Road to The Academy (EDITING)

Chapter 4: Welcome Back

Dover Tigers Emblem above

*Briana*

     When we arrived at the arena, Luís and I got out of the car and started to unpack. It took us a little while but thank god Mike was there to help us lift everything. We got inside and made out way to the locker room area. We walked in and got stopped by our coach. We dropped everything to give him a hug. Coach Jordan is amazing. He is the best coach we've ever had and I could never think of playing for anyone but him. He played for the Chicago Blackhawks for three years and was a Dover Tiger in his childhood. He taught us to love the game, to have fun, and that although winning was amazing to never lose sight of who we are.. a family.
     We continued catching up with Coach while we waited for the rest of the team to pour in. When I saw Alexa and Jenna walk
in, I was almost in tears. I ran up to them and we had a huge group hug. I missed these girls so much! I was so excited to see them again. Since Jen is from Vermont, she lives there during the school year. Alexa and I never see her. But this summer was different. Her oldest brother and his wife moved to Delaware and lets her live with them part time. We've been trying  to convince her family to let her stay full time since the beginning of last season. Alexa lives in Smyrna, so we go to different schools. But during summer, her dad drives her down for practice and she spends most of her time off time at mine or Jenna's house, then visits her family on most long weekends and holidays. We have a sisters group chat and text each other updates all the time, so it's like we never separated.

     The girls and I were standing together talking and laughing when we got interrupted by Porter and Raymond picking us up by the waist and spinning us around. Porter and Raymond were the team's best enforcers. They both were tall and muscular, wearing their vintage band t shirt and leather jackets. Definitely your classic rocker type guys, always wearing combat boots and breaking the rules. They were our also our team 'big brothers'. We merged into the group of guys and started talking. Asking about everyone's school year and catching up on all the details of life that we didn't get to discuss in the off season. We all got quiet when Coach blew the whistle. There was a man standing next to him. We realized it was our assistant coach from last season. Coach Micheals, we all called him 'Mickey'. He was our tutor and assistant coach when we were competing in the international tournament last year.. It was great to have him back.

"Alright Tigers! Welcome back for another season!" Coach Jordan was happy and we all cheered.

"Before you get suited up, we have an announcement..." We all got really quiet.

"In the off season, there were some renovations done to the arena." we were intrigued.

"Since we have a coed team and multiple female players..." Mickey continued

"The locker rooms have been expanded and separated." We were smiling, looking around to see the look of confusion on our teammates' faces.

"That means, ladies, you have your own locker room and showers. No need to wait for the guys or drag your gear back and forth like last season." Coach Jordan finished up.

     The girls and I screamed and high fived each other in excitement. We were begging for our own space for the past two seasons. We picked up our gear and went in to get ready. The room still looked the same. The walls were the same light grey color with the 'Dover Tigers' emblem on the wall. We had more than enough space for our gear and personal belongings. It didn't look like anything special, but it meant the world to us. We picked out our lockers, then organizing our gear that can stay overnight. We got ready pretty quick and went out for warmups. Practice was really fun. Getting reacquainted with each other and getting into more serious playing again. Doing our drills and actually focusing on the sport and not just having fun was amazing. We played on the street here and there. But not really a serious game, until now.