Chapter 9
It was a conversation I wasn't supposed to hear, wished I didn't hear.
Serves me right for arriving at a team meeting early.
"It's Lucas' fault!" I heard Coach Parker say in Coach Martin's office.
"If he hadn't come out for the team, this wouldn't have happened," Coach Parker said. "It's like the Little League Softball World Series all over again. We're going to be playing a stacked team for the championship."
"How can you blame Lucas, Myra?" Coach Martin said in my defense. "There have been other boys play in the conference before. There are a couple of boys playing in high school now in other parts of the state."
"But a boy hadn't played in our conference in years," Coach Parker said. "I don't think one had played in middle school in years. Then what happens? We get one and get a lot of news coverage, and look what happens at Creekmore!"
"That's different, Myra, and you know it!" Coach Martin said. "Lucas playing for us is not a game changer. Everybody in our conference knows that."
"No, but Lucas coming out for our team opened the door for them to pull a stunt like this," Coach Parker said. "I don't like the idea of our girls playing against a team with two physically MATURE boys. It's not safe."
The girls were gathering at the door. Jessi and Emily put their arms around me.
"Don't listen to her, it's not your fault," Jessi said.
"Myra, what do you want me to do?" Coach Martin said. "Do you want me to forfeit the championship to them? How do you think they reached the championship game to begin with? We're 7-0. The girls have worked too hard to get here, including Lucas. Even with those boys, we can beat them."
Just then Gina barged in.
"I hate to interrupt, but we're all outside the door, even Luke," Gina said.
The room grew quiet.
"Tell the girls to go get dressed," Coach Martin said. "We'll have a little meeting in 15 minutes. Tell Lucas to come in here. I want to talk to him."
She looked at Coach Parker.
"I want to talk to him alone!" Coach Martin said.
I just looked down walking into coach's off. I was afraid to look at Coach Parker.
I almost felt like crawling under a rock, or at least a filing cabinet.
"Take a seat!" Coach Martin said. "You heard every word?"
I nodded my head yes.
"I meant every word I said," Coach Martin said. "You have been nothing but a joy to coach. What happens here has nothing to do with what happens at other schools, I want you to understand that."
"Coach...I'll quit if you need me to," I said. "What if Coach Parker is right? What if it is my fault?"
She shook her head.
"You have 10 minutes to get your practice clothes on and get your gear," Coach Martin said. "You'll have to run laps if you're late. I don't want to hear anymore talk about quitting."
#####
It was the quietest I've ever heard our locker-room.
I sat in my usual place on the front bench while we waited on Coach Martin and Coach Parker to enter the room.
"I have something to say before we talk about Thursday's game and what we're going to do at practice," Coach Martin said. "I know most of you heard the conversation I had with Coach Parker."
We nodded our heads yes.
"Before we go any further and talk about the challenge we face against Creeksmore, I want you to know Lucas has offered to quit the team for the good of the team."
"Coach, can I say something? Gina said, raising her hand.
"Of course, you're captain," Coach Martin said.
"If Luke don't play, I don't play," she said.
"I won't play either." Melanie said, followed by Emily, Jessi, Kim and every girl in the room.
"I didn't think you'd want to play," Coach Martin said. "I didn't even give him the option. But I'm glad he got to hear you say it. I'm glad other people in this room got to hear you say it."
All of the girls turned around an looked at Coach Parker.
"Coach Parker is entitled to her opinion and you are to respect her," Coach Martin said. "But at the end of the day, I'm the head coach. If there is anyone in this room who doesn't believe in what we're doing, if there is anyone who doesn't believe we can beat Creekmore, they are free to go."
No one left.
"Good!" Coach Martin said. "We need to be united when we hit that practice field. It has been a joy to watch you grow together as a team, as sisters."
"What did I tell you little sister?" Gina whispered to me.
"You've all been like my children, like my daughters," Coach Martin said.
"Even Lucas?" Emily asked, jokingly.
"Yes, even Lucas," Coach Martin said. "Even when you move up to the high school, you will always be my girls. We've used too much time. Let's hit the practice field."
#####
"They look old enough to drive," Melanie told Gina as Creekmore took the field for pregame warmups.
They had two boys on the team. They joined at midseason. They both were about six-foot-tall. They also played football.
They were eighth graders, very mature eighth graders.
"I checked their birth certificates," Coach Martin told a parent. "They're 14."
Creekmore changed their uniforms once they joined their team. They switched to shorts. They beat Sullins 2-1. "The Beast" got hurt in the game. She was out for the rest of the season.
Bedford and Lakeland, two of the better teams in their division of the conference forfeited rather than face them.
"Spartans, what's your profession!" one of the boys asked the rest of the team as they met in a circle at midfield.
Spartans was Creekmore's mascot name. The line was from the movie "300."
"Aooh!" the rest of the team shouted.
"What dipwads!" Melanie said with her arm around me. "Don't they know the 300 were men? Sure they've got burly giants on their team. But we like our boy just the way he is on our team, even if he is a bit girly."
"Gee thanks, Mel," I said sarcastically.
"Anytime, just got to build up your ego," she said.
"And you do such a good job at that, too," laughed Gina.
"Okay Lady Tigers, gather 'round!" Coach Martin said.
"We can beat them!" she said. "Gina, Melanie, their boys are quick and physical. They're going to pound on you. That's what they've done against other teams. But they are not a very fundamentally sound team. We are. We are far more disciplined."
She then looked at me, Jessi, Emily and Amber.
"The key is for you four to attack the girls on defense," she said. "When they pass it to them, you swarm them like Bedford did us. They're not very good passers. They're going to commit turnovers. We'll have plenty of opportunities to score."
She then looked at Kim.
"You've been solid all year," Coach Martin said. "You must hold your ground. Lucas is going to sub for you for a few minutes in each half. It's going to be really physical."
The boys pounded Gina and Melanie alright. They were getting cheap shots in. I couldn't remember a game where they hit the ground so much.
Both of the boys targeted me. Tripping me from behind and laughing. They got away with it. They were getting cheap shots in when they could.
They were fast. They jumped on top of us 3-0 in the first half.
"We've got to attack their weakness more!" Coach Martin said. "Remember what I said. They're not disciplined. They're not fundamentally sound."
That began to show in the second half. They weren't in very good shape.
Gina outran one of the boys to score our first goal. Mel matched her to cut their lead to 3-2. But they got their second wind and scored two more goals to lead 5-2.
But then we got pesky. We swarmed their girls. I forced a turnover and made a pass to Emily, who scored. Jessi forced two turnovers and passed them off to Gina and Melanie, who both scored, tying the game at 5 all with just a few minutes to play.
Kim made a couple of great saves at keeper with time running out.
Finally, Gina broke away with less than a minute to go. Both boys chased her, with one chasing her down. He kicked her leg out from under her. The ref didn't call it.
She went crashing to the ground.
I heard her scream.
"Lucas!" she yelled, passing the ball off to me.
I had an open shot on goal as both boys closed on me. I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw Jessi all alone.
"Jess, think fast!" I said, passing the ball to her right before one of the boys tripped me.
Jessi ran past their keeper and hit the ball into the net right before the whistle sounded.
We won the game 6-5. Our crowd, the team went crazy. We won the championship!
I looked around and saw Gina still on the ground. She was in tears. She was in pain.
"Somebody get the trainer!" I yelled, kneeling by her side and weeping with her. Coach Martin joined us. She held both of our arms when they put her on the stretcher.
"We did it, little sister!" she yelled, trying to act like she was Okay.
But I knew she was in pain.
####
All of us piled into the waiting room while Gina underwent surgery. We were there for hours. Nobody thought about the championship we won earlier that day.
All we cared about was Gina. Beth and some of the other football players were there, too, including Josh, who looked like he had lost his best friend.
"She's made it through surgery," her dad said. "You're going to have to wait before you can see her."
It didn't bother us. We weren't going anywhere.
Suddenly, her mom entered the waiting room.
"She's still a little groggy, but she can take visitors now," her mother said. "But only two or three at a time. Coach, she wants to see you, Lucas and Melanie first."
We entered the room. She was in bed with her leg in a cast.
"How are you feeling?" Coach Martin asked.
"Oh, tired and a little sore," she said groggily.
"It's a pretty bad fracture," her mother said.
"I'm filing a protest with the state committee," Coach Martin said. "I'm sending them the film from the game. The referees let the game get out of hand. And those boys should not be allowed to play anymore with the way they played."
"That's why I didn't want boys to play in the first place," Gina said. "Thanks to them, I'm going to miss lacrosse in the spring."
She then saw the tears in my eyes.
"What's wrong?" Gina asked.
"I still feel like it's all my fault!" I said.
"No, it's not," Gina said. "I don't have a problem with boys playing, now, as long as they play by the rules."
"But still, I was thinking I should quit," I said.
Gina looked over at Coach Martin.
"I want you to run him until he drops in the offseason, just for that remark," Gina said.
"Consider it done!" Coach Martin said.
"Listen here little sister!" Gina said. "You're a Lady Tiger! Lady Tigers don't quit. I'm looking forward to kicking your tail into shape when we're both on the high school team."
She looked over at Melanie and then back at me.
"Once you've worn the skirts of the Lady Tigers, you're in the sisterhood, isn't that right, Mel?"
Melanie nodded her head.
"What sisterhood is that?" I asked.
"The Sisterhood of the Traveling Skirts," Gina said, brushing my hair out of my eyes. "Don't you ever forget that!"
Comments
Fabulous
You really drew me into the story. WOW.
Hilltopper
Fair and Square
....just the right way to end the game...the cheaters overplay their hand, leaving their goalie hung out to dry...Lady Tigers never quit. Thanks for a great story once again.
She was born for all the wrong reasons but grew up for all the right ones.
Possa Dio riccamente vi benedica, tutto il mio amore, Andrea
Love, Andrea Lena
Switching Playing Fields, Chapter 9
I can't help but think that the coach is right, those refs and opposing team were in cahoots with one another.
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
Well at least
the Lady Tigers won! Even if it was at the expense of Gina's broken leg... Creekmore should learn that in the end skill will always beat brawn, Yes it might take some time but it always happens!
So what now for Lucas and the Lady Tigers....Will he carry on dressing now the season has ended? Or will he go back to what he was like before he joined the girls team ....Only time will tell...Oh,That, and the The Sisterhood of the Traveling Skirts!!!
Kirri
I'd say that the game calling was
even uglier than we know. It sounds to me that the refs deliberately allowed the opposing boys to commit flagrant--and dangerous--fouls on the Lady Tigers. It seems to me that a parent or coach who wanted there to be no boys in the sport, might deliberately do exactly what what happened at Creekmore: add some mature guys, but allow them to wear a boy-type outfit, then tell the refs that if they let Creekmore do as they wish that there would be an outcry against boys in the sport. The refs play along because they hate that a boy is looking girlish and want boys out altogether.
After this, all it will take is parents complaining to the league about boys in the game and they will try to ban them from the sport. There are already exceptions to equal participation--even when there is no equivalent opposite gender team at the school--when safety is a concern. I'd hate to see strict limits put on the teams, say for size, but it might have to come to that. A better approach would be banning the conniving refs and some reeducation on strict rule enforcement. That is something that every sport should work towards in our society with its adulation of stars and allowance of their misdeeds, even on the field.
I do not particularly like sports, but I loath professional basketball for just that reason. The rules are laxly enforced and a near joke for the great stars of the game. I stopped watching it years ago when players could travel for 5 or 10 steps and get away with it, when star offensive players could use just about any part of their bodies to destroy an opponent in a sport that is not supposed to include tackling, etc.
Anyway...Torey, please keep this story going!
SuZie
SuZie
How come I am not surprised
that something like this can happen. Sad really, that there are misogynists out there who want to 'preserve the dignity of their gender' - men who want to do anything to prevent a boy to ever play a 'sissy' sport. Betcha there are a lot of Christian conservative asshats too.
I suspect the opposition coaches were men and no doubt the referees are men. The state managers of the sport might even be men. They will have to bring out the media guns to counter this assault on Lucas' team.
Kim
What Makes You Think the Bad Guys Are All Men?
First of all, women coaches can be just as ugly in their deportment as men.
Beyond that, there simply is no reason to assume the refs did anything to take part in a conspiracy. I officiated basketball and football for years. I also coached dozens of youth sports teams in soccer, football, tennis, and volleyball. One high school tennis team I coached took second in state. One of the youth basketball teams I coached won a state championship.
Referees ofetn will stick their flags deep into their pockets for championship games. They talk about how they don't want a penalty call to decide the game. Unfortunately, this goes against the primary reason a referee is involved in the game. That is -- to assure the safety of the players. This unwritten rule of relaxing the rules for a big game applies to women refs as well.
One of my sons was a standout athlete. He had a thirty-seven inch vertical which alloowed him to stuff the basketball up to his elbows, stands 6'5" and was an all-state midfielder. One basketball game his senior year the opposing team sent in a substitute. Within fifteen seconds that player had decked my son with a forearm shiver to the jaw. Nothing was called. Obviously the player had been instructed to do what he did. He was also a target in soccer. If he went too far into the air for a header he would invariably be undercut, which he was helpless to prevent. That was never called.
Sports are out of hand. It has NOTHING to do with a male need to dominate. Soccer moms are just as responsible for the idiocies surrounding youth sports as the dads, probably more.
This is a great story which is getting better as it goes along. The attitudes of the coaches were exactly as one would expect. All they were thinking about was winning, when they had tremendous teaching opportunities handed to them. The fallacy of sports is that many of them (in the USA) are connected to schools. Sports long ago stopped being about education. The coaches in this story should be ashamed of themselves for allowing the game to continue to the point of traumatic injury. Given the same set of circumstances I would have called timeout and met with the opposing coach and refs. If the situation couldn't be improved, I would have pulled my team off the field and forfeited.
Any time I saw one of my players acting in a way that was dangerous to the other team I pulled them out of the game.
As I'm writing this I'm looking at a plaque awarded to me by the school for distinguished service for coaching over forty youth teams. I was lucky. I never had a player seriously injured during any of my games.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Hear, Hear...
I don't know what Torey's intentions are here, but I thought about bringing up similar points. The situation here didn't require a conspiracy, male or otherwise: just win-at-all-costs coaching and do-nothing or out-of-their-depth officiating. (The officials may have been surprised that there was a game at all; we're told that everyone else was refusing to play Creekmore and forfeiting.)
Thanks, Angela.
Eric
There's no dignity in acting
There's no dignity in acting like brutes. The dignity is in acting like a human being regardless of provocation, regardless of gender.
Misogny?
If anything such conspiracy theory seems a bit more misandry to me. They wanted to kick Lucas (that's apparently a boy) to quit , it was against the male kind not the female kind.
I am also highly against your claim that the bad guys are well guys, there are females who are just as chauvinists as male (some even worse, if you ever read the "SCUM Manifesto" you would know what I am talking about). The sad thing about it is that it seem that a lot of times in this site the males are by default the bad guys or the less valid ones : Just because you're not ones doesn't mean that they are evil or lesser then you!!!
A very angry Lily.
Doesn't make sense for it to be women
to be behind this situation. As they had clearly brought in male ringers ( which I suspect are not really their true ages ) to kick a guy out of a female sport. I suspect it is to preserve the dignity of 'manhood', whatever that means. Or the obvious blunt instrument to illustrate the stupidity of letting guys in to play women. The Creekmore team went out of their way to 'masculinize' their presentation - Shorts, a male theme ( or saying or something ) and the harassment was done in a blatant, open manner, not the way I have received harassment from other women I have had the displeasure of working with.
I am stating the facts as I see it. If I think it is a female conspiracy then I would say it is a female conspiracy. The facts don't really fit otherwise as Lucas is non-threatening to the female players based on what has been presented so far.
I know very well that women can be as nasty as men are. I've lived a female life for the last 20 years, so I know how underhanded and fucked up they can be too. But again, the 'signature' of how this is being done does not smell right to be a strictly female way of intimidation.
If I am wrong then I am wrong and I apologize in advance. Be as angry as you like, but I am getting a bit of knee jerk reaction here about sexism and such so BACK OFF!
However, if I am right then I expect an apology also for ALL of you guys impugning my character.
Kim
Dear Kim
...I hope that by questioning your opinion from time to time, I haven't left the impression that I feel anything less than respect for you. If I have come across as impugning your character, I apologize. For me, in this case, I don't thing we can make too many assumptions, because, for whatever reason, Torey has not really described the adults associated with the other team. So I might disagree with any immediate assumptions made about who's behind this. I don't believe we can know because the author has not made it clear, at least from the description in this chapter. The attack, especially at the end, was directed both at Gina and Lucas, so I don't see where it is discernible other than that the other team seemed to want to win at all costs. That attitude is pervasive throughout sports, and is found in all-too-great frequency on both men's and women's competition.
I believe, however, our disagreement, at least from my perspective and I trust others as well, is in no way meant to question you as a person. We just disagree. Best regards.
She was born for all the wrong reasons but grew up for all the right ones.
Possa Dio riccamente vi benedica, tutto il mio amore, Andrea
Love, Andrea Lena
Apologize for What
Reading a story differently is not something to get all upset about, nor is it something that will require an apology later on.
You bent the story to make it seem like a male conspiracy. That's your right because it's possible that's where this story will go. I doubt it because it wouldn't be very realistic and this story isn't a fantasy.
I pointed out the women in the story weren't without fault and the men might have been simply following the ref code which states you relax the rules in big games. Did you happen to watch the Saints beat the stuffing out of Bret Favre on Sunday? Had those hits on Favre happened during the season the flags would have been flying.
Just relax. You're imagining things. You've been around long enough to know that if I'm coming at you - you don't have to read between the lines.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
I Didn't Comment Before
Although I have read every chapter (and voted) I didn't comment because I thought that this was just going to be another "boy gradually becomes girl" and loves what's happening to him, story.
Actually you have shown that a boy can play a "girl's" sport without becoming some kind of raving sissy and can hold his head up high even while pressure is being applied from all sides. Incidentally, I know those sports can be brutal. Try hurley some time.
You have shown, through Lucas, that wearing a dress and make-up does not automatically either feminise a boy or turn him into a drag-queen. This has been a very mature portrayal of a transgender situation which has turned out to be non-threatening to the participants of either sex. You have shown that Lucas was focussed on the job and all the collateral stuff was only window-dressing.
I've really liked it. Well done,
Joanne
Great story Torey
Excellent team interaction, sounded so real.
Thank you
LoL
Rita
Age is an issue of mind over matter.
If you don't mind, it doesn't matter!
(Mark Twain)
LoL
Rita
Great - Wonderful - are we going to get More?
Torey,
I really enjoyed the whole series! VERY WELL DONE!
So the next be question is... will we be following Lucas over the summer and on to High School? He's a celebrity now, and one thing most celebrities will tell you is that " the public " wants them to continue the thing that made them famous. How many singers say that the fan DEMAND they continue to sine that hit song - from 20 years ago.... Lucas is not on a sports hit, but a Homecoming Princess. I have a hard time believing he can just put down the skirts and makeup - even if he wants to!
Linda
Sr Partner of Sapphire's Place re-imaging and renewal
It shouldn't be by Gender
Perhaps some day, it won't be about Gender. Maybe it'll be decided by body size. Of course, sometimes it is good for people to struggle against odds that are against them.
Khadijah
so true
My daughter is a high level blackbelt in Taekwondo (3rd degree BB)
She commonly competes in tournaments, and does very well. On the occasions they don't have enough 14-16 yr old girls to make a ring (you really need 4 competitors to make it worthwhile) she will get combined into the boys ring of the same age group. Have you compared the body mass of a 16 yr old boy to a 14 yr old girl? A lot of people would look at that and say the boys have an advantage.
Anyway, she says she prefers to go up against the same aged boys, than to be combined with the 17-29 yr old girls (they have a rule that you compete up a division). What the boys gain in muscle and speed, my daughter counters with technique and flexibility. Besides, the boys attack like a bull at the gate...the girls are more patient and are like the troubadours/bullfighters of old...
Sometimes, like at National events, there are more than enough girls than one ring (max's out at 16 competitors), so they divide them by body size. The 'bigger' girls go in one ring, the 'smaller' in another.
What I like about this story is
that Lucas has finally found real accpetance in Gina's eyes. Gina let the cat out of the bag when she said she was going to kick Lucas' butt in high school.
"Listen here little sister!" Gina said. "You're a Lady Tiger! Lady Tigers don't quit. I'm looking forward to kicking your tail into shape when we're both on the high school team."
This is a great way to belong to something important even if it is on the other side of the fence. I don't think that the girls will allow Lucas to quit, so she is stuck as a Lady Tiger forever.
"Once you've worn the skirts of the Lady Tigers, you're in the sisterhood, isn't that right, Mel?" Melanie nodded her head. "What sisterhood is that?" I asked. "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Skirts," Gina said, brushing my hair out of my eyes. "Don't you ever forget that!"
Now since the girls have accepted Lucas as a full Lady Tiger, the team needs to rally and give Lucas a girl's name, not because she wears the uniform well, but because she has earned it. I wonder...will Lucas become Lucille in high school? Interesting thought.
"With confidence and forbearance, we will have the strength to move forward."
Love & hugs,
Barbara
"If I have to be this girl in me, Then I have the right to be."
"With confidence and forbearance, we will have the strength to move forward."
Love & hugs,
Barbara
"If I have to be this girl in me, Then I have the right to be."
Good game!
OK, so the Creekmore boys were out of line - it'll be interesting to see if there's video footage of their previous matches, to see if the team got away with such obvious fouling in those games.
As for using it as a blunt instrument to ban boys from the sport, for contrast you could show video footage of the Lady Tigers games, where Lucas is a valued member of the team, who has a similar physique to the girls and plays fair, just like his other team mates.
So as the football matches are usually (conveniently!) scheduled for the day after the hockey matches, presumably in the next episode we'll see how well the football team have been up to, with Beth on board.
Given how popular both "unconventional" team mates seem to be, I expect Beth will continue to play football next academic year, and Lucas will continue to play field hockey. You never know, they might inspire some of next year's seventh graders to try sports usually associated with the opposite gender.
--Ben
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
For the very reasons
I pointed out in my comment back in chapter two, is why in MY time, they had the boys in different uniforms than the girls, and the refs were overly attentive to the boys using excessive body contact. In fact, the girls probably exploited that and threw a hollywood or two...
But, good story....and you can tell you have just died to use that punchline of the sisterhood!
Compelling and Cute
What a strange mix you've got here, but I like the story. I was like Joanne, thinking it would turn into a boy becomes girl and loves it kind of thing. It's developing into something different though. I like how Lucas is turning all the gender stereotypes on their head. Good for him!
I got quite upset at the rough play in the game. I know rules are often relaxed in championship games but this was ridiculous. Causing serious injuries should result in fines and suspensions at the very least, and a possibly a lawsuit.
Anyway, please keep up the good work. I've been voting but I haven't left comments until now. Sorry, but I've been very busy.
- Terry
I don't necessarily agree
I don't necessarily agree with a total "boy ban" from girl's sports, IF the boy is qualified to to play that sport; however, I do believe that if the video provides firm evidence that the two boys of the opposing team violated rules of conduct and sportsmanship, then THEY need to be banned from ALL sports period. The same would also apply to any girl who did the same. This is a fair and equitable method of regulating sports for both genders; AND for those sports where mixed genders are playing it.
Janice