Auctioned Domination 2
Coaxed for More
I'm a coward, every time I feel some sort of negative emotion, I run away from it. Usually, I dove into my studies or a book even a new manga but with my new position as assistant coach I chose work. That is why for the past two weeks I've been training the girls non-stop. They were nice enough to show up on time even during the weekends. I suspect they know what I'm doing and are simply indulging me, I have no proof of this though. The last few girls run past me completing their run around the pitch. I blow my whistle to get their attention.
"I need three groups of four," I announce making the whole team sigh. They do not like that new drill. It tires them out and they do not see its importance yet. It is a simple possession game that makes them work on: space exploitation, fast decision-making, quick transition, pressing, and body positioning. The first group has the ball, the second group defends, and the third group supports the group in possession. The group that loses the ball or kicks it out of bounds switches to defending. I started the drill in a quarter of the pitch and reduced the space every day. I also added conditions like players are only allowed two touches. "I need a striker in each group and keepers on both sides of half of the pitch," I add.
"Scoring group goes in defense?" DeLuca our first-team defensive midfielder asks.
"Scoring group goes in support and support group shifts to attack," I specify, I look at my watch and then back at them, "you have ten minutes," I conclude blowing the whistle to signal the beginning of the drill. I take the eight players left to the other half of the pitch for a dribbling and passing drill. I watch the three groups of four practice, smiling as I see their progress in awareness and pressing efficiency. I keep the scores of each group and blow the whistle after the ten minutes are over. The girls surround me.
"Who won," Garland our first-team striker asks.
"Your team lost Garland even with your four goals contribution," I answer which makes her frustrated, "your group will shift to the other side of the pitch, tell them to form a group of four to replace yours," I add.
I give them a three-minute rest and start the drill again for another ten minutes. The new group goes in defense. I keep doing this, rotating the 'losing' group with those practicing dribbling and passing so that all of them can get a feel of the effects of the new drill I've been imposing on them. The coach was generous enough to give me free rein after I explained my objective to her. She came to check on me on the first few days but when she realized the girls were actually paying attention to me, she stopped coming altogether. She told me to call her at the end of every practice to report on our progress though.
After each group has done the three groups of four drills at least three times I blow the whistle thrice to signal them to gather around. they all grab their bottles of water to rehydrate themselves and form a semi-circle in front of me. All of their eyes were on me, eagerly awaiting my verdict. At the beginning of this new routine two weeks ago, right after my encounter, if you can call it that, with Madison Martinez. I promised the girls that if they impressed me there would be a reward. All of them dive into it with enthusiasm, they would complain that I worked them to the bone sometimes but they were all motivated.
"Do you see why I've been making you do this," I ask in a firm voice looking at each of them.
"Yes, coach," they reply in unison, my eyes going wide for a second, they never called me coach before, they usually call me Benji.
"What did we learn," I ask after clearing my throat.
"Effective use of space and communication," Martel our team captain answers. She is very intelligent besides being talented. She is among those who can talk about tactics with me indefinitely. I can call her one of my new best friends, we don't have anything in common other than football but she is very friendly and helpful. She is a focused and humble player, whose vision of the game is on par with professional players. If she continues in this field I would not be surprised if one day she is nominated for a Ballon d'Or.
"Good Odessa, anyone else?"
"Defensive positioning and counter-pressing," DeLuca adds.
"We should have done this drill from the very beginning but I only learned about this a little more than two weeks ago, that's why I've been doing an intense version of this with you," I say walking back and forth in front of them "If you implement what we learned in this two week our possession percentage should increase and we will get the ball back higher up the pitch.".
"Are we changing tactics?" Faressi our backup central midfielder asks.
"No Viviana," I respond softly, "but we will use your new skills to improve what we have been doing so far," I explain, "with that being said time for your reward," all the girls cheered as I said this, "this is not a criticism to those who didn't win, it only means that you need to work harder," I say trying to preserve team morale. "Three people impressed me with their understanding and application of the new drill and they are," I say staying silent for a minute to build anticipation, "Odessa Martel," I announce, she throws a punch in the air, "Riza DeLuca," I add which makes her jump up and down in excitement hugging her teammates, "and last but not least," I pause again and the girls tap on their legs to emulate a drum roll, "Hailey Kazinsky.".
"Yeah," she screams overjoyed.
"What did we win," the three girls ask in unison.
"Your reward is starting lineup in the next two matches which includes..." I start to say.
"The upcoming inter-school match against our biggest rival." Kazinsky finishes for me trying to contain her joy. This match is going to attract a lot of scouts which will allow them to probably join a pro team.
"I know you and DeLuca are already on the first team," I answer Odessa's question before she can say anything, "and I am not done, the three of you will also participate in a weekend training session of our town's football team.".
"Are you serious?" Odessa asks, I shake my head yes. She gets to her feet and jumps in my arms, "thank you, thank you, thank you," she says as she hugs me tightly. I gently tapped her on her back so that she would let go of me.
"Training is over hit the showers," I shout.
The girls walk to the school gym's showers while congratulating their teammates. As the last few girls move past me carrying the goal cage to its initial place my eyes land on Martinez. What is she doing here? I have been doing a great job avoiding her during school hours since the coach only gave me the keys to the girl's showers I have nowhere to run off to. I was already feeling guilty as it is and seeing her is only going to make it worse. She approaches me with an extra pep in her step and a bright smile on her face. Wasn't she supposed to be mad at me for abandoning her and hightailing back home after our 'scene'?
"Hi master," she says, putting her arms around me and pressing her body against me. I lean my head back to avoid her kiss.
"What are you doing here?" I ask weary of her answer. I hope she didn't hear my voice shake a little.
"Came to see you," she replies, gently hitting my nose with her index finger.
I frown and extirpate myself from her hug. "Are you not wearing a bra?" I whisper, looking around as I notice her nipples almost poking through her Daddy's Lil Monster crop top. I look at her fully for the first time, she is emulating Harley Quinn's suicide squad look, the only difference is the hair color and the amount of skin she is showing. I swallow loudly which makes her grin like a Cheshire cat, satisfied with my reaction to her outfit. She came prepared knowing I wouldn't be able to run away.
