Read Online Just for Kicks by Robert Rayner - Free Book Online Page B

today, to get revenge; so I guess I’m not playing just for fun,” I confessed. “But usually — it’s just that I like being on a team with people who can really play soccer, like you and Julie and Brian, even if I don’t contribute much.”
    â€œYou do all right,” Shay put in.
    â€œBut I’ll never be good — not if Mr. Fleet coached me for the next hundred years.” I thought of how Shay saw the spaces on the field, and the tricks he did with the ball, and added, “Would you like to be a famous soccer player, like your grandad? You know — like, play for Manchester United?”
    â€œI wouldn’t mind, as long as I still liked it. Grandad always says, ‘Study the game seriously, but play for joy.’ He says it’s like playing the piano. You study seriously, but you play for joy.”
    After a bit, I said, “We’re not still playing soccer just for kicks — are we?”
    â€œNo,” said Shay quietly.
    The wind suddenly picked up and roiled through the treetops. I looked up. Clouds, towering and dark, had banked over Brunswick Valley and were rolling towards Pleasant Harbour.

10
Fourth Game
    We heard the shouts of the coaches and the spectators as soon as we started down Second Hill, so we knew the game had already started. There was a big crowd from Pleasant Harbour again, as well as a bunch of parents from Brunswick Valley. Brian’s dad was there, and Julie’s mom, and the twins’ mom, and Linh-Mai’s dad. Looking across the field at the spectators, the teams in their uniforms, and the coaches in tracksuits in their team’s colours, I felt my heart thumping — and it wasn’t just from the walk over the Mountain Road.
    â€œHurry up and get on the field.” Coach Fleet sounded peeved. “The Pleasant Harbour kids are threatening to score.”
    As he spoke, Chip avoided Linh-Mai’s tackle and passed to Cuz, who swerved around Julie and fired one of her rocket shots past Brian.
    â€œCorrection,” Coach Fleet grumbled. “They have scored.”
    The Pleasant Harbour parents chanted, “Easy. Easy.”
    The Brunswick Valley crowd booed.
    We lined up ready for the restart. The menacing clouds I’d noticed on the trail were looming over Second Hill and I wondered whether we’d finish the game in the rain. I looked behind me from my centre forward position to make sure everyone was ready before I took the kickoff. Shay and Julie were side by side in their positions. Julie was saying, “It’s a team bus, so I thought we should all be on it.” Shay looked straight ahead.
    I took the kickoff, passing back to Shay, and jogged upfield. Shay passed back to me. I kept the ball, looking around for someone to pass to.
    â€œTake it forwards, Toby,” our coach called.
    Meredith confronted me. “Hello, Toby the Tub — champion penalty kicker of all time.”
    She moved to tackle and I turned my back to her, screening the ball. She crashed into me and her foot scraped across my shins as she poked the ball away and chased after it.
    â€œFoul!” shouted Coach Fleet.
    â€œGood hustle,” called Coach Ferret.
    â€œPlay fair,” Mr. Price shouted.
    â€œGo home to Brunswick Valley if you don’t like it,” Meredith’s dad responded.
    â€œFour-eyes,” I muttered.
    Meredith shaped up to pass to Chip, but she hadn’t seen Julie approaching from behind. Julie elbowed her aside and, with the ball at her feet, hustled past Chip and Quan. She drew her foot back to shoot, but Cuz, roaring in from the side, threw herself in front of Julie, who ran full tilt into her.
    â€œObstruction,” Coach Fleet roared. “Cousins got in Julie’s way.”
    â€œFree kick,” Mrs. Barry demanded.
    â€œIt’s not obstruction,” Coach Ferret argued. “It was Julie’s fault they collided. She ran into Cuz.”
    â€œWhat