The Soccer Dream

The Fight

Tricia asked Aja's mom if she could come inside and Aja's mom says yes. Tricia sat on a couch in Aja's living room and asked Aja's mom to make some popcorn and get them a few sodas.

Tricia begins to tell Aja about her mom. "Aja, I know you are mad at me for not telling you about my mom. I want you to know I wanted to tell you but I never had time." Tricia said to Aja.

Aja grabs some popcorn as Tricia continued to speak. "My mom was one of the best goalkeepers when she was playing. I kept this from you because I thought you might get jealous."

Aja rolls her eyes and says "Why would I get jealous? I am one of the best players in my age group."

Tricia was listening, but she was eating popcorn."That's what you think! There are players that are better than you!" Tricia says, angrily.

"You're right I am not the best but I want to be the best. Do you want to be the best?"

Silence... Aja waited for a response but never got one and asked Tricia to leave. Tricia left but dropped a piece of paper in front of Aja. The paper had a message on it.

Dear Aja,

Why did you get so mad? I just wanted to let you know the truth. I am sorry that I made you mad. I was angry in the moment. You are a great soccer player. I hope you are willing to forgive me.

Tricia tried to apologize to Aja but Aja still didn't forgive her. Aja was still mad that Tricia got angry at her. Aja was hopeful this fight wouldn't affect her game but it did. The Yellow Jackets were scheduled to play their final group play game against Aja's old team. The Red Super Ninjas needed a win against the Yellow to make it to the round of 16.

The game started without Aja who told Megan she felt too sick to play. That was obviously a lie to get out of playing and Megan knew that. Megan knew something was up so Aja had to tell her the truth.

"Megan, I am sorry that I can't play in the first half. I had this fight with an older player. I yelled at her and now I feel awful that I treated her that way." Aja told Megan.

"I think you have to apologize to her. This fight might affect her game as well and you wouldn't that, right?"

Aja told Megan yes and promised Megan she would go see Tricia after the game. Now that Aja was okay to play in the second half. The first half went great for the Ninjas who jumped out to a 3-1 halftime lead. Carly scored the Yellow Jackets' lone goal while Sami had two of the three goals.

Aja changed the game by just being in the game. Her team was playing well offensively as Aja assisted a goal by Jordan, who was a naturally gifted soccer player. This was Jordan's first game with the team. Jordan hugged Aja and her team kept playing hard. The game ended as a 3-3 draw and Aja went to Tricia's house to apologize.

Aja arrived at Tricia's house and met her mom at the front door.

"Tricia, your friend is here" Casey yelled to Tricia who was in her room.

"I have nothing to say to her." Tricia yelled back.

"I think you do. Come down stairs now." Casey demanded.

"Ok, I will talk to her." Tricia replied.

Aja started to speak once Tricia was down stairs. "I am sorry about the other day. I just got offended by what you said. My coach knew my head wasn't in the game."

Tricia sat down to listen to what Aja had to say. "I knew what I had to do to get my head back in the game."

"I sometimes struggle to stay calm when someone is talking about mom. Some people I know have gotten jealous that I am the daughter of the famous Casey Solo. I thought you would get mad if I told you." Tricia replied.

" I understand that but you made so mad. I forgive you but don't ever say that about my abilities again, promise?" Aja asked.

"Yes, you are good but there will be people in your life that might criticize you. Just make sure to not overreact over someone saying that. You have to believe you are good and don't let others bother you." Tricia replied.

Aja left Tricia's house to meet with Parker at a field for a training session and a motivational talk. Aja found out that Tricia would be at the training session to help Parker. Aja was hopeful that the fight wouldn't affect the training session and she was right. Tricia arrived at the field to play the role of the goalkeeper. Aja would receive the ball from Parker then she would shoot the ball.

Aja practiced passing with Parker before beginning to shoot on goal. The training session went well and Aja was ready for the ODP tryouts. Aja couldn't wait to see if forgiving Tricia would improve her mental game for the game the next day. The Yellow Jackets were scheduled to play the Stingrays from the Atlanta Soccer Club. The Stingrays were the 2nd place finisher in a group with the Husky squad from the Albany Soccer Club.

The best player on the team was a girl named Andi Mitchell. Andi had three goals in a game where her team won 6-1. The starting goalie for the game against the Stingrays was announced to be Amanda who impressed in her last game. Amanda was happy as a starter. Audrey was as the back up goalie.

Erin injured her hand so she would be out for the rest of the tournament. The game was scheduled to be at 3:00 pm on Field 12. The referee didn't show up until 15 minutes after the game was supposed to start. The starting lineups were announced by a woman named Bailey Morgan, who is a professional soccer player. Bailey is a player on the West Coast Football Club team. Aja was excited to meet Bailey after the game.

The game started and Aja passed the ball to Jordan who went on the attack. Jordan shot and the ball went wide of the goal. Kara kicked the ball to Andi who hit the goal post. Amanda gathered the ball and threw the ball away from her goal. Aja scored on an assist from Jordan. The Yellow Jackets were up 1-0 with 20 minutes to go. Jordan added her name to the scoreboard after scoring a goal. Andi scored for the Stingrays to make the score 2-1.

At halftime, the score was 3-1 after Aja added a goal. Audrey took Amanda's place in goal. Amanda finished with an impressive 12 saves. Aja was replaced by a new girl named Gabriella who was playing in her first competitive game ever. 

Gabriella would only play 20 minutes then Aja would replace her. Gabriella wanted to make a good first impression. Gabriella had some fire to her game. Aja knew right away that Gabby was going to be a great soccer player. Gabby scored a goal and she got so excited.

Megan whispered "You are great!" to Gabby. Megan subbed her out and Aja went back into the game. The score was 4-1 when Aja came back into the game. The Yellow Jackets got a goal from Sophia Mitchell who made the score 5-1. Andi added two more goals and the final score was 5-3.

The Yellow Jackets had a team meeting after the game to discuss when they were going to Virginia to compete in the Atlantic Cup which would be hosted by the Rush Soccer Club. Aja was excited that she was going to Virginia for a tournament.

"I am proud to announce that our team along with other local clubs, including the Warrior Soccer Club, were invited to compete in the Atlantic Cup. Our team will be staying in Virginia Beach for a whole week. After the tournament, I think someone has an important choice to make. Is that right, Aja?" Megan said to her team.

Aja stood up and walked to stand in front of her team to make her announcement. "As Megan mentioned earlier, our team is going to Virginia for a tournament and after the tournament, we are going back to California.The choice I have to make is if I going to stay at home or live my dream and continue playing for this team. I need your feedback to help me make my decision."

Aja asked for people to raise their hand if they had a comment. Jordan was the first one to raise her hand. Jordan told Aja to follow her heart. Other teammates told her they would miss her if she stayed behind. She had a few weeks to make up her mind. Did she want to leave behind the many memories with her best friends or go and make new friends?