Free Team Player by Cindy Jefferies

1. Ambition
    â€œPass it, Roddy!”
    It was a very hot afternoon for football. Sweat was trickling down Roddy’s face, but he didn’t stop to wipe it away.
    â€œTo me!”
    Roddy was still on the ball, but now he was running into trouble in the form of three Stiles defenders. His team, Charlton, were drawing 0–0, and time was running out to grab a winner.
    They were into the final half term of Roddy’s first year at Stadium School, a brilliant, specialist boarding school for young footballers. The prestigious House Cup, awarded at the end of term anddesperately coveted by each of the four houses, was still up for grabs. In addition, each year had their own mini version of the cup, and these trophies were fought over just as fiercely as the overall one.
    All the Charlton teams had done pretty well this year, and the house was stongly in contention for the House Cup. Roddy and his team-mates wanted Charlton to win it, but at that moment they were all more concerned about securing their own trophy. Stiles and Banks were so far behind on points they were almost out of the running. That left Moore to worry about. Charlton needed every point they could get to see off the threat from their rivals, and it looked as if they were heading for disappointment today. Stiles weren’t making it easy for them. They might not be in with a shout for the first-year cup any more, but they could still affect theoverall result, and it wasn’t in their nature to concede even one goal without a fight.
    Roddy ignored the calls for him to pass the ball. Geno, Roddy’s best friend and Charlton’s striker, was currently a little off form. That was partly why Roddy decided to drive forward alone. But there was another reason, too. The year was almost over, and he still hadn’t realised his ambition to be made captain. Roddy felt so frustrated. He hoped that if he could grab a few more goals then Mr Jenkins, the juniors’ coach, would notice him a bit more, and see how much he deserved to wear the armband.
    It didn’t help that he’d just been sent a text by Bryn Thomas, his best mate from home. Bryn had been made captain of
his
team ages ago, and was crowing about it, asking if Roddy was ever going to manage to make it as captain at Stadium School.
    Roddy and Bryn had always been friendly rivals, but the text had really piled on the pressure. He imagined how great it would be to go home for the long summer break with the glory of having been captain, even if it was only for one match. So far, Keira had been captain of the firsts
and
their house team. How could that be right? Keira was great, but Roddy knew he could inspire his fellow players as well as she could. And recently Keira seemed to have lost her captain’s touch. Roddy felt certain that he wasn’t the only one to feel resentful instead of inspired by some of the remarks she’d been making.
    Roddy managed to steer the ball skilfully between two of the oncoming players, and was beginning to hope he’d get a shot on target when the Stiles captain, Jack Carr, tackled him and hoofed it away.
    â€œNo
way
are we giving you a chance to score,” grunted the powerful midfielder, as the ball sailed through the air towards Charlton’s penalty area. “You can wave goodbye to the first-year cup. If we’re not getting it, neither are you.”
    â€œWhy didn’t you pass?” yelled Keira, on her way to help out the backs. “I was open, and so was Geno. You can’t be the hero every game. Now get back and defend!”
    Roddy was stung by Keira’s words. He’d always prided himself in being the total team player, never hanging onto the ball selfishly when it was better to send it on. Now, when he’d tried for the first time to win through on his own, he was getting shouted at for it. He bit back a withering reply and sprinted to his own half. He was getting seriously fed up with Keira Sanders.