One day at practice, we were working on our routines when Coach Melissa said, "Guys, have a seat in the center of the room for a minute, ok?" We all gathered in a big blob.
"First of all, we have a sponsor for our team now! Rx jump rope has decided to sponsor us. They are a jump rope manufacturing company," Melissa exclaimed.
"Cool!" said Jake. "Does that mean that they're gonna put our names on their ropes?" We all laughed. "No," replied Coach Melissa, "but they will provide some of the money we need for travel cost to competitions."
Wow! A team sponsor! We were starting to become a professional team. Not just a bunch of silly jump ropers.
"Secondly, as you can tell, I've been working hard to get this place in better shape. We put up the mirror. That's good. I also started attaching little hooks to the wall. These are so we can hang up the ropes and not just have them tangled up in boxes or on the floor. It's more organized. We have the new wood floors in, and they look really good. I know the wall color isn't the best, but we can live with it. Its actually pretty ok. I want this place looking ship-shape so I can start having jump rope workshops here. I've started a class here on Mondays. There's 10 kids in it. Wow, this place looks so much better than the day I first got here."
And I knew that it did. Even though the new location wasn't as convenient for me, Coach Melissa had worked so hard to open up a jump rope studio. This was her dream. So I needed to cooperate.
"Third, more about new uniforms. I think we should look more professional. I've been starting to design them. They're gonna be more expensive, but they look so cool! We're also going to have warm-ups available for purchase, but they're optional. They're more expensive than the regular uniforms. You can buy them if you want and wear them to competition."
Yay! New uniforms! They were really gonna happen! We had been wearing the same ugly red shirts for two years. Mine was getting pretty worn out. We would look so much sharper.
"I have the sizing kit for the uniforms coming in a week, so you can try them on and order your size. I'll show you the final design when it's finished, too.
"Lastly," she said, "I've been thinking, I want to take some time off. My husband has always wanted to go on a sailing trip. And now we have Collin. We own a boat, and I want to go sail and spend time with my husband and baby. I know that I can trust you guys to keep this place in order for me."
I was shocked. Coach Melissa leave us? For how long? What about Regionals?!?Nationals?!?? What would I do without her? I knew that she worked very hard, and she had just had Collin, her baby, this summer, but I didn't want her to leave.
"When are you leaving?" a girl named Leia asked. "I plan to leave on January 1st, but it might be a little later. I'll be gone a couple of months. We'll be back in June, to help you guys prepare for Nationals. I know you guys can do this. I'll get some of my employees to help with practices. Probably Kelly and Kyle. Most of you guys know them. And don't worry, I'm not leaving till all the regionals groups and paperwork is organized."
Regionals without Coach Melissa? What would I do without my coach? I know that I need to step up a little and stop being such a baby, but I was worried.
The rest of practice, I was upset thinking about Melissa leaving. I could barely jump. I just kept worrying and worrying.
That day on the ride hard from jump rope, we were all kind of quiet, until I finally got sick of the quietness and said, "I can't believe that Melissa's leaving."
"Me neither!" said Lexi. "She wants me to be responsible and stay strong, because you know, I'm the team captain, but I don't know how I can do this. What's a team without a coach? We need someone to help us. I'm glad that Kyle and Kelly are going to hell, but I'm still worried."
"I am too," said Jake. "I don't know how I'm going to do this. I need Coach Melissa's help for my routines. She has such a good eye for what will and won't qualify. I have no idea how my routines stand among other people's routines. I might think I have a 1st place routine and end up not placing. I just don't know."
We talked and complained a while longer. When I went to bed that night, at first I was upset, thinking about Coach Melissa leaving, but then I replayed our carpool conversation in my head, and I felt better.
Ah. Sometimes it's nice to complain about things.