Constant chatting. The whole way. The car was just radiating excitement. I sat in the back between my fellow colleagues Lily and Lucy, and my head was aching. We were on the way to London for the try outs, I looked towards the satnav to see we only had 30 minutes left till we arrive.
"So what do you think they will make us do?" Kate askes the car.
"I reckon penalties" Lucy says from my left side
"I doubt it, they will save those positions for the men. Us females will be put in the back somewhere hidden" Lily argues, the more pessimistic of the two.
"Maybe they will get us to play a game?" Racheal says from the driver's seat.
"I can't see that, it would take too long" Kate responds.
"Well whatever it is, we got this girls. We have been practicing for the last week. There is three positions, at least one of us should get in" Lucy says.
"It depends how skilled the competition is" Lily argues back. For twins they never agree on anything.
"Kimberley, how are you feeling about it?" Kate asked turning round to face me from the passenger seat.
"I'm ok, just nervous" I simply say returning my gaze out the window.
"You will be amazing, we all will be. No arguments" Kate positively states.
"We are here" Racheal says as we arrive in front of St Georges Park.
This catches all of our attentions as we look towards the famous building. My eyes travel along the massive amount of girls lined up in front of the building. It was never ending.
"We don't stand a chance, there is over 3 thousand girls there" Lily says as she cradles her face in her hands.
"It may just look more due to the social distancing" Lucy's attempts to lighten the mood.
"Well it's going to be a very long day, let's find a car parking space" Kate says the amount of competition not fazing her in the slightest.
*6 hours later*
It's been a long day. Understatement of the year. and yet the crowd is full of energy. I have heard "its coming home" sang around 60 times today. You could constantly feel eyes on you, the other girls trying to predict what sort of ability you will have. I looked down at my number 3456, then I allowed my eyes to trace the lines of girls. All with hope evident in their eyes. Something which is usual to see after the past year we have had. Some of the girls were doing kick ups and practicing headers. Not sure if this was to practice or to show off in front of the crowd.
"Right, they are sending people in groups of 5. We are next" Racheal announces to us. I look round and notice we are now at the front of the cue. When did that happen. Just then the door opens and out walks a male with a clipboard.
"Right guys, you are up next. You will be asked some questions by the panel and then will be split into groups. There will be several rounds that your group will participate in, the ones who don't pass it will be let go. The ones that are successful will move onto the next section. By the end of the day we hope to be left with 10 ladies. Who will return tomorrow to continue to remaining rounds, in till we are left with the final 3" he explains and directs us to follow him. We walk into what looks like a conference room. My eyes immediately land on the panel. Two faces I recognise instantly.
"Hello ladies, Firstly I want to thank you for coming today and waiting in the cue. I don't think we realised just how many people would turn up" Gareth states with a proud smile on his face.
"Let's start with introductions, my name is Gareth and I'm the manager. This is Steve, he is the assistant manager and then finally Kane who is the captain" Gareth states while pointing down the panel. Both Steve and Kane do a little wave when their name is said.
"Now, we will start to get to know you guys. We want to know your name, age, and current experience level. Let's start on the left had side working our way down" he gestures directly in my direction. Me noticing that I am the first one to speak. Knew I should have blended in the middle.
"Hello, my name is Kimberley. I am 21 years old. And my current experience level is minor. We all play on a team together back at home. We practice 3 times a week, well we did before the virus. It's not competitive or anything, we just do it for fun" I kept my answer minimal.
I'm a naturally shy person. So talking in this sort of environment is my worst nightmare. Throughout me speaking I can see Steve making notes. I clasp my hands together as I can feel them shaking from the nerves.
"Ohh that's nice, did the sport bring you together or did you already know each other" Gareth inquires.
"We work together as Nurses" I say
"Oh wow, well I have so much respect for you ladies. This whole nation will forever owe you a massive debt" Gareth says with a shocked look on his face.
"I have a question if you don't mind?" Kane speaks up
I give him nod suggesting I was fine with him asking it.
"You already do such an inspirational job, I just can't understand why you would suddenly want to try something else" Kane's confusion plastered on his face.
"We do love our job. We love our patients and we feel privileged to work as part of the NHS. This opportunity for me isn't about choosing football over nursing. It's about putting myself first, something that all of us haven't done in a very long time. I may turn out to be absolute crap and being sent home in the first round. But I owe it to myself, to try this once in a lifetime opportunity" I explain with passion in my voice.
They seem to like my response as the room goes quiet.
"Well, we all wish you the best of luck and think what you are doing is amazing" Gareth says with a warm smile.
"Thank you" I simply say and look towards Kate who is the next person to introduce herself. Eager for the attention to be taken away from me.
Once everyone was done introducing themselves we were instructed to go outside and join group 12. When exiting the room I turned around quickly to see the panel deep in conversation, pointing to Steve's notes. God I wish I knew what they were saying.
When we made it outside we saw all the thousands of girls divided into different sections. It looked like there was five different rounds, a coach leading each of them. I noticed the stands filled with upset looking girls. My guess would be the ones that didn't make it. Some had tears falling down their faces as they sobbed on their phones. This is where the competition really starts.
YOU ARE READING
Just Breathe (Mason Mount Love Story)
FanfictionSince these last two years have been unpredictable and unprecedented, The UEFA Euro officials have decided to make this year's tournament a special one. It has been decided that every team that competes needs to have at least three females making up...
