Soccer Moms Ch. 01

"We have a way of doing things that we have done for all these years, and it has been highly successful, and we are not going to change it. This may not be the only way to do things..." At this point, Carol had heard this speech so many times, that she mouthed right along with him "...but it is the Blue Lightning Way.

"People come from some distance to be a part of this program because of its success at turning out excellent soccer players and the success of those players getting scholarships to college to play soccer (his daughter Susan had gone to Stanford). So, here is what we do: First, there will be two, two-hour practices per week. They are all mandatory. If for any reason your daughter cannot be here, you are to call Coach Hochbauer. If she excuses your daughter from the practice, then it is excused. Multiple unexcused absences will cost your daughter her spot on this team. We play in tournaments both in-state and out-of-state. You have to accept that travel commitment.

"On the road, everyone should get to the hotel where the team is staying before 10:00pm. We all stay at the same hotel. I don't care if you have reward points somewhere else. We stay as a team. That first night your daughters will stay with you, but the second night, the girls stay as a team. We set up a suite and two parents stay as the chaperones with all the girls. After that first day of games, you can go out with your daughters, you can have grandparents or Aunts and Uncle come watch them and go out to eat. But every girl will be in the team suite at 9:00 Saturday night.

"Coach Hochbauer will go over the day's games with the girls. It's one night in sleeping bags and they are kids, they'll survive. We believe it is excellent for team building and it also allows the coach to give some instruction based on what they just saw in a supportive way and with the team being supportive. The girls will make mistakes. I made mistakes as a professional. But trust that Coach Hochbauer will make corrections in a supportive manner.

"Now, everyone gets a turn at being the chaperone parents. It will go in a rotation. We want two parents there so if you are going to be the only parent at most of these games, you will have to pair up with someone. Everyone takes a turn. No exceptions. If you are willing to make these commitments and your daughters are willing to make these commitments, they'll have a wonderful experience. Thank you." And then he turned and headed back to the parking lot and his car. At Wednesday's practice they were down to nineteen girls and eighteen spots. And all the parents did the math.

Friday was the last day and everyone's nerves were a bit on edge. No one had to say it. Someone was on their last day. And yet something else seemed off yet no one could immediately put their finger on it. Coach Hochbauer called the girls to practice and after about two minutes the murmuring started and it passed through the parents like a wildfire. Maureen Williams was not on the field. "Could Maureen Williams miss a practice?" "Would the Blue Lightning Way make an exception for their star player?"

About 15 minutes into the practice, a car pulled into the parking lot and Maureen Williams and her parents got out. They were followed very shortly by Steve Pennington, again arriving as if he had been nearby and seen them come. However, they stayed in the parking lot with a lot of talking and a lot of gladhanding, leaving the knot of parents very confused. Coach Hochbauer then set the team to a run around the field and went over to the parking lot.

She hugged Maureen and her parents and they all walked over to the field as Coach Hochbauer called the rest of the girls in. Steve Pennington then stepped up and said he had an announcement. It seemed that Maureen had been asked to join the National Under 18 squad and would not be playing for them. And while he was sad to see her go, he was immensely proud of her ("and very pleased with himself and how this would enhance the reputation of the club" thought Carol). "So, let's all give her a round of applause and congratulate her on this significant opportunity for her." And as all the girls hugged Maureen and shook her hand and were genuinely pleased for her, every parent also did the math, and knew their daughter was going to make the team.

While losing a girl with Maureen's talent was a blow, the rest of the girls took it upon themselves to step up and fill the void. Melanie was proving to be a wonderful new find. With her speed and her being left footed, one new play had Katie sending a booming kick toward the left corner and Melanie sprinting past the defenders and onto the ball. Coach Hochbauer felt that if the defense came up too far, this would easily get behind them. And after getting beaten this way several times, it would push the defense back and open up the middle.

Melanie had realized early in her soccer playing days that, being short, the front of the net on corner kicks was not the place for her to be. She worked long and hard to be able to serve a corner kick into the box for the taller girls to head in. Coach Hochbauer was already working on different corner kick plays to take advantage of her skill.

Jennifer also found herself in much demand with the parents. Since many were hoping their daughters might get a Division I scholarship, her experience of having had one made her the "go to" person for many of their questions and concerns. After three weeks, both Jennifer and Melanie felt very much a part of the Blue Lightning. After three weeks of practice as a team, they were ready to travel for their first tournament.

Since that very first practice "Go-Go" and "Mel" (no longer "New Girl") had been friends. They spent extra time after practice working on the long kick down the sideline or having Melanie send corner kicks into the box for Katie to head into the goal. And since both mothers had to wait for the girls to finish their extra work (often having to call them in so they could get home), Carol and Jen had also become good friends.

Since Paul often had to work long hours even on Saturdays, he seldom made the tournaments. Thus, it made sense for them to share a room at the hotel and when their turn came, they would be the two-parent chaperone for the Saturday night sleepover. The girls loved the idea and the parents shared the expense. A win-win.

Friday night seemed like any other night. The Rogers arrived right behind Coach Hochbauer, the first to arrive. The Smiths arrived several hours later, the last to arrive. Almost everyone was in the lobby, the parents near the television, the girls by the foosball table. When Coach Hochbauer came by and told everyone it was lights out for the girls, the parents broke up too and everyone went to their rooms.

Carol and Katie and Jen and Melanie all went back to the room. They each took turns getting changed for bed, brushing teeth and getting the girls' soccer gear out and making sure they had everything. Each girl had two shirts so they could switch as home and away depending on the color of each team they played. Katie had picked number 20 just like Abby Wombach (and her mom and older sister). Melanie was number 9 (Mia Hamm). Each mother and child went to their respective beds and turned out the lights. Chatter still flowed for a while as the girls were so excited about their first games of the year.

As just seemed to be their natures, the Rogers women were up early, dressed and went down for a light continental breakfast in the hotel lobby. They went back to the room to find the Smith women scrambling to get ready. Katie had brought Melanie a couple of pieces of toast and Carol had brought Jen a cup of coffee. Jen told Carol to go ahead to the field and they would meet them there. Carol got to the field but Katie seemed to hover by the car for a few minutes until Jen came pelting into the parking lot and Melanie shot out of the car, just like that very first day of tryouts.

The first game was almost half over and the girls seemed a bit jittery. First game nerves on both sides had led to a scoreless game. As halftime approached, Coach Hochbauer noticed that the other team's defense had been creeping up more as the game had gone on. She called out "Go-Go!" Katie looked up and realized right away what the Coach wanted her to do. She looked across and found Melanie. The brief eye contact was enough for them to read each other thoughts and Katie sent a booming shot from just behind midfield toward the left corner. While the defenders were at first caught off guard with the ball going over their heads, they suddenly realized that Melanie was already streaking past them down the sideline and would get to the ball well before they could.

This also put the other team's goalie in a bind. She started to come out because she could see her defenders were not going to get the ball. But Katie had placed it well and now the goalie realized the Melanie was going to get to it first. Caught in between, she started to backpedal and was unable to react to the laser Melanie put right to the far post for a 1-0 Blue Lightning lead at the half.

With the girls on their knees having an orange and the parents huddled around, Coach Hochbauer congratulated Melanie on her goal. But she also reminded them that this would probably lead to the defense sagging back a bit. In fact, she wanted Melanie to stay with the defenders no matter where the ball went so that they would have to stay back to prevent another over the top shot like the first one. This should open up the field more for the chance to score a goal with sharp crisp passing right up the middle. That was indeed what happened and led to a goal by Katie and a 2-0 win for the Blue Lightning for their first game.

After a brief rest it was time for the second game. The last thing that Jen remembered about the first half was the girls lining up for the opening kickoff. At that point she looked to the referee ready to start the contest and she froze. Each field had three referees and they were players from the local college teams. And out on the pitch, blowing the whistle to start the game was the very image of Colleen McManus.

She knew it wasn't Colleen McManus. The real Colleen McManus was now forty years old and as far as Jen knew she was still living in England. But she definitely remembered the first time she saw Colleen McManus and as she stared out at the referee it was as if she was back twenty years before, a dewy-eyed Freshman staring at Colleen McManus.

Jen was a freshman. She was there to learn and while she practiced every day with the team she almost never played in a game. But she never really minded because she got to sit back and watch their star player move around the field. Colleen McManus was tall at 5 foot 9 inches. She had a slim, athletic build and her reddish-brown hair was cut short and stylish. Jen always thought she was both Beckhams in one, she played like David and was beautiful like Victoria. She had been too busy with soccer to date in high school. She was unsure about relationships and just a freshman on the taxi squad and so she just worshipped Colleen from afar.

Jen was so fixated on her feelings for Colleen that she never looked to find her own love interest. Jen was incredibly beautiful in her own right and there was a fair share of suitors for her affections, both men and women. But she was so enamored with her internal love affair with Colleen that she never caught the signals or agreed to the requests for dates.

Jen's sophomore year was Colleen's senior year. Jen had worked hard and paid attention during that first year. She was still not starting, but she was playing. And better still she was on the field with Colleen McManus. She felt so alive and happy that she just flew around the field, chasing down balls, pressuring defenders and generally causing other teams havoc when she was in the game. With all her speed and her relentless play and her short stature, Colleen started calling her Mighty Mouse. And whatever she might have thought of that name had anyone else coined it, Colleen's nickname was a badge of honor.

The more she played the more confident Jen became in herself and so toward the end of the season she felt she had to finally tell Colleen how she felt. The athletes' dorms were near the Field House and were newer than the other dorms on campus. There were a mix of single and double rooms and so it was common for seniors to have their own room. Jen went to Colleen's door on a Friday night when she knew they had the weekend off, took a very deep breath and knocked.

"Come on in, it's open." Jen heard Colleen call and she pushed open the door. "Hey, Mighty Mouse. What can I do for you?" Colleen asked in a breezy tone. Figuring that the Sophomore was seeking some advice on classes for the Spring Semester, Colleen turned back to her book to finish the sentence she was reading, then marked the book and turned toward Jen.

The minute she turned back, she could tell by the look on Jen's face that this was something much more serious. "Are you okay?" Colleen asked the younger girl, realizing that this was not just a quick pop-in to ask about classes.

"Colleen, I...It's just...For a while now I've...I know..." Jen could not believe she was blowing this so badly. She had practiced this moment a thousand times. On the field when she had practiced something this much, when crunch time came, she just did it. Now she was floundering. Every single fear she had managed to put aside when she thought about how bad this could go swarmed into her head and she suddenly could not remember how to speak in complete sentences.

"Jen! What is it?" Colleen said starting to be worried that there was a very serious problem.

It was Colleen's forceful use of her first name that seemed to clear all the fog and she was once again the laser focused individual who had just knocked on the door less than a minute ago. Colleen finally said, "Come over here and sit down."

Colleen stood up from her desk and took the few steps to get to her bed. She sat down cross-legged near the headboard and motioned for Jen to join her. Jen sat the same way near the foot of the bed and looked straight into Colleen's eyes. Having come this far, she knew she had to go ahead and let Colleen know how she felt. It might not go as she hoped, but then again, nothing in life ever did. And what if in this instance, it did?

"Colleen, you are a wonderful teammate. You have always been helpful and supportive of me as I have been trying to become a better player and I will always be appreciative of that. You've done that for all the younger girls, and I think it is because you are a kind and generous person and I really enjoy getting to spend time with you.

"The thing is, from the very first day of practice last year, I've been in love with you. I can't really explain it since I did not know you or anything about you. But I have no doubt about what I felt. And over the fifteen months and twenty-three days since then, everything that I have come to know about you has told me that my first instinct was entirely correct. I feel so lucky that I have gotten to spend all this time with you as a teammate, but I want more. I want to spend a lot more time with you. I don't want to just be your teammate; I want to be your girlfriend."

"Wow, Mighty Mouse. That's a lot to take in." Colleen had recently broken up with her girlfriend who happened to be on the school's basketball team. It had been serious, but they had kept it quiet and no one on the soccer team knew about it. She certainly knew that Jen did not know about it and so this was not something she had timed hoping to catch Colleen in a weak moment. Jen had just bared her heart and she knew she had to be thoughtful here but Colleen did not know immediately what to say. So partly to bide some time and partly to see how Jen would react, she had her own little reveal to spring.

"Would it surprise you to know that I very clearly remember your first practice." Jen had prepared herself for either a positive response or a negative response, but this was neither and it threw her off a bit. She just nodded her head to show her surprise. Colleen continued "I thought that the scouting department must have made an error, sent the letter to the wrong address. Here was this tiny little thing coming to play soccer on a team that was looking to push for a Conference or even a National title? But I have also watched you over this, how long did you say, fifteen months and twenty-three days." Jen nodded her head because at that moment she was all but paralyzed and could not speak.

Colleen continued "Not only do you have talent, but you still keep on working to improve yourself. Last year, you knew you were not going to play. But you came to every practice ready to go. You worked and worked. You were always there to cheer us on and if you were ever unhappy about not playing, no one ever saw it. You've taken advantage of your opportunities to play this year and something tells me you will start next year. You are an excellent soccer player, an excellent teammate and an excellent person. And let me first say how flattered I am that you think and feel about me the way that you do."

Jen looked down at the bed and dejectedly said "I think there is a 'but' coming."

Colleen reached over with her hand and lifted Jen's chin until she was once again looking straight at the younger woman's eyes and said "Yes and no..." Jen's blue eyes immediately sparkled like a sapphire but Colleen was not done. "...what you are talking about is more than just a Yes or No proposition. What you are describing is something serious and we have to be sure and we have to be clear about some things. First off, I did not even know you were into girls."

Jen looked at her for a while and then said "I am not sure that I am. But I am into you."

"Okay then," Colleen continued, "but you know that my plans will be taking me to England next year if things work out. So, whatever this would be, it would not be permanent. You'd have to understand that." Jen pondered this much longer and had nothing to say.

Again, Jen looked down to the bed as tears began to well up in her eyes. Finally, Colleen reached over, held up Jen's chin and looked her in the eyes again.

"Jen, I heard what you said tonight. And while I know it cannot be something permanent, it would give me great enjoyment and pleasure to have a relationship with you. You are a beautiful person, inside and out. And I think you are very mature for your age. So maybe you can accept what we can have, even if it is not all that you want. And maybe you can enjoy what we can have for as long as we can have it even if we both know that it will end. One thing I know about you is that if you put your mind to something, you tend to be successful.

"Can you put your mind to us even knowing it will end? And will you accept that inevitable end, and just enjoy what we could have just for a little while? If you promise me you are willing to do that, then I would be happy if you would be my girlfriend." Jen assured her that she would and then sprang into her arms where they shared a long embrace.

"Jen, I think you would have said yes to anything, but I am going to hold you to this. Now maybe we should have something to eat." Colleen ordered a pizza and they sat down and talked about the soccer season so far and the rest of the season ahead, both purposefully avoiding anything about the earlier conversation.

The pizza came and as they ate, they talked about what they might do the next day. Now it was getting late and both women got a little quiet, lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Colleen broached the topic. "Jen, do you want to stay here tonight?"

Having wanted this moment for so long, Jen was overwhelmed by it and became very tentative. "I do. It's just...I've never been with anyone, boy or girl and I don't know what I am doing and I just don't want to be so bad at it that you change your mind."