worked hard at soccer but his skills made Logan envious Probably because Mom and Dad worship the ground he walks on Logan thought Logan looked down at the sidelines His parents both wearing the Grizzlies colors red and brown stood as close to the action as they could get The four friends cheered as the action on the field resumed A Grizzlies forward shuffled past a midfielder for the opposing team and raced toward the corner Before he reached it however he sent a pass into the middle of the field right at Elliot Elliot broke toward the goal dribbling the ball effortlessly between his feet One of the opposing team’s defenders ran up from the penalty arc to challenge him Elliot faked 6
left and sprung right He planted his left foot and sent a sailing shot at the goal The goalie dove and just missed tipping the ball away with his fingers The ball struck the back of the net The crowd roared Two goals in one minute Wow Gabe was flabbergasted Each high school game was broken into two halves lasting forty minutes apiece By the end of the first half Elliot and the Grizzles had a two-goal lead 3-1 During halftime Logan and his friends hit the concession stand for more hot chocolate and treats As they stood in line Gabe said 7
So we’ve got tryouts for the EGL Middle School futbol team Football Ben interrupted It’s not football season man Gabe rolled his eyes Futbol he said You know the name everyone else in the world calls soccer I knew what you meant Annie piped in Thank you Gabe continued Tryouts for the soccer team are this Monday Anyone want to join me Ben shook his head No thanks Logan What do you say Gabe had been playing soccer for years but Logan had never tried out for the team He played a number of other sports Baseball Basketball American football 8
However watching his brother out on the field made the idea of playing soccer really appealing Elliot made it look easy effortless Maybe Logan could play like that too Yeah Logan said I’ll give it a shot Cool Gabe offered him a fist bump and Logan accepted The gang returned to their seats just as the ref blew his whistle to start the second half Elliot picked up right where he left off He covered every inch of the field What made him a good leader was his ability not just to score but also to pass When the right forward broke into the open Elliot skirted 9
