by Greg Dunn

Created on: May 11, 2011   Last Updated: May 02, 2012

The 10 year old boy ran across the sideline and picked up the soccer ball.  The coach next to him looked down at his watch.  4 minutes left.    With the score 2 to 1 against him, the situation felt desperate and bleak. 

The coach glanced over at the opposing coach.  The Sergeant Major, his boss, standing with his arms crossed, defiantly and gloating. 

 “Come on, Blue Knights!”  the coached yelled as he bent over and whispered into the player’s ear as the player prepared to throw the ball in. 

 “I can’t lose to this guy,”

 The player  looked up,  “Don’t worry, Dad.”

 He threw the soccer ball into his teammate who passed it  right back to him.   The boy faked right and quickly cut left when the defender took the  fake.   With a straight path to the goal , he began to dribble the ball closer.  Once the goal keeper committed to coming one way, he scored easily shooting  the ball the opposite way.  The game was tied 2-2.

 The Blue Knights sideline’s parents went crazy.  The other side stood stunned.  The Sergeant Major’s smirky  grin disappeared.  The boy glanced over at the coach and smiled. The coach peeked down at his watch, 3 minutes.  A tie was sure better than a lost.  At least, he would not have to hear the boastful, arrogant talking points from his boss over the next couple of weeks.

 The next 2 ½ minutes saw the opposing teams pressing each other hard.  With 30 seconds left,  the yelling from both sidelines was deafening.  At the 15 seconds mark,  he went around three players with the ball. 10 seconds, he was about 10 yards out cocking his leg as the referee was bringing the whistle up.  5 seconds, the ball had taken liftoff.  2.5 it enters the back of the net.   0 seconds left, the referee blew the whistle ending the game.  As the team went wild, the boy  calmly walked over to the coach and said, “Told you there was nothing to worry about.”   

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