Saving the Team (18 page)

On the sideline Coach Flores screamed encouragements at us, even as she yelled at the referees to pay attention to the rough play from the Panthers' side. Finally the referee gave the entire Panthers team a warning.

That made Zoe even harder to corral. When I lobbed her a pass and she scored again a few minutes later, from an impossible angle, our crowd erupted and started cheering harder.

With Mirabelle completely neutralized by Jessi, we now had the upper hand. Zoe scored another goal for a hat trick, and Pinewood collapsed. Mirabelle started arguing with some of the other Panthers, frustrated after falling behind. They stopped working together.

With a few minutes left in the game, the score was 3–2 Kangaroos. The momentum was fully on our side. The win was so close, we could feel it. But I had one more thing on my mind: payback. I ran over to Jessi and whispered to her that I wanted to take on Mirabelle. At first she looked confused, but then she grinned.

“You got it. I'll set you up.” She knew exactly what I had in mind.

Game time was winding down. Jessi passed the ball to me, setting me up for a one on one versus Mirabelle. I knew Mirabelle was so angry, she wouldn't back down, even if the rest of her team had given up.

Mirabelle had been a bully of a captain. She'd laughed
at her own teammates and called them losers. It was time to show her how wrong she was.

With a fake-out move that Coach had taught me, I zoomed right past Mirabelle. Her eyes grew wide and her mouth opened in surprise, before her face crumbled in disappointment as she realized what was happening. Leaving her in the dust, I punched the ball past the Panthers' goalie. Goal! The final whistle sounded.

We had done it! The Kentville Kangaroos had beaten the Pinewood Panthers! Our fans went wild.

Mirabelle looked at me, her mouth open.

“We're not losers, Mirabelle,” I said, smiling. “And we never were!”

She stamped her feet before storming off the field. But I had better things to do than watch her pout. The Kangaroos and Coach Flores came running over together, hugging one another and screaming in happiness.

“We did it!” Emma yelled, jumping up and down with excitement.

“Awesome game!” I told everyone. Nothing could wipe this smile off my face, but something happened to make it even bigger.

Our fans flooded the field, led by the boys' team. They chanted, “Kicks, Kicks,” while my teammates gleefully lifted me up on their shoulders. This was even better than the dream I'd had the day school had started!

“Nice job, Devin!” a boy's voice called up to me. I looked down to see Steven there, grinning.

I smiled. “Thanks!”

After the girls put me down, I took a moment to soak it all in. I watched as the boys' team congratulated my teammates, smiling and slapping them on the backs. Emma was circled by her huge family, and they were all chanting her name as she took a bow in the middle. Mr. and Mrs. Dukes were all smiles as they hugged Jessi. People were lining up to shake Zoe's hand; she had been a true star. Frida came out of character to share a group hug with Brianna, Sarah, and Anna. Grace, Anjali, and several of the other eighth graders were laughing as they splashed a beaming Coach Flores with Gatorade.

And best of all, my mom, dad, Maisie, and Kara came rushing over to hug me. “Devin, we're so proud of you,” my mom said as my dad ruffled my hair.

“Way to go!” Maisie cheered, while Kara grabbed my hand.

“So I guess California isn't so bad after all, is it?” Kara teased with a grin.

No, and with the Kicks by my side, I couldn't wait to find out what else California had in store for me!

corner kick:
If a defender kicks the ball out of bounds over the goal line, a member of the attacking team gets a free kick from the nearest corner of the field.

defender:
The defenders on a soccer team are the players who line up in front of their team's goal and try to keep the ball away from the goal. Defenders can also move the ball offensively across the field.

double tap:
When dribbling, a player gives the ball two short, quick taps in a row.

dribble:
When a player dribbles the ball, she runs while kicking the ball at the same time, trying to keep possession and control of the ball.

drill:
A training exercise.

flanks:
A player on the flank of the field has a position on either the far left or far right side.

forward:
Also known as strikers, forwards are the team's main attackers and spend most of the game in the opponent's half of the field.

goalie:
Also known as the goalkeeper. The goalie's job is to defend the goal. She is the only player on the team who can use her hands.

hat trick:
A hat trick is when a player scores three goals in one game. A flawless hat trick is when a player scores three goals in a row in the same game.

interception:
When a player gains control of the ball by taking possession of it from the opposing team.

juggling:
A player juggles a soccer ball in the air by repeatedly bouncing the ball off her feet.

left wing:
Any offensive player who plays on the left side of the field.

mercy rule:
This rule allows the refs to end a soccer game early when one team has what looks like an unbeatable lead over the other team.

midfielder:
The midfielders play in front of the defenders and behind the forwards. They generally have to be well-rounded players, good at both defending and scoring goals.

offsides:
An offensive player is offsides if she does not have possession of the ball and there is no defender between her and the opposing team's goal.

one-time:
When a player shoots the ball directly from a pass.

pass:
When a player kicks the ball to another player on the same team.

red card:
A red card is shown to a player by the referee for serious misconduct on the field. The player is ejected from the game immediately and cannot return.

scrimmage:
Also known as “friendlies,” these are practice games that follow the regular rules of soccer but do not count toward team statistics or wins.

step-over:
A move made by a player dribbling the ball to fool the defensive player into thinking she is going to move in a different direction.

striker:
Also known as forwards, strikers are the team's main attackers and spend most of the game in the opponent's half of the field.

yellow card:
The referee shows the yellow card to a player as a warning that she is breaking the rules of the game, usually by displaying unsporting behavior. If a player gets two yellow cards in the same game, she can no longer play in that game.

Hey guys,

Thank you so much for reading
Saving the Team
! I hope you had as much fun reading it as I had writing it.

If you were wondering why a soccer player would want to write a book series like the Kicks, the answer is easy. When I was a kid, books were almost as important to me as soccer. My favorites were
Matilda
by Roald Dahl and
Ella Enchanted
by Gail Carson Levine—stories about girls going after their dreams, even in the face of adversity and unlikely odds. They inspired me to be dedicated, and I hope reading about Devin and her challenges will inspire you, too.

In sports and in life, there are so many chances to fail. It's easy to give up sometimes. But as long as you keep dreaming and stay true to what you want in life, the impossible suddenly becomes possible.

I credit
so
much of my success to commitment. I've been committed to being a professional soccer player
since I was eight years old, when I wrote this note on a Post-it:

My mom put that note on the fridge and, as silly as it may sound, having that note up there strengthened my resolve. I was committed to making my dream a reality. Just like Devin is committed to being co-captain and making the Kangaroos the best team they can be.

It helps being surrounded by great people too. My family is always there for me. My dad has never missed a National Team game! And the US Women's National Soccer Team is my second family. We work together, travel together, and even live together. If we didn't get along so well, both off the field and on, we wouldn't be a
gold-medal-winning team. Likewise, without Jessi, Emma, and Zoe, Devin never would have worked so hard to help make the team great.

Finally, I'm so lucky to have
you
cheering me on! Writing this book series for you is my way of returning the favor. I hope you liked
Saving the Team
and you'll pick up the next book in the series,
Sabotage Season
. In the meantime, if you have any questions you'd like answered, feel free to write me at @alexmorgan13 on Twitter or at facebook.com/AlexMorganSoccer.

Oh, and one last thing: Just because I knew what I wanted to be when I was eight, don't feel like you have to know now what you're going to do when you grow up. There are lots of ways to get where you're going. Just follow your passion and be true to yourself.

See you soon,

Alex

ALEX MORGAN
became the youngest member of the US women's national soccer team in 2009 and competed in the 2011 FIFA World Cup. She was the first overall pick in the 2011 Women's Professional Soccer draft and landed a spot on the US Olympic women's soccer team in 2012. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, held in London, Morgan won her first Olympic medal, a gold, with the American team. The team beat Japan, 2–1, in a match watched by nearly 80,300 people—the largest soccer crowd in Olympic history.

SIMON & SCHUSTER BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2013 by Alex Morgan and Full Fathom Five

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Book design by Krista Vossen

Jacket design by Krista Vossen

Jacket illustration copyright © 2013 by Paula Franco

The text for this book is set in Berling.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Morgan, Alex (Alexandra Patricia), 1989–

Saving the team / Alex Morgan. — First edition.

pages cm. — (The Kicks ; [1])

Summary: After moving to California, seventh-grader Devin is afraid she will not make the soccer team but finds, instead, a team so bad that she is compelled to take the lead and turn it into something the players and coach can all be proud of.

ISBN 978-1-4424-8570-9 (hardback)

[1. Soccer—Fiction. 2. Leadership—Fiction. 3. Friendship—Fiction. 4. Moving, Household—Fiction. 5. Family life—California—Fiction. 6. California—Fiction.] I. Title. PZ7.M818Sav 2013 [Fic]—dc23 2013002033