The Soccer Dream

Scrimmages

 On Monday, Megan separated the remaining girls into 2 teams of 11. There were many girls remaining. Aja was on the same team as Morgan and Maggie. Maggie and Aja were the starting forwards. Morgan and Elise were forwards for the other team. Maggie dribbled the ball then passed it to Aja. Aja shot the ball and it went right over the crossbar. Jessica took a goal kick and Aja got the ball. Aja's shot went in the goal this time. The score for the scrimmage was 1-0. Aja and Maggie each got a goal in the first half. The score was 3-0 at halftime and Aja had 2 goals. 5 more girls were cut during halftime. Abby and Jamie were 2 of the girls cut at halftime. Aja and her friends were not cut. The final score was 5-0 and Aja had 3 goals. The tryouts were over after another scrimmage. The girls went home after the tryouts were over. Aja wrote in her diary when she got home.

Dear Diary,

I am so glad that I am still in the running to be on the team. My friends were not cut either. I guess that I am good enough. Still there is a week left of tryouts left. I heard that each day, until the tryouts are over, there will be two to three scrimmages after warm-ups. The scrimmages are preparing us for tournaments. The first tournament is only 3 weeks away. The tournament will be in the town of Ballston Lake. I am nervous for the tournament. I will need to prove that I belong on the team. I need rest so I am ready for tomorrow.

The next 3 days were all scrimmages or shooting drills. The first day there were 3 scrimmages ½ hour apart. Between each scrimmage, there would be a water and snack break. Aja would start each scrimmage that day. In the 3 scrimmages combined, she had 9 goals. She had a hat-trick in each scrimmage. The second day there were only 2 scrimmages. Aja started both of them and finished with 5 goals. Through 5 scrimmages, she had 14 goals.

The next day there was one scrimmage and a shootout. In the scrimmage, she had 2 goals. For the shootout , there were 6 group of 5 players. Aja's group included Maggie, Casey, Morgan, and Carly. The order for Aja's group would be Maggie, Casey, Morgan, Aja, then finally Carly. Aja's shootout was against Jessica's group. Aja's shootout was tied at 2 after 2 rounds. It was now Morgan's turn for Aja's team to take a lead. Morgan scored so it was now 3-2. Aja shot the ball and it went in. It was 4-3 now. Jessica's group 4th and 5th shots were saved. Carly scored to make it 5-3. In 3 shootouts, Aja's group outscored the opponents 15-9 and was 3-0.

On Friday, there were 5 fitness and soccer tests. The final decision would be based on how Aja performed. The first test was a sprint test. It was a 40-meter dash. The top 30 times would be the first ones to be considered. Aja's time was 6.45 seconds. Her time was the 5th fastest. The fastest time was 6.29 seconds. Jessica had the top time. The second test was a long jump test. The top 20 distances would be considered first. Aja was right after Maggie. Maggie got 6' 3" and Aja got 6' 5". Jessica also had the top distance with 6' 4".

The third test was a 100-meter dash. Aja got the top time with a time of 16.34 seconds. Jessica had the second fastest time. The next 2 tests were soccer-based. The first one was a dribbling drill. The dribbling test would be a series of races between 5 players at a time. There would be 6 races. Aja was in the second race along with Maggie and Casey. Aja won her race by a hair. Since her race was so close, the coach decided let two people move to the final race. The second place in Aja's race was Maggie. Both Maggie and Aja moved onto the final. Both of them were excited to be in the final. In the final, the top two were Jessica and Aja. Maggie finished in 3rd place in front of Morgan and Kayla.

The last test was the hardest one yet. In the final test you had to dribble and then shoot on a goal. Maggie would go first then Aja would go next. Maggie started dribbling and she shot on the goal and scored. Aja scored too.

After everyone was done with that test, the coaches met to determine who would be on the team. The coaches took a while to discuss why each of the players should be on the team. The coaches met with the players one-by-one. Some of the players left their meeting disappointed. The coaches had a tough decision to make because only 18 players could make the team. Maggie and Aja hoped they would not be two of the four people who would be cut.

Megan called Aja first and Aja was nervous. "You did great during the tryouts and I am very happy to say that you made the team." Megan said. "Thank you so much. I am looking forward to being on the team and I am ready to work hard to improve my game." Aja replied. Megan told Aja to tell Maggie, she was next. Maggie was excited to find out she made the team as well. After Maggie went, it was Carly's turn to find out her fate.

"You did a great job but you are not yet ready to play on this team. I am naming you a reserve so if someone gets injured, you will be the first one to be called." Megan told Carly.

"Thank you but I will work hard and tryout again next year." Carly replied.

"I know you have potential. Please don't get down on yourself just because you didn't make the team" Megan said. Now the team was set and it was time to get to work.