'Til Then

Chapter 5

"Um, we were wondering if we could play on your team" the huge, over six foot monster dude asked. He had some serious wild hair and a beard that looked like it was trying to grow as he was talking to us.

"Sure" I said, "what are your names? Mine is Emilee, but you can call me Em or Emmie. And this short powerhouse is Lacy, but you can call her Lace. The blind one on the ice is Casandra, but she likes to be called Case. I think you probably know Royce."

Big dude introduced himself by saying "my name is Darren, and this is Jason. We were tired of sitting on the bench and thought we would take a chance and see if this rink was being used since we really couldn't find Royce anywhere. You need to be warned that we have never played with girls."

Jason spoke up, "Is Case really blind?" He asked as he leaned on the edge of the rink absolutely engrossed in watching her push and pull Royce's ankles as he continued to skate.

"Yes and no. She has always had bad eyesight. She's had a couple of surgeries but they just prolong the inevitable. She's a kick butt player, and obviously a good teacher." Lace spoke up. "WE have a team!!!" she punched my arm excitedly.

It dawned on me, we have a team. "We can play! Case, we can play!" I shouted and was jumping up and down with Lace. The boys looked at each other with confused looks.

Case and Royce joined us and took off their blindfolds.

"Really?! More giants?? I really hate being short!" Case complained but continued, "I am Case, and you are??" She held her hand out to Jason.

"Jason. Nice to meet you." He shook her hand and then introduced Darren. "This other giant is Darren." He laughed as Darren shook her hand.

"Well let's get on the ice. What positions do you play? AND, why did you want to be on our team. You do realize we don't play like the boys, right?" Case asked.

Darren replied by saying, "Jason and I are rejects just like Royce. We can play any position and we just want a chance to play. Being a bench warmer is really no fun."

"Well, the good thing, there is no bench to warm up here. We all play. If we get more, then we will figure it out then." Lace chimed in.

Over the next few months, the practices were improving. We were training the boys not to body check. We taught them how to skate blindfolded. Case took the lead on that, after having them skate the length of the rink to figure out their strides. She matched me up with Royce and Lace with Darren. We were quite the blind force to be reckoned with.

Coach had us run drills blindfolded. I think she really wanted to humble the boys but it did the total opposite. These boys had such full heads with being blindfolded. One day close to Christmas break, coach came to us and said that we will be working with the boys team.

"Coach, do you really think that is a good idea?" Case asked with concern laced in her voice.

"Case. You are the best goalie. You have trained Jason single handedly. The six of you are going to train them to skate blindfolded. This is also a team building exercise. My hope is that we will be able to practice against them. This team needs practice time. I can drill you till the sun goes down, but if we don't get any actual practice in, our first game will not go well. You know this. This is what happens every year." She finished as the boys came in with discussed faces on.

"Welcome boys, coach" our coach said. "There will need to be some rules here. I see your boys aren't happy to be here."

"Well, no. They aren't but like you said, hockey is a team sport and we can learn from each other. Although I really don't know what you can teach us!" their coach said smugly.

"Well, then get on the ice and show us what you have. Warriors, welcome the visitors. Let's play!" She replied just as smugly. This was a first the girls had ever seen their coach like this. Maybe she knew something we didn't.

The boys team huddled up, so did we. Jason was the first to explain what was going to happen.

"Girls, no offense, but the boys are going to try to pummel you. Coach plays extremely aggressively and encourages them to body check, and humiliate on the ice."

"Not only that, he taught the boys to trip without being noticed" Royce added. "You will really need to stay away from them, don't let them get close to you" he concluded.

"We all are going to get teased. You for not having a complete team, and us for playing with girls. Don't let them get in our heads." Darren added.

Case and Lacy looked at me worriedly. I admit, I was freaking out a little bit. "Case, you are the best goalie like coach said. Just stay focused on the ice. It is crystal clear. Lacy, you, Darren, Royce, Jason and I will just have to dance and put these boys in their place." I encouraged them as we broke up and took the ice.

Facing giants on ice was so intimidating, but Royce skated up to me, "don't be intimated. They are just full of themselves. We are full of a team." He winked and got into position.

The puck dropped and the boys got it. They were fierce. They were bold. They were dumb. They tried to bully us just how our guys told us they would. But Lace skated circles around the guy with the puck and sent it to Jason and he scored. He missed a body check in the process.

The boys were so angry they played even worse the second round! Lace sent the puck my way, I got it only to be tripped by a boy, but never did I fall. I skated on the one skate and sent the puck to Darren, who sent it to Royce who sent it to Lace who scored. One of the boys went to push her, but she turned around, used her stick and disarmed the guy of his stick. "If you really think you can play like that against us, then you have something else coming. Just because you can't score, doesn't mean you can injure the other team. It isn't ethical. I have my eye on you!" she chastised him.

The boys coach called "ok boys, practice is over. Go shower and meet at the rink! Short stack, how dare you accuse my boys of purposely injuring you!" He hissed.

"Yo Coach!" I yelled skating to the edge of the rink. "We wouldn't accuse them of anything if it wasn't true. Maybe you need to take a look in the mirror and wonder why a six person team with no subs can score. You need a team. You need to be a better supportive coach and find the guys that really can play their positions. Good luck this year." Em finished chastising the coach and turned to leave.

"You really think you are going to get a chance to play? Boys, I will put you on the starting line up. Come back and play with a REAL team." The boys coach replied demeaning.

Lacy, Case and I looked at each other then at the boys. Fear evident in our eyes when Darren spoke up. "Coach, I am sure you will do just fine without us. Think we will stay here and play."

Our coach looked just as surprised as their coach. He waved his hands and stomped off.

"You really want to play with us?" our coach asked shocked.

"Yes." Jason said simply. "Coach will let us play the first game and just bench us. Besides. I haven't had as much fun playing hockey as I have with you all."

"OK. But realize, we really do have a different way of playing. I can drill you and practice you against each other, but I can't get you to play against a full team."

The boys looked at each other, shrugged, and said in unison "that's fine."

The girls looked at each other, shrieked and hugged the guys. "YAY!" they scream in unison.

Their joy was interrupted, buy a cough. Everyone looked over at the noise and saw a few other boys standing by the door of the rink. "Sorry for ruining your moment, but we wanted to know if we could practice with you? We know it is a little backhanded, but we really had fun facing off with you and was wondering if after our practice, if we could sneak in some time with you guys?" the spokesman asked with hope in is voice.

Everyone looked at coach. She looked back at her team with a crooked smile and cheezily said "well, we would get practice in with them, it is up to you six. I am just the voice of what you decide, I always have been."