Read more
Informationen zum Autor Alex Morgan Klappentext A California earthquake is just the first in a series of chain of events that shakes Devin's confidence: she fails a test in a subject she knows well, her crush seems to have his attention on another girl, and worst of all, her soccer game is off, so now Devin, the girl who usually inspires confidence in her friends and teammates, will have to turn to them for support.Shaken Up Coach Darby’s whistle shrieked. “Interception! Great job, Devin!” I beamed. “Thanks, Coach!” I called back. We were on the soccer field at Pinewood Rec Center, practicing with my winter league team, the Griffons. The regular school soccer season was over until the spring, and I’d been going into serious soccer withdrawal until my friend Jessi had suggested we try out for the winter league. Some of us on the Griffons were students at Kentville Middle School in Kentville, California. We played soccer for the Kentville Kangaroos, or the Kicks, as most people called us. When the Kicks’ season had ended, I’d been crushed. But now I was back on the field doing what I loved most! I passed the soccer ball I had stolen during our scrimmage to Jessi, who in turn kicked it to Kelly. I was teamed up with Jessi, Kelly, and Zarine. We were squaring off against Mirabelle, Lauren, Sasha, and Tracey. The rest of the Griffons were watching us as they did some basic dribbling on the sidelines. “I want to give everyone a chance to touch the ball,” Coach Darby said before she broke us into smaller groups. Scrimmages are practice games between members of the same team. Most of the time we scrimmaged with the whole team. Today was different. It was only 4 on 4. No one in goal, so each team’s defender had to keep an eye out for scoring threats. “All four of your teammates must touch the ball before scoring, or else the goal doesn’t count,” Coach Darby said. That meant we all had to kick the ball before trying to make a goal. So Kelly kicked the ball to Zarine, who sent it back my way. Since all four of us had handled the ball, I was ready to go for a goal. But Mirabelle swooped in and stole it from me. Coach Darby’s whistle sounded again. “Nice work, Mirabelle!” The other team had possession. Lauren passed the ball to Mirabelle, who passed it back to her. Lauren eyed Sasha. I moved in, but the ball skirted just out of my reach before Sasha had possession. She sent it to Tracey, and I once again narrowly missed it. Tracey sent the ball to Lauren, but her shot was a little wide. This was the moment I’d been waiting for. I intercepted the ball. Focusing on accuracy, I kicked the ball to Kelly, who sent it back to me. I passed it to Jessi, who swooped in, narrowly missing an attack by Mirabelle. Jessi lobbed it to Zarine, who scored. “Nice work!” Jessi high-fived me as Coach Darby’s whistle blew. “Everyone over here!” Coach barked, and the Griffons, who were on the sidelines, came running over. “Time for the shooting gallery!” Coach Darby shouted with a little smile on her lips. Her announcement was met with half the team groaning and the other half clapping. Coach Darby’s version of a shooting gallery drill was fun, but it was pretty exhausting, so it was always met with a mixed reaction. That was why Coach, who didn’t usually smile much, had a small grin on her face. “You’re up first, Devin.” Coach pointed to just outside the penalty area, where she had placed the ball. The drill involved lots of running and shooting, which was pretty intense, but I loved it. The object was to try to make goals from several different spots in the goal zone, running from ...
