Chapter 36
Austin
Clouds hung over the Manhattan skyline, casting Jesse’s office in a dreary gray. I leaned forward and paged through a proposal
by my old club.
A week after reading the Voulez article that would come out tomorrow, Jesse was over the moon, happy with the press interest, practically beaming with the
two contracts sitting in front of me. Everything was going according to plan.
Today we agreed I wouldn’t extend my contract with the New York Lightning even if offered, and then we began discussing my
next steps since it would expire at the end of this upcoming season. But I still had to break the news I wasn’t going to be
taking up either of the offers to coach.
“Now, we can figure out which team would . . .” Jesse tapped his fingers against his desk. His voice faded out as I glanced
at my phone.
Isa was busy this week and I hadn’t really seen much of her. She hadn’t texted yet, but that wasn’t uncommon. She was usually
in surgeries all day.
“Austin.” Jesse’s stern bellow from across his desk snapped me back to what we were talking about.
“Yeah.” I blinked back to where I was. Sitting in his office while we went through options.
“We need to make a decision on a team sooner rather than later, that way we can capitalize on the Voulez article coming out and get some press around your next move.” Jesse paged through the offers again. “I think Farnham has the
best offer and you know the team—”
“I was actually thinking about here.” I braced myself for what was going to be a lot of suspicion on whether this was a good
idea or not.
“What?” Jesse’s tone dropped. “You mean extending your contract here? You said you wanted to move past playing.”
“I do.” I shifted in my seat. The divot between his eyebrows got deeper as I took a beat and prepared to tell him worse news
than me wanting to stay in the American league.
“The foundation is doing great on its own. But what about a coaching program for talent that will eventually go to play pro?
They’ll need training and connections,” I explained for the first time in a while, feeling self-conscious, like I wasn’t really
qualified to speak on it. Maybe I wasn’t. “There are already pretty well-established systems—academies run by different clubs
that funnel into the professional leagues—that do it around the world. It’s only a matter of time until it becomes something
here. Instead of a club running it, it can be a private academy that works with different teams.”
“No.” Jesse put his hand up. When I gave him a hard look, he huffed a breath. “Come on, Austin. Be realistic.”
“You said it yourself, there’s good press,” I defended. “And now is the time to capitalize on it.”
“Yeah, for the foundation. Charity. People love helping kids.” Jesse brushed off the idea. “But starting an entirely new business
endeavor? Affiliate agreements, staffing, talent scouts, not to mention how you’d fund it? It’s such a giant risk that nobody in American sports has attempted it.” Jesse rounded his desk and leaned against it. “We’ve been stuck
in American league soccer purgatory for years and you finally have a step out right in front of you, and you want to pass
on it?”
I opened my mouth to defend the idea but I didn’t. I got lucky once, pulled into the Premier League against astronomical odds.
What was the chance it happened again?
“Austin, you have interest for coaching. Your foundation is getting attention. This is working. And you got a girlfriend out
of it. You should be happy.”
My career was more than I could have dreamed for myself, thanks in large part to him. Taking a coaching job I probably wouldn’t
have had access to in the future if I waited too long was the smart move. The one I should make because luck ran out.
“I am,” I finally answered. “Happy, I mean.”
Everything that felt possible a couple weeks ago grayed and became more realistic.
“Take a few days.” He handed me the offers. “Think about it and I’m sure you’ll get a clear head.”