Free Soccer Mystery by Charles Tang Page B

said Violet. “That looks like magic.”
    Henry nodded. “It’s called juggling. She looks as if she has very good soccer skills.”
    Just then a tall man wearing a cap with a picture of a soccer ball on it called, “Attention! Could I have your attention, please?”
    Some of the people trying out for the soccer league came over to face the man. But others kept on playing. The man pushed his cap back and smoothed his short blond hair. Then he stepped up onto the bottom seat of the bleachers, raised a whistle to his lips, and blew it loudly.
    All of the players stopped running and talking then, and gathered around him at the foot of the bleachers. “Thank you,” he said briskly. “I’m Stan Post. Everyone can call me Stan. I’m the director of the Greenfield Community Center Summer Soccer League. I’ll also be one of the coaches. Now, I’ll introduce our other coaches and go over a few things before we begin try-outs.”
    A boy with long blond hair and a red shirt said loudly, “This is so boring! I know all the rules.”
    “I don’t know all the rules,” said Benny, frowning at the boy.
    “Shhh!” said someone behind them.

    The boy rolled his eyes, but he didn’t say anything else.
    When Stan had finished introducing the coaches, he had everyone write their name on a name tag and stick it to his or her shirt. Then he divided everybody into groups. He had each group dribble and pass and shoot while he and the coaches watched. Stan wrote lots of notes on a notepad he was carrying. So did some of the other coaches.
    Then Stan divided the groups into smaller groups and each of the smaller groups went with a coach to different parts of the soccer field.
    “We’re going to watch everybody for a little bit longer to make sure we put you on the right teams,” Stan explained.
    Violet was relieved to see that Jessie was in her group. She was glad that she knew someone. But she was not so glad that the boy in the red shirt was also in her group.
    “Okay, everyone,” said the young woman who was their coach. “I’m Gillian McPhee. Everyone calls me Gillian. We’re going to practice a few more drills — moves and skills that you use to play soccer.”
    Violet said softly, “What if you don’t know how to do a drill?”
    Near her, the boy in the red shirt gave a huge exaggerated sigh of impatience. Violet felt her cheeks grow red.
    But Gillian only smiled at Violet. “If you don’t know a drill, I’ll explain it to you,” she said. She looked at Violet’s name tag. “Just do your best, Violet. That’s what is important.”
    Violet smiled back at Gillian, feeling less nervous. Gillian had friendly brown eyes. Her dark brown hair was short and curly, and she was wearing tiny earrings in the shape of soccer balls. She was rather tall and her legs looked strong.
    The boy in the red shirt said, “What’s important is winning. That’s what my brother Stan said. He should know, since he is in charge of the league.”
    Gillian glanced over at the boy. “Winning is important, Robert,” she said. “But so is having fun and trying hard.” She raised her whistle to her lips. “Okay, everybody, let’s go. We’re going to practice passing.”
    At the other end of the field, Benny, Soo Lee, and Henry waited as the girl in the yellow shirt sprinted up to them. Their coach, Craig Crenshaw, was having them run relays. He ran up and down the sidelines with each group of sprinters, talking all the time.
    “Good, good, good,” they heard him pant as he ran past. “Keep going, that’s it. Good, good, good.” His wiry legs flew as he talked, and his sunburned face grew even redder while his wild reddish brown hair seemed to stand out like the mane of a lion around his head.
    Soo Lee ran forward with the next group. The girl in the yellow shirt stopped and bent forward to rest her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath.
    “Wow, you’re fast,” said Benny.
    The girl straightened up and fanned her face.