Chapter 32 Dina #2
The girls don’t seem particularly enthused by this display, until a chant breaks out through the crowd on our side of the pitch. I look around to find Ma and my friends enthusiastically leading the cheering for the Divas over and over again.
Some of the girls on the pitch start to grin. I notice the cameras zeroing in on the cheering crowd.
On the pitch, Sara gets hold of the ball. She dribbles it forward and towards the goal. There are no players standing in her way, and it seems like we might finally score a goal. But just then, the referee blows the whistle for half-time. Sara’s face falls and I let out a frustrated breath.
The girls jog off the pitch, their breathing fast and heavy, their clothes soaked with sweat, and their faces downcast.
‘They’re so going to rub our faces in this after the match is over,’ Sara says as she sits down on one of the benches, trying to catch her breath.
‘What am I going to tell my Instagram followers?’ Jade asks, frowning. ‘I bet I’ll lose a bunch after this. I should never have told them about the match.’
‘Hey!’ I interrupt them, having to almost shout to be heard over all of their complaining. ‘I told you guys, winning isn’t the only important thing.’
‘Yeah, but that’s just something people say; they don’t actually mean it,’ Jade argues, crossing her arms over her chest and frowning at me. ‘I mean, of course, everybody wants to win. We want to win.’
‘I don’t even care if we win,’ Sara says. Considering she’s one of the most competitive girls on the team, it’s a pretty shocking confession. ‘I just don’t want to suck out there.’
The other girls mumble dejected agreements.
‘I’m sorry I got hurt and can’t play,’ Sophie says, looking every bit as downcast as the rest of the team. Almost like she blames herself for how the match is going.
‘Look, guys,’ I say. ‘I know you have it in you to play well. Remember the match you played against the Greens? You guys were tied until almost the end of the game, and you played a great match. Don’t let Sophie’s injury get you down.
Take this half-time and then go out there and play your hearts out.
That’s all you can do at the end of the day, win or lose. ’
‘But if we lose, it will be in front of so many people,’ Jade complains.
‘And you’ll pick yourselves up and live to play another match, and hopefully you’ll win that one,’ I say.
It’s the advice I wish someone had given me when I was younger – when the loss of one opportunity felt like the end of the world.
Was the end of the world for me. But now I’m realising that I let a single loss keep me down, instead of trying again. I let myself get defeated.
The team don’t look enthused by my speech, though they don’t look as depressed as they did when they came off the pitch.
By the time the second half gets underway, the girls seem to have at least regained some of their excitement.
As the Divas kick off, Sara receives the ball.
She dribbles it around a few players, before passing it to Jade, who is clear in the box.
I watch her eyes flicker between the ball, the goalpost, the goalie. My heart clenches tightly as I look on.
‘Please, please, please, come on …’ I mumble under my breath.
Jade goes to kick the ball, and the goalie dives. But just at the last minute, Jade changes direction. Realising this, the goalie tries to reach out her hand. But she’s too late – the ball goes sailing past her and bounces into the net.
The crowd erupts into cheers, and I realise that I’ve joined them, that my arms are up, pumping the air with all my excitement.
Beside me, Jen is grinning from ear to ear. Jade beams at us from the pitch – all her worries from before, seemingly gone now.
We’re still one goal down, but maybe we have a shot at this match after all.
The rest of the match seems to pass by in the blink of an eye.
There are a few more times when the Divas almost score, but the Westbrook goalie intercepts the ball each time.
It doesn’t get the team down, though. In fact, it feels like every single time they’re thwarted in their efforts, they come back even stronger.
The girls in defence put up an even bigger fight.
For most of the second half, Westbrook don’t even get close to the goal.
When they finally do with five minutes to spare, one of the girls manages to block the shot.
The frustration from Westbrook feels palpable, though on the other side of the pitch, Maya seems pretty unbothered.
I guess she shouldn’t be, considering they’re still one goal up.
With only a few minutes left of the game, Westbrook make a sub. The girls take the opportunity to jog back towards us, taking swigs of their water bottles. Unlike half-time, their faces are bright with excitement.
‘You guys are killing it,’ I say, beaming at them.
‘We still have a few minutes. Maybe we can score one final goal!’ Jade says enthusiastically.
‘You guys can do it,’ Sophie agrees.
‘Just go out there and do your best,’ I say.