Undercover Basketball Ch. 01

"That's just it Mark," Daniel stated. "They ARE good every year. That's because the school has THAT much talent. It doesn't matter who Coach Barker puts on the court. They will be a good team no matter what. The players and parents know that there is so much talent that they need to get a leg up on the competition. That is why they do this. Katie seemed very sincere about this whole thing. I think I would be able to tell if she was just complaining because she will not get to play much."

During the conversation, Carol had remained quiet. She was trying to sift through everything that had been tossed at her the last few minutes. She was also trying to formulate a plan of action, but was not having any luck.

"So, where do we go from here?" asked Carol. "Is there any proof of what Katie has told you? I suppose we could go to the principal and inform him of this."

Daniel had to come in here. He knew that going to the principal would do nothing. "Carol, I don't think that going to the principal is going to do anything for you or Katie. Besides, the principal will side with Coach Barker. There really isn't any proof, I don't think. The team does keep winning every year. How could you show that he isn't playing the best players. Plus, he really isn't doing anything illegal, as far as we know. However, I do have an idea."

Carol and Mark were both quite interested. The last thing they wanted to do was make a scene at school and turn out to be wrong. They were willing to listen to anything now.

"I have heard that the high school is looking for a student assistant coach for the girls' varsity team. One of the assistants just decided that she didn't want to do it any more. I know that they have a few college students in that same role for other sports. I will be student teaching at the high school next semester. I think that if I inquired about it, I would get the job. I could probably start on Monday. That would give me an opportunity to see what really goes on at practice. I might even be able to get a few things out of the other players and maybe Coach Barker, too."

Carol and Mark thought it was a good idea. Carol immediately looked up the number for the high school principal and gave the number to Daniel. Daniel knew that the principal would not be in, because it was suppertime, but he went ahead and left him a message. He told him that he would be student teaching next semester, that he had heard the school was looking for the student assistant, and that he would be interested in filling that role. He left his cell phone number and email address so the principal could reach him quickly.

Around 9:30 that night, Daniel had a call on his cell from the principal. The principal informed him that he would have to meet with Coach Barker and Daniel before he could give Daniel the student assistant position. They agreed to meet the next day at 10:00 a.m. in the high school office. Daniel immediately hung up and called Carol.

"Carol?... Hi, this is Daniel. I just talked to the principal. I have a meeting with him and Coach Barker tomorrow morning at 10:00...Yes, I know, it is good news. Are we still on for tonight?...Good, I have been thinking about you all week...

To find out about Daniel and Carol's 'meeting,' as well as to continue the story, please read Undercover Basketball, Ch. 2, coming soon.