Rob emptied the ball bag and set up some orange cones on the field. The junior boys were gathering along the bottom two runs of the grandstand. He wished he had thought to pack a change of clothes. Even though he'd rolled up the sleeves of the formal shirt and taken off the tie it was way too hot to train in. Not that he thought he would be doing any running. He chuckled. At least he hoped he wasn't going to be.

He and Drew had decided at lunch that Rob would take the kids who had never played before, and Drew, would take those that had some experience.

Rob headed to the grandstand. Drew was already there talking to some of the boys. He turned as Rob approached and clapped his hands to quieten the group. Coach Creally slipped onto the end of the bottom row of seats.

The juniors went quiet. Drew clapped his hands again so they focused on him. "So...everyone! Thank you all for coming." He directed his hand towards Rob. "This is Rob Jarvis and I'm Drew Morgan. We're going to be your coaches this year. Rob and I play in the senior team. We are State Representatives, and have both trained with the Institute of Sports in Canberra. We hope to play for Australia one day." He grinned at Rob and continued, "To start we want everyone who's played before to sit to my right and anyone who hasn't played before to sit on the left."

The kids scurried to sit in the correct places. Rob ran his eyes over the group. Almost fifty, fifty which was a good thing. His eyes travelled higher up the grandstand to see some of the parents and....Becky fucking Bridgestone way up on the top row. What the hell? Rob's eyes held hers for a moment, and then caught movement further down.

Lizzy was waving at him. He grinned at her. She was like a little kid. All beaming and excited. He didn't need to wave back. She had seen him look.

Once the kids had settled Drew started talking again. "Rob plays centre half which for those who haven't played is what we call a, back. I play left inner. That makes me a, forward." He waved his words aside as he added, "Don't worry too much about the positions yet. What we want to do is get you started with some ball and stick work today." Drew looked sideways at Rob, and then continued, "When we do sort out the positions Rob will train the, backs, and I'll train the, forwards. We'll eventually bring you all together for half the sessions to get you working as a team." He paused, and then said, "Any questions."

The boys looked around at each other and shook their heads. One father lifted his finger. Rob held his palm towards him. "Yes, sir."

"So..." the man said, "Are you buggers going to win the state titles this year?"

Rob Chuckled and nodded as he said, "Yes, sir we are."

"That's all I need to know." The man laughed and held up his hands. "Carry on."

Tim Creally hung his head to hide the smirk on his face. This kid was good.

"Okay guys." Rob raised his voice to be heard. "All of you who have played before can you go with Drew to the goal circle and you, new guys, I want over at the witch's hats." Rob clapped his hands and hollered, "Let's go!"

Tim smiled at Drew and Rob. "Looks like you've got it all under control. I might head off." He looked at where the kids were making their way to their assigned areas and slapped Rob and Drew on the back. "Let me know how it goes tomorrow and what your plans are."

"No worries, coach," they both said at once.

*****

Rob followed his group of boys to where he had set up the orange cones. He noticed one was walking with a severe limp. Once he got them all in a circle he said, "Right. One of the most important things about being in a team is getting to know, trust, and have faith in your teammates. So, we're going to tell the group a little about each other." He pointed to the first boy. "Let's start with your name, and then something about yourself and, I want to know why you decided to join hockey."

"I'm Blake," the boy said with a grin. "I like fishing and my Dad said I should play hockey."

"Okay." Rob twisted his mouth as he nodded. "So...you're only playing because your dad wants you to play. What about you? Do you want to play?"

"Yeah, yeah," Blake spurted. "Dad said I had to pick a team sport so I chose hockey cause it looks cool."

"That's great." Rob pointed to the next kid. "Your turn."

"I'm Carl. I like girls and I'm playing hockey so they'll like me too."

Rob laughed. Carl was a chubby red head with a lot of attitude. "Fair enough," he said, and then pointed to the next boy.

The kids each took a turn, laughing as they spoke, until they got to the boy who limped. He looked shyly at the circle of faces. "I'm Linc," he murmured. "I like reading and I'm playing hockey because..."

"You're stupid," Carl sneered at him. "Don't you know cripples can't run?" He looked at Rob as he huffed and added, "Isn't that right, coach? Cripples can't run and you gotta be able to run to play hoc...."

"Oi!" Rob pointed at Carl and shut him down as quickly as he could. "Watch your mouth! If I hear you talking like that again you're off the team." He looked at the rest of the boys and said, "Any of you talk rubbish like that and you're out. You understand?"

Rob glared at Carl. "Linc's had the courtesy to listen to you, Carl, without slinging any crap so you'll give him the same sort of respect. That's what being part of a team is. Respecting each other no matter what your faults are."

He looked at the rest of the boys. "Some of you will be good players and some of you will take a little longer to improve. This is your first season. None of you will be experts. Some will run faster. Others will be harder hitters. Some will be more accurate with the ball. Just because you're a hard hitter doesn't mean you're a better player." Rob focused on each face to make sure they understood what he was saying.

"Same goes for how fast you run. Doesn't mean you're going to be a good hockey player." Rob tapped his head. "Hockey, like any sport, also needs you to be a good thinker. It's how to have the smarts and skill to score goals without running yourself ragged. Therefore..." He lifted his finger and swept it around the circle. "You will show respect to each other, no matter how good or bad you are, at each of the skills you need to learn. And to be good at something we need to practice." He looked around the group again. "Do we all understand that?"

They nodded and looked at each other.

Once he was sure they'd all got the message Rob cocked his head and pinned Carl with his eyes. "Have you got that, Carl?"

The boy hung his head and looked up at Rob through his hair. "Yes, coach."

"Good." Rob nodded his approval. "I think you owe Linc an apology."

Carl turned up his lip. "But..."

"Lesson number one, Carl. It takes a big man to know when he's wrong and apologise. If you want girls to like you, take it from me. Girls love big men." Rob cocked his head and grinned. He didn't want to turn the kid off the sport but he needed him to accept people for who they were.

The boys laughed. Carl stepped forward and held his hand out to Linc. "Sorry, Linc."

Rob patted Carl on the back. "Good man," he said, and then concentrated on Linc. "Please tell us why you want to play hockey." The kid looked up at Rob wide-eyed. There was something familiar about him. Rob wondered where he had seen him before.

"I'm Linc and I like reading." He focused on Rob, and then said, "I'm playing hockey because I need to do a sport where I have to run so my leg will get stronger." His face coloured, before looking cautiously at the other boys. They smiled at him. Blake gave him the thumbs up. Linc bit his lip and hung his head.

"Great. Thanks, Linc." Rob looked around the group. "So any questions?" A boy named Jason put up his hand. Rob nodded. "Jason."

"Have you got lots of girlfriends?" He grinned up at Rob and added, "You said girls liked big men and you're pretty big."

Rob laughed and shook his head. "That wasn't really what I meant." He jerked his head and smirked. "Grab a ball and stop being a smart arse."

He taught the boys how to hold their sticks and dribble the ball through the witch's hats. Some were better than others. They all laughed and joked about their failings. He gathered them again at the end of the session. "Well done guys. I think you did great for your first day. How'd you all feel? Any questions?"

Carl gasped with a big smile on his face. "It's harder than it looks."

"Yeah, especially trying to keep the ball on your stick," Jason laughed.

Each boy chirped in with something to say, laughing and joking with a compliment here and there.

Rob laughed with them. He said, "Okay. I want you all to practice at home. If you don't have a ball, see if you can con your parents into buying you one. If not, a tennis ball will do and if you've got carpet at home practice on it but only if your mum says it's okay."

He bent to gather the balls and called, "How about you grab a cone each and drop it at the gate for me. And I'll see you all next Monday." He paused. "By the way. Call me Rob. Not coach."

Linc handed him a ball. Rob took it. "Thanks, mate." He looked down at the kid and said, "Don't you let that kind of stuff Carl went on with bother you, okay. You did real good. Your ball skills were great and we'll get that leg moving in no time."

Linc beamed up at him. "Thanks, coa...Rob."

Rob patted him on the back. "See you Monday." He lifted the ball bag, threw it over his shoulder and followed Linc to the gate. Becky was standing there. Rob wondered what she was up too.

"Rob!" Lizzy was up on the grandstand waving at him with one of the boys Drew had trained. Rob thought the kid must be her little brother. He waved, and then looked back at Becky. She had her hand on Linc's shoulder smiling down at him. Rob's heart slammed in his chest. Her smile lit up her whole face. Fuck...

"How'd it go?" she said to Linc.

"Good. Real good. I want to be just like him, Becky."

She frowned. "Who?"

"Like Rob. He's nice and a good coach. He says we'll have my leg moving proper in no time."

Becky looked up. Rob froze. Now he knew why the kid looked familiar. They had the same eyes. He jerked his head at her. She instantly stopped smiling.

"Rob." Lizzy suddenly appeared beside him. "This is my little brother Jake."

Rob smiled and held his hand out. "Hey, mate. How are you going? Good training session."

"Yeah, man, the best." Jake fist punched Rob's hand.

Rob chuckled and searched the crowd for Becky. She had her arm around Linc smiling down at him as they walked toward the school buildings. She glanced over her shoulder towards him, and then hung her head. Was that a smile? Did she just smile at him?

"I'll see you tomorrow," Lizzy glimmered.

"Yeah. See you, Lizzy." Shit he hoped he hadn't missed anything Lizzy had said. Rob chuckled feeling sure Becky, Bitchy Black Cat, Bridgestone had smiled at him.

He focused on Lizzy. She was beaming at him. Fuck...

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