Free On The Ball by Susannah McFarlane

Emma Jacks had never run so much in her life. Her chest heaved and her legs ached. She wasn’t sure she could keep running and keep kicking the soccer ball at the same time. But she had to. She was right by the goals and a goal would put the girls in front of the boys. Just as Emma thought she would have to stop, one of her best friends, Hannah, sprinted up beside her.
    â€˜Em, here, pass the ball!’ yelled Hannah.
    Emma kicked the ball and it shot across the field. Emma thought she had kicked it straight to Hannahso was surprised when she saw Oskar running in the opposite direction with the ball. Emma’s heart sank: she had kicked the ball to Oskar.
    â€˜Bad luck, Em,’ cried Hannah as she chased after Oskar.
    Bad luck nothing, thought Emma. I just can’t kick straight! Oskar was miles away from Hannah!
    But there was no time to think about that now. Isi was down the other end of the field and had skillfully taken the ball back from Oskar. She was now powering back up the field towards Emma. Isi kicked the ball to Hannah, who was running fast. Just as Dougall caught up, Hannah kicked the ball towards Emma.
    â€˜It’s yours, Em,’ she called. ‘Head it into goal. You can do it.’
    I can? Emma tried to get ready. She watched the ball. She watched it coming towards her, high in the sky, in front of the goals. Emma got ready to jump. She closed her eyes. She could see it all in her mind: she was going to jump up and meet the ball and, with just a little nudge of the head, shewas going to guide it into goal. Well, that was the plan. Somebody should have told Emma’s head the plan.
    Emma jumped up, aiming her head at the ball, waiting for contact. No contact. She turned her head and watched as the ball sailed past her and back onto Oskar’s boot. Oskar ran, then passed it to Edvard, who kicked into the far goal.
    Ms Tenga blew her whistle. Boys 1, Girls 0. Boys ecstatic. Emma not impressed.
    The goalie threw the ball back into play for the girls. Isi took it but was soon tackled by Edvard. Isi did well to get the ball free but she couldn’t control where it went and she kicked it to an empty part of the field. The closest girl to the ball was Nema who, unfortunately, seemed to be re-plaiting her hair.
    â€˜Nema,’ shouted Isi, ‘the ball! Nema, get the ball. It’s the round thing coming towards you!’
    â€˜Oh, what, this?’ said Nema, picking up the ball.
    Ms Tenga’s whistle blew.
    â€˜Foul. Boys’ ball,’ cried Ms Tenga. ‘Nema, you can’t pick the ball up with your hands. You have tokick it with your feet.’
    â€˜Oh, sorry Ms Tenga,’ said Nema who then in a low voice muttered so her teacher couldn’t hear her, ‘stupid rule, stupid boys’ game.’
    Edvard took off with the ball but, just as it looked as if the boys were going to score another goal, Hannah swooped in and took possession. She quickly passed the ball to Emma, who was waiting on the side. Emma ran a bit further up the field before passing to Isi, who shrugged off Oskar and kicked it high to Cat, who was right in front of goal. Cat leapt up, as if she was about to take off, and with a perfect header, she sent the ball into the goal.
    Ms Tenga blew her whistle again. Girls 1, Boys 1. The girls leapt all over each other in delight. Emma was thrilled and almost forgot about her missed header.
    There was time for just one more play. They were still close to the girls’ goal so Emma was hopeful they’d score again.
    Callum threw the ball in for the boys. He wasaiming for Edvard but Isi, seeing what Callum was doing, snuck in front and took the ball. Callum tackled hard but Isi managed to kick the ball to Hannah, who only just beat Edvard to it. Again Hannah kicked the ball up high towards Emma.
    â€˜This time, Em,’ Hannah shouted, ‘head this one in.’
    Emma went up again. She stretched her neck and pushed with her head.