The Book I'll Never Write

Chapter: The American Obsession

I played football in 7th grade. It was an unofficial team, and we didn't even last two full seasons. That being said, we also didn't have a real coach. It was someone's dad, and he taught us all how to play. But, It wasn't a girls football team. It was a boys team. That I was on. I was definitely one of the best, but the coach thought that if he explained the rules and everything in detail I'd back out. So, he just told me what he thought I needed to know: Catch the ball, and run. Don't let the other team touch you, and keep your hair in your helmet. That's it. I mean, of course he told me minor things like what to do when you're on the field and someone gets injured. But as far as learning other positions? I had no idea.

But Like I said, I was one of the best. I was a lot smaller than any of the guys, and I was infinitely quicker than them too. I never once got touched when I was playing. In fact, my teammates called me "Little Lightning" because I was so fast. Now, since we were an unofficial team, most people hadn't heard of us. When we played it was like practice matches for the other teams: except we usually won. And, not to brag but, it was usually thanks to my speed. Don't get me wrong, my whole team was amazing. Honestly our defense was flawless. One of my favourite things about playing with them is that when I had the ball and I was running, My team just cheered me on. They knew they didn't really have to try to protect me, I was untouchable.

My absolute favourite thing though, was after we won a game. We would line up and shake hands with the other team and the other coach. Which meant, I could take off my helmet. Now, when I was in 7th grade, I looked a lot like a scrawny white boy, except for my face and hair. My face was very soft and dainty looking, with giant blue eyes and long eyelashes. My hair was really long too. But, with my hair safely tucked in a football helmet and my face hidden, you couldn't tell I was a girl. So when I took my helmet off, letting my long ginger hair flutter gently in the wind, I got mixed reactions. Some guys couldn't care less, some got defensive and said "the refs knew she was a girl so they were nicer to their team. We didn't really get beat by a girl." and some tried flirting. Some of them though, would just stare and ask me "How did you get so fast?" Some of the coaches asked me if I would rather be a cheerleader and I asked them "wouldn't you rather coach a winning team?"

We were a good team, all of us got along pretty well. There were a few fights of course, and bus rides were... interesting. But it was fun, it was a lot of fun honestly.

It taught me that honestly, you can do whatever you put your mind to. Even though I quit, I did genuinely meet wonderful people, and they were my team.