The First Day

“So how was your first day at school, honey? Did you make new friends?” Lebo’s mother asked from the kitchen, while she was busy preparing Lebo her favourite sandwich. Lebo loved green lettuce, onion and mayonnaise in her sandwiches.

“It was boring, Ma. Yho!” Lebo complained from the living room. She accepted the plate her mother offered, and she munched on it.

“What do you mean? You didn’t make friends with anyone?”

“Mhmn, Ma! This is heaven, the best thing that’s happened to me today,” Lebo said, and pointed at the half-eaten sandwich.

“Ha! Ha! You always loved your sandwich,” Lebo’s mother chuckled.

“Best sandwich ever!” Lebo took another bite. After swallowing, she turned to her mother. “Yes, I didn’t. I was the only mafikizolo in my class.”

“Don’t worry, tomorrow is another day,” her mother assured her.

After she had eaten, she went outside to wash her school socks for tomorrow. When she was done, she noticed that it was already four, and by half past she was supposed to be at the practice. She ran to her bedroom. She couldn’t find her soccer boots. Darn it! They must be inside one of these many unpacked boxes, she thought, despairing. She could not be late for the first practice!

Her mother appeared in the doorway. “Looking for these?” She was holding up her yellow Nike Mercury boots.

“Yes!” she exclaimed, relieved and excited.

“I knew you would look for them. So while I was unpacking, I found and put them aside for you.”

“Oh, Ma. You are a lifesaver.” She kissed her mother on the cheek, took the soccer boots and quickly put them on. In two minutes she was out, jogging to the practice.

She was apprehensive. Will they turn me back just because I’m a girl? Oh, well. Only one way to find out, she thought

A few players had already arrived and they were taking casual free kicks at goal. She first spotted T-Touch because of his frame – he was a big guy. He was saying something to one dark, tall player who was preparing to strike. After few seconds, the boy ran and kicked the ball. It skidded sideways, to where Lebo was standing.

And while some laughed at the terrible kick, others looked at Lebo in amazement. T-Touch seemed to not recognise her at first, but as she approached, holding the ball to her side, he smiled.

“Hey,” she greeted them. She gave the ball back to the player who had mis-kicked.

“Exe, I didn’t think you would come. I thought you were joking when you said you wanted to play for the team!”

“No, I wasn’t.”

Feeling the awkwardness, T-Touch turned to the player beside him. “Oh, eish! Askies for being rude. This right here is Scara, our left winger. The skinny one right there – we call him Stix. Beside him is Lefty.” T-Touch turned to the other two on the far side. “That tall guy over there is General and the short one with bracket legs is Small.”

Turned out that the number 7’s name was Small. Lebo looked him over for a second, remembering how selfish he had been in the last game.

After a moment of silence, Scara turned to T-Touch. “Touch, you do realise that she is a girl, right? Can she even kick?”

T-Touch shrugged his shoulders. Lebo knew that T-Touch didn’t know for sure if she could play or not, as he had never seen her play before. They met by chance yesterday, and she had surprised him by asking to play for his team.

“Yes, I can more than kick. I can also play.” Lebo’s confidence was unwavering.

“Oh, yeah? Let’s see what you got.” Scara passed her the ball. “Take the kick.”
Lebo picked up the ball and placed it on the levelled spot. She took a few steps back and waited. She felt everyone’s eyes on her.

She inwardly recited the words of her previous coach: ‘Calm down, pick the spot and be sure about it. Be confident and take the shot.’ She took a few long breaths and picked the spot. She was sure because she felt confident about it. So she took a short run and kicked the ball with certainty. It went straight to a 90-degree-corner. Score!

They all clapped, even the coach, who was approaching with several other players. Lebo smiled and looked at Scara.

“Satisfied?”

Scara’s mouth was agape.

“Wow! Who was that?” the coach asked, still clapping his hands. He looked younger than Lebo’s previous coach, probably in his late 20s.

“It was Lebo, our new player.” T-Touch smiled after saying this.

Coach gave Lebo the same look that Scara had given her a few minutes ago.

“Hi Lebo. How did you learn to kick like that?”

“I played soccer where I come from.”

“I see. Well, I am Tiki, the coach of this team, Benny FC. But they all just call me Coach.” Lebo nervously took the offered hand and shook it.

“But you are a girl, Lebo. And it’s against the rules here for boys to play with girls. In fact it is unheard of in the entire world of sports.” Coach was solemn.

Lebo understood. She would have gladly left if she had any other choice, but she didn’t. Soccer was her life, and since there was no division for girls, she felt forced to play with boys.

“I know, but I think I can play well with them, Coach.”

“They might hurt you.” Coach’s voice was serious and stern. It was also filled with warning.

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take,” Lebo challenged him. She wasn’t going to back down without putting up a fight.

“What do your parents say about this?”

Lebo hesitated. “They just care about me playing.”

“Even if you put yourself in danger?”

Lebo saw that she was not winning. Looking Coach straight in the eye, she boldly said, “I’m stronger than that. I can play with these boys. All I am asking is for you to give me a chance and see what I can do.”

“Uhm … okay,” Coach gave in. “You may practice with us. But for this week only, okay? We will see after that if you have a future here or not.” Lebo nodded and Coach shouted, “Six laps; let’s go! Join them.”

They started running and Lebo joyfully joined them.

***

Tell us: So, what’s your opinion of girls playing soccer with boys?