A different view

Chapter 5

It was that time of the year again... a time when there was an outlet to the adrenaline rush of the hot-blooded engineers, the most awaited formal confirmation of the superior breed in the university, the earning of bragging rights for the rest of the year... except this year, the boys were banned to play. Yes, that's right. The administration had enough of the fights between the departments so to send out a message, the football tournament was almost canceled. However after much contemplation, to honor the tradition of the university, a decision was made to go ahead with the tournament with one change. It would be a girl's match.... of the first years. The hope(!) was that they would play nice.

Since this was a matter of reputation, the boys took complete responsibility. There was no official football coach in the Engineering department so Ming lead the selections and training, Park visited the practice sessions, Forth and Kongpob were going to supervise the matches. The only other constant was Preeth, present for every occasion, to support Lin who was nominated captain.

Park's POV

The girls were working hard. Ming was doing a great job of keeping them on track. On the day of the first match, Ming gave them words of encouragement at the lockers. They were excited. The half time interval showcased a different set of emotions. Doubt, nervousness, and fear. Forth stepped in and they walked out winners. Still, it was a close call. At the second match, they seemed a lot more organized. Both plays went strong and they won hands down. The third match was the real showcase of the competition. It was against Commerce. The girls were doing well but it was a tough match. Every so often I saw Lin look towards the stands, towards someone. She was definitely looking for something. Then I realized there was a pattern.

I caught Lin at the next practice session.

"Tough match against Commerce Lin. Well done"

"Er... thanks P'Park."

"Is Ming giving you a hand with the plays?"

"Yes P'Park"

"So tell me what the plan for the game with Comms team is..."

"We're going to start offensive..." she began and I challenged her on various points. As the conversation progressed we went into a heated argument and Lin clearly irritated stated in an angry tone "Preeth's done the math and she hasn't failed us yet..."

"Preeth?" I asked looking at her seated at the far end of the bleachers.

"Um... She's a state champion in her previous school but she doesn't prefer to play and she's been helping us."

"Hm..."

"P'Park, please can we not publicize this?" she pleaded

"No promises"

We lost the game with Comms.

"Thought you said Preeth was on it" Lam asked. We had talked about the strategy at lunch and it was solid. Preeth's effort was kept within the hazer's table.

"It's just bad luck"

The next match was with Arts. They were the underdogs. We sent Preeth to talk to the team during half time to get them better prepared. We won. The matches were getting tougher. Preeth was more visibly involved with the team now.

"Just brains won't give us a sure fire win. We need skill too" I told Preeth one day at the practice match.

"We have the skill P'Park" she replied

"If we had more skill on the ground participating maybe the team wouldn't struggle as much," I said hoping she'd get the hint. She went silent and I didn't push it.