables strung between them. They looked like a bunch of big stirrups. When Josh grabbed the railing and stepped into the first big loop, everything—his feet, his hands, his whole body—swung wildly. He had to steady himself before he could step into the next big loop. His heart beat fast as he slowly edged from
one shaky perch to another. When he finally made it to the other side, he hugged the tree. After he caught his breath, he turned back to Evan and Kadir. “Take your time,” he warned them. “This one’s tough. Make sure your foot’s really in the loop.”

Like Josh, Evan moved slowly, trembling on each loop. When he finally made it onto the platform, he gave Josh a high five and then the two of them turned to watch Kadir.

Kadir started across cautiously, almost painfully, stepping from loop to loop. When he got halfway across, he froze.

“Uh-oh,” Josh breathed. He could see it in Kadir’s eyes. “He’s panicking,” Josh whispered to Evan.

“Just take it one step at a time,” Evan called. “Remember what Berkeley said. You’re clipped on. You can’t fall. You can do it.”

Kadir reached out with his foot, but he started to shake again and lost his nerve.

Josh and Evan didn’t give up on their teammate. They kept encouraging him.

“That’s it.”

“You can do it.”

Slowly, carefully, Kadir started again. He stepped tentatively from loop to loop, edging closer to the platform. Then he froze again.

“You keep talking to him,” Josh said. “I’ll go get him.”

“Wait. Only one guy on an element, remember?” Evan warned.

“Oh yeah,” Josh said as he stepped back onto the platform. “But we’ve got to help him. We can’t just leave him out there.” He looked at Kadir. He hadn’t moved. “Are you okay, Kadir?”

His teammate didn’t answer.

Josh stepped back into the loops toward Kadir. “Don’t worry, Kadir. We’ll help you!” Josh shouted. “Go, United.”

Josh reached out and got a firm grip on Kadir’s hand. “I got you,” he said. He slowly led his teammate across the final loops to the platform.

Kadir was still shaking as he stood on the solid wood platform. “Thanks,” he said in a whisper.

“No problem,” Josh said. Evan patted Kadir on the back.

“I must have looked pretty stupid out there, not moving,” Kadir said, his voice coming back. “I won’t be much help against the Storm on Saturday if I freeze like that.”

“That’s all right,” Josh said. “I don’t think we’ll play the Storm up here in the trees.”

The three teammates laughed and climbed together down to solid ground.

T
en … eleven … twelve …” A circle of players tapped the ball to each other in a pregame warm-up of “soccer tennis,” working hard to keep the ball in the air. Their shouts filled the field.

“Don’t let it drop!”

“Get it!” “Good save!”

Josh looked around the small cluster of players as the count got higher.

“Thirteen … fourteen … fifteen …”

Victor … Kadir … Evan … Mario … Patrick … Demetrius …. Josh hadn’t known these guys before the season. Now they were beginning to become real teammates.

Coach Hodges and Josh had found more
team-building exercises to end each practice. The team liked the exercises. In fact, some of the other players had made suggestions.

Victor had come up with “trust falls.” He had the team break into pairs. One player had to close his eyes, fold his arms across his chest, and fall backward, trusting his teammate to catch him.

It wasn’t easy. The first time Josh fell back, he could feel his arms twitch and his legs shift to stop his fall. With his eyes shut, it was hard to believe Kadir would catch him.

“You have to trust your teammates to catch you,” Coach Hodges had said. “And maybe if we learn to trust each other in practice, we’ll learn to trust each other during the game.”

Still, Josh worried that the team-building exercises weren’t enough. They were fun and seemed to be bringing the team together, but they hadn’t led to a United win. Yet.

Josh was thinking about all that as the game of soccer tennis continued.

“Twenty … twenty-one … twenty-two …”

Then suddenly the ball popped a little too far. Josh reached for it but couldn’t get it. The game was over.

“Twenty-two!” Patrick announced.

“That’s our best ever!” Mario exclaimed.

Twenty-two is pretty good,
Josh thought.
But it would be better if we won just one game. Today’s game!

The United played well in the first half but they were up against a tough team—the Storm—and the score stayed tied 0–0.

The United had missed some scoring chances. Late in the first half, Josh got free near the top of the penalty area and blistered a shot on goal, but it sailed just over the crossbar. When he turned away in disappointment, he saw Evan clapping and cheering him on, the way they had encouraged Kadir when he was stuck on the blue course. “Good shot!” the United midfielder shouted to Josh. “Keep taking those shots.”

Josh’s hopes for a win were high when the United raced back onto the pitch for the second half. Still, the score stayed knotted at
0–0 until midway through the second half.

The Storm put pressure on the United goal. Aidan made a strong play to run a Storm attacker off the ball and gain control. He passed the ball to Demetrius, another United defender, as the Storm fell back.

Patrick, the United goalkeeper, called for the ball. Demetrius, without looking, kicked the ball slowly back toward Patrick and the United goal.

Upfield, Josh got ready for a long punt, but as he saw the play develop, he screamed. “No!”

A quick-thinking Storm forward spun and got to the ball. In a flash, he tipped it past the frantic United keeper and angled it into the net.

Goal!

The Storm was ahead, 1–0.

Stunned, the United huddled in the middle of the field.

Aidan moaned. “I can’t believe—”

But before he could finish, Evan cut him off. “Forget it,” he said. “We’ll be okay. Let’s stick together and get it back.”

“Fast,” Josh added.

The United put pressure on the Storm goal right away. With quick passes and a series of give and gos, the United were buzzing around the Storm’s net.

Evan faked left and dribbled right, bringing the Storm defense with him. Watching the play unfold, Josh circled left, hoping to get another shot near the top of the penalty area.

Seeing his teammate, Evan pivoted and laid a pass off for Josh. This time Josh did not miss. He hit the ball squarely and drilled a hard shot just inside the far post and past the diving Storm goalkeeper.

Goal! It was all tied, 1–1.

The United crowded around Josh to celebrate. But Josh and Evan wouldn’t let them celebrate too much.

“We need another one.”

“We still have time.”

“Don’t let up.”

The United went right back on the attack.

Josh settled a pass on the wing. Seeing an opening to the goal, he rushed forward,
attacking the net. The Storm defenders and keeper reacted quickly to cut him off, so Josh chipped a high, soft pass to an open space near the Storm goal.

Evan sprinted to the ball. After letting it take a single bounce, he volleyed it into the back of the net.

Goal! The United were ahead, 2–1.

This time the United celebrated in a wild, roiling circle. When the game ended a few minutes later, they celebrated all over again with chest bumps, high fives, and loud cheers.

The United had beaten the Storm, 2–1, for their first win of the season.

The players didn’t want to leave the pitch after the victory. Even when they finally walked off together, they were still talking about the win.

“What a comeback!”

“Bring on Manchester United.”

“We got a one-game winning streak!” Evan shouted as he pumped a finger to the sky.

“And a two-game undefeated streak!” Aidan added.

Josh elbowed Evan. “Watch out guys,” he said. “Evan’s gonna want to score all the time now.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Evan said.

“Why not?” Josh asked. “After all, you got the game winner, didn’t you?”

Evan smiled. “I was just helping the U.S.S.
Inchworm
get to shore.”

W
hat’s for lunch?” Josh asked as he pushed his tray along the cafeteria

“Chicken nuggets and tater tots,” Aidan answered.

Josh shrugged. “I guess that’s better than sloppy joes.” When he reached the end of the line, he looked around the cafeteria. “There’s Chris and Nick. Let’s go sit with them again.”

Josh and Aidan made their way to a table in the far corner. “Hey, guys,” Josh said. “Got any room for a couple of old teammates?”

“Sure.”

Josh and Aidan sat down and started eating their lunch.

“I know why you guys are so cheery,” Chris said. “You finally won one.”

“Are you checking our website
every
week?” Aidan asked.

“Haven’t missed a week yet,” Chris replied.

This time Josh was glad the United had a website.

Chris elbowed Josh. “I saw you got another goal too. How many goals you got this year?”

“Four. Four in nine games,” Josh said. “How’d the Flames do on Saturday?”

“We won again, 4–1,” Nick said.

“We played great,” Chris said. “We had the ball in their zone the whole game.”

The boys ate in silence for a while. One of Josh’s chicken nuggets slipped out of his hand onto the floor.

Chris started counting. “One second … two seconds …”

“No way I’m picking that up off the floor and eating it,” Josh said.

“Come on,” Chris insisted. “Five-second rule.”

“Forget it.”

Chris leaned back from the table. “So what’s the big difference? Why did you guys finally win one?”

“I don’t know,” Aidan said. “We just played more like a team. You know, passing it around. Especially in the second half.” He looked at Josh and added, “Then there was Josh’s great idea.”

“What was that?”

Josh popped a tater tot into his mouth. “I suggested to Coach Hodges a couple weeks ago that we do some kind of team-building exercise every practice.”

“Like what?” Nick asked.

“One was with a blanket. We all stood on it and had to move it about 20 feet,” Josh said.

“What’s so hard about that? Chris asked.

“We were all standing on the blanket!” Aidan pointed out. “We weren’t allowed to get off.”

“Did you guys do it?” Nick asked.

“Yeah. It took us about twenty minutes, but we did it.”

Chris looked puzzled. “What’s that got to do with soccer?” he asked.

“Everything,” Josh and Aidan said at the same time, then laughed.

“We even went to the High-Top Park like the Flames did after last season,” Josh added. “Climbed on all those ladders and ropes and zip lines. It was fun.”

“I still don’t get what it has to do with soccer,” Chris said.

Aidan broke in again before Josh could even open his mouth. “The 1999 United States women’s team used this kind of team-building stuff,” he said. “And they won the World Cup. They were
Sports Illustrated
Sportswomen of the Year.”

“Since when are you the big expert?” Nick asked.

“We’re doing our research paper for Ms. Littlewood on the World Cup,” Josh explained. “Hey, don’t knock it. These team-building exercises are working. We’re playing great.”

“You guys are talking pretty big for a team that’s only won one game,” Chris said.

“What?” Josh said. “You think the Flames could beat the United?”

“Yeah,” Chris said. Then he smiled and held up a tater tot. “In a game of tater-tot toss.”

“What’s a tater toss tot … I mean—”

“Tater tot toss,” Chris corrected. “You gotta toss a tater tot into your teammate’s mouth from across the table. Let’s say the best out of three tosses. Flames against the United.”

“We gotta make sure Ms. Littlewood doesn’t see us,” Aidan said. “She’s on lunch duty today.”

“We’re way back in the corner,” Chris said. “She won’t see a thing.” He picked up a tater tot from his plate. “We’ll go first. Come on, Nick, open up.”

Nick opened his mouth. Chris held the tater tot like a dart, eyeing the distance across the lunchroom table. He let it go with a quick flick of his wrist. The greasy puff of potato flew across the table and bounced right off Nick’s nose.

Everyone at the table laughed.

“Zero for one!” Aidan shouted.

“Come on, Nick, you gotta move your mouth,” Chris said.

“All right, our turn,” Josh said, holding up a tater tot. He closed one eye, trying to zero in on Aidan’s lower jaw.

Josh’s throw was perfect. The tater tot landed on Aidan’s tongue and he snapped his mouth shut.

“Goal!” Josh shouted. “The United lead, 1–0.”

Nick’s next toss landed on Chris’s forehead and then fell to the floor. Aidan missed Josh’s head entirely, but the United team still led, 1–0.

“Okay, last try,” Chris said. “The pressure’s on.” Chris’s toss sailed true and the tot zoomed right into Nick’s wide-open mouth.

“Goal!” Chris shouted. “Tie score.”

“Keep it down,” Aidan warned. “Ms. Littlewood is looking over here.”

“We got one last shot,” Josh reminded everyone. He picked the smallest tater tot from his plate and looked across the table. Staring into Aidan’s wide-open mouth, Josh
felt like a dentist. He steadied his hand and let the tater tot fly.

It was—good! Aidan closed his mouth and punched his fist into the air. “Dee-licious!” he declared, chewing the winning tater tot.

“Another United victory!” Josh turned to Chris and said, “I’m telling you, these team-building exercises are working. Big time.”