Madison's Journey

Part 23: Madison's POV

When we make it to the training ground everyone piles onto the sidelines and starts putting on their cleats. I pull on my soccer socks and put on my new boots trying them on the grass for the first time. 'I think that these are the most comfortable things that I have ever put on my feet.'

When I'm back on my feet I notice that Tobin already has a ball at hers. I walk over to where she is juggling.

"Hey kid! Don't you think you'll get hot in the long sleeves and pants?" I shake my head. "Ok, but if you feel like you are overheating, take it off. We don't need you passing out on day one." She jokes, I think. She passes me the ball and I juggle it a few times between my feet before passing it back.

She takes a few straps onto the field with the ball and I follow after her. She passes it back over and runs away a little. I send her a long pass and she takes a couple of touches before passing it back over. As it's sailing back I point towards goal and Tobin takes off to it. I take one touch to send it to goal. It falls nicely for her to head it between the posts.

"Wow!"

"How!?"

"Holy Shit!"

"She did not just..."

"I think she did!"

It seemed like when everyone got over their initial shock at my pass they were all surrounding me. They were all trying to ask me questions like "Where did you learn to do that?" and "How?" I looked around trying to find my way out of the sea of girls.

I felt arms wrap around my shoulders. I jolt forward to get out of their grasp and turn to see who it was. It was Christen. I lean back into her grasp.

'Stop. Stop, she could hurt you. You have to stop before she decides she doesn't want me anymore. You can't get attached. But... but she hasn't hurt me yet.' I press into her further. 'Maybe just a little while longer.'

"Alright, ladies, let's get a move on. Start warming up." At this, the group surrounding us disappears into lines to start warming up.

"You good?" I nod, "Ok let's get warmed up." We both join everyone in lines and we spend about ten minutes warming up. When we finish we separate into our different positions to work on our specialties. I stick close to Christen and Alex as much as I can.

We end practice with a round-robin tournament of 8v8. I don't know anyone on my team except for Kelly and I'm still unsure how I feel about her. Team 1 which has Alex and team 2 which has Christen and Tobin play first. I notice the amount of communication they have and how they try to get everyone involved in the game at some point. 'They all really want to be here. They all want to get the ball and do something to help the game progress.'

The first game ends 1-0 team 1 at the end of the 20 minutes. My team, team 2, then plays team 1. Williams kicks us off and I run up field towards goal. Ertz passes it back to Williams who makes a quick pass over to Rapinoe to keep it away from Sam. She then sends it over to Long who dribbles it to the top of the box. Ertz joins me in making a run into the box. She is covered by both Becky and Ali.

I run into an open space on the other side of the box but Long passes it over to Ertz where it gets taken by Ali who sends it out to Rose. Lloyd and Kelly retreat back, but Rose makes a quick, barely on-side pass, to Alex who scores one on one with Ash.

I dash back to the center circle to restart the game. Williams kicks us off once again. Sam sends it downfield quickly. It almost becomes a turnover to the keeper, AD, but I'm just able to get on the end of it and flick it over her. I then roll off her shoulder to give it one last tap into goal to tie us at 1-1. 'Nice.'

I grab the ball and run it back to the center of the field oblivious to the fact that my team tried to celebrate the goal with me.

Christian's POV

I clench my fists as Long sends a ball into Ertz, who is being covered by two players, when Madi is on the other side of the box wide open. I sigh as she starts running back up field seemingly unfazed about what happened. Tobin puts her hand on my shoulder, "Long's selfishness just cost them a goal and the other team put it in the back of the net. I can't believe her." I lean into her.

"It's going to be ok. Madi will come back." And I was right Madi scores on the next play. "She just completely ignored everyone."

"I think she is so focussed on the game she didn't even notice," Tobin whispers behind me. The game continues and ends in a 1-1 draw. My team takes the field after to play Madi's team.

"Alright ladies, this is the last game. After this, we'll do some cool-down stretches and get back to the hotel to get some dinner." Yells coach. I walk onto the field with Tobin and watch as Madi sets up for the next twenty minutes of play. My team kicks off and we are barely able to make two passes before the ball gets turned over. I don't even see Madi as she intercepts a pass between Horan and Tobin.

She sends it downfield for Lynn to put it into the back of the net. Alyssa didn't even stand a chance one v one. This time Madi's team doesn't let her get away without a celebration. Kelly picks her up and spins her around. We kick off again and Madi gets in some really good spots to try and score, but she doesn't get passed the ball much from Long or Lloyd. They win 2-1 with their second goal also coming from Lynn and me scoring for my own team.

"Nice work ladies. That's a good start for the camp. Let's cool down and head to the buses." We stretch as quickly as they'll let us and make our way back.

"What did you think of practice?" I ask Madi.

She shrugs, "'I-I s-scor-red. Th-that-t's n-new." Then she walks off to the bus.

A/N: Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think or if there is anything that you want to see in the future.

What team are you rooting for next year in the NWSL? What player are you most excited to watch?