Soccer Moms -- Part 4
[Author's Notes: 1) there are underage characters in this story but they will neither have, see nor even hear any sexual activity; and 2) this is a work of fiction and so certain aspects of this story involving youth soccer programs are not completely accurate but they advance the storyline. Please try to look past that to the more important aspects of the story.
Carol was very surprised when she pulled into the parking lot at Tuesday's practice to find Jen and Melanie already there. She was even a little more surprised when Melanie called out to Katie and asked if she could talk to her for a minute and then walked over toward the field. Katie grabbed her gear and walked over to Melanie as Jen came walking over to Carol. When Carol got out of the car she waited for Jen and then asked "Do you know what's up."
Jen looked a bit sheepish as she said "I told Melanie about what Coach Hochbauer had talked to you about Saturday night. I told her that it was my guess and that I was not sure and I did not mention that we talked." Noise from the field directed their attention to an interesting sight.
Katie was a full head taller than Melanie, but it was clear that the little blond girl was very much in charge of this discussion. Katie just stood there and looked down as Melanie was clearly giving the taller girl a piece of her mind. She eventually stopped and was looking up at Katie very clearly waiting for some kind of answer. When Katie finally nodded her head, Melanie leaned in and gave her a big hug. Then she leaned back, pointed up at Katie and said something brief. The girls then grabbed their bags and headed to the practice area.
About this time, Coach Hochbauer had arrived and asked "Do we know what that's about?"
"Well..." Carol said "I don' t think I was able to solve the issue with Katie's yellow cards, but I think Melanie may have just taken care of the matter."
Coach Hochbauer just looked out at her players and said "Huh. Oh by the way, Mr. Pennington is going to want to speak to the parents tonight. I know you two have been walking during practice, but could I ask you to stay close tonight?"
"Sure. Can you tell us what it's about?" Carol asked.
"I could" the Coach replied "but I don't want to steal his thunder. It's something good though." And with that, she went off toward the practice area as well.
As each of the girls would arrive, they would go over to where the others girls were already congregating. They did ball tricks and moved around a little to warm up for practice. As each parent arrived Carol or Jen would tell them what Coach said about Steve Pennington wanting to speak with them. After everyone arrived and practice began, Steven Pennington drove up to the parking lot. His timing again was impeccable as he arrived just a little after the girls headed off to run a warmup lap around the field.
He informed the parents that in case they did not know, this week's tournament was a major recruiting trip for College Soccer Programs. There would be older teams there as well and that while the scouting would mostly be with the girls who were high school seniors and juniors, he was pretty sure that they would spend a little time at the games their daughters would be playing in, trying to get an early look at players they might want to follow up on over the next two years.
He reminded them that part of why they had signed their girls up for this team was to have this type of opportunity. And while he did not want to overly burden the girls with pressure, particularly this early in the recruiting process, he did want to impress upon the parents that there would be additional eyes on their daughters this week. "We all want to look good and make a good impression because the better we look, the better the older girls will look and in two years, the better the club looks, the better your daughters will look." Pennington preached.
Under her breath, so only Jen could hear her, Carol said "And the better you'll look," Jen did her best to make her snort seem like a cough. With his speech finished, Pennington asked for any questions, answered what was asked and then left the parents to talk amongst themselves. This would be a big weekend for sure.
Carol always arrived early for tournaments, but this week things were already crowded when she and Katie arrived. There were so many other teams and so much tournament activity going on that they decided to just leave their bags in the car and sit in the lobby to watch it all go by. There was a buzz to all this that was exciting. Abigail had not made it to this point and so this was a first for the Rogers' even though they had been involved in Blue Lightning Soccer for many years.
They went to eat at the Hotel Restaurant and waited for Jen and Melanie to arrive. When they arrived, Carol and Katie went to get their stuff out of the car while Jen and Melanie checked in and then they all went to their room. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a mix up. Instead of two twin beds the room only had one king size bed. While the girls dropped their gear and flopped on the bed, Carol and Jen went back out to the front desk. While very apologetic, there was little the hotel could do. They were completely booked and there were no other rooms to which they could switch. They did offer to send up some cots and the mothers went back to the room to inform the girls of the situation.