Bend It Like Beckham
Continuation
Chapter 20 – Reaching Santa Clara
Jess and Jules reached Santa Clara safely. They were greeted by the others, who had also been chosen to be on the team.
Jess stared at them, but Jules ran over to meet them. She saw the happiest people on the planet. She felt like they were her family.
Jules turned, and waved her over. Jess ran over and started to greet them.
"Hi! Congratulations on making it here," a tall thin, brunette said politely.
"Thanks, um… you too," Jess replied. She looked at the girl and waited for her to say something.
"Oh, I'm Meg," The brunette put out her hand. Jess shook it and replied "I am Jess".
"Oh, Jess Bhamra! We've heard all about you and your friend". Jess was surprised. She wondered how they knew.
Meg must have seen the confused look on her face because she started to explain.
"How did we know about you? Have you heard of a famous journalist called Silma Haveric?"
"Um… no. I don't think I have,"
"Oh, she writes some of the most well known articles in our newspaper,"
"Oh,"
"Anyway, come and meet the rest of the team!" Meg led Jess over to the rest of the girls.
"Jess, I'd like you to meet my two best friends. Milly and Alannah". Alannah was about as tall as Jess, with long wavy black hair. She had green eyes and a lovely smile.
"Hi," she replied.
Milly was a bit taller than Jess, and she had blonde, shoulder – length hair that was layered. She had blue eyes and a trim figure.
"Hi, I'm Milly," She shook Jess' hand and smiled.
Meg looked at her watch.
"Oh my! We'd better get to the University. It's getting late," Everyone filed onto the mini bus, which was waiting for them.
It was only a short drive to the University. It was beautiful! It was three storey's high and had a beautiful garden and fountain at the entrance. All of the girls knew that they would fit in perfectly.
Chapter 21- Meeting the Coach
Jess and Jules got a room together, with Meg, Milly and Alannah.
They were woken up early the next day for try – outs.
"Come on girls! Get up!" said a tall, thin red head, as she burst in.
"Tasha!" Meg shouted, "What are you doing?! It's only 7:30!"
"Try – outs, are in an hour! We have to get ready," Tasha replied, and walked out.
Jess and the other girls, quickly got up and rushed towards the bathroom.
After a busy hour of showers, getting dressed and breakfast, the whole team was ready and waiting outside on the University's soccer field.
A tall, thin man appeared at the gate. He had a receding hair line and a cheerful smile. He carried a bag, full of soccer equipment over to the girls and dropped it beside them.
"I am Spiero Knezevic. Welcome to America!" . The girls gasped.
"Do you know who that is?" one girl whispered.
"He was one of Croatia's greatest soccer players. He played in the World Cup Final about 10 years ago!" Meg squealed.
Spiero smiled. "Ah, so you know who I am. That is passion, to remember a player from 10 years ago. You will all go far,"
The girls were so excited, to have him as their coach.
Spiero handed out a sheet to them all. It was a training program, containing the training times, skills and benefits of the training sessions.
"I want you to keep this in a safe place, so that you can refer to it over the next few weeks". The girls nodded and started their warm – up.
Chapter 22 – Announcing the Captaincy
"Well, it's been several, tiring weeks, but it was worth it," Milly sat down on the bed and started to tie up her shoes.
"Yeah. I can't believe that today, we find out who is captain!" Jules sat down beside Milly.
Tasha ran into the room. "Come on! The session starts in two minutes! We're already supposed to be down there,"
"What?!" screamed Alannah, "But I'm not ready!"
"Well, you had better hurry up then," said Jules as she walked out of the room. The others followed and headed down to the field.
"Congratulations girls. You have done really well these last few weeks and today, your efforts will be rewarded". Spiero paced up and down in front of the girls. They were all really anxious about finding out who would be captain.
"So, I will now announce the captain. The captain is……." The girls held hands and waited for the name, "Meg Swart!"
Jess felt a twinge of disappointment. She would have liked to have been captain, but she knew that Meg deserved it.
Meg squealed with excitement, and all of the other girls congratulated her.
"Well done. The rest of you can find out what positions you are playing, on the notice board in the change rooms after training,"
After training, all of the girls quickly rushed to the change rooms to find out their positions.
"What did you get?" Meg asked her friends.
"Goalie!" screamed Alannah, "I was hoping for that,"
"Well done! What about you Jess and Jules?"
"We got the positions that we played back in England. We're really happy about that",
"That's good. Come on, we'd better go back to our room. Tomorrow is our first proper game. We'd better get a good night's sleep," said Meg, "Goodnight everybody".
The next morning, the girls woke themselves. They were really looking forward to the game.
They filed onto the bus that would take them to the other University, where they were going to play.
It took 35 minutes to get there. When they walked out onto the field, the opposition was already doing their warm – up and they were dressed in a yellow uniform, with a lion on the front.
The game started and Jess got the ball. She passed it to Jules, who ran it down the ground and scored a goal within the first two minutes.
The game looked promising, but the scoring was slow. The game ended with the scores being Lionettes: 2 and Santa Clara Tigers (Meg's Team): 4.
They had won. To celebrate, they all went out for dinner.
"Congratulations! Your playing was superb. This puts us through to the next round, against the Hollering Hyena's," Spiero said to them all. "They will be a tough team to beat, but we can do it,"
Spiero was right. The Hollering Hyena's were tough to beat, but they did it.
As they progressed to the semi – finals, the games got even harder. But as their confidence increased and they got used to playing together, they got better and better.
They ended up winning the semi – final with a penalty shot, scored by Milly.
Chapter 23- The Grand Final
"We are now through to the grand final, in a week's time. We are going to have to train hard, to ensure that we are strong enough to win. Are you all ready for that?" Spiero asked. The girls looked at each other and nodded. They wanted to win.
The next couple of training sessions were the most grueling yet. It had been a tiring week, but the day had finally come, the Grand Final against the Los Angeles Jets.
The stadium was packed to capacity, and the atmosphere was electric.
As they sung the National Anthem, the girl's mouths were dry, and their hearts were in their throats. They were all extremely nervous, but focused and determined to do their best.
At quarter time, the score was nil all. Jess and Jules had been on the bench for the first quarter, but were now finally going to get their chance to play.
By half time, the Los Angeles Jets were two goals ahead. Spiero called the whole team over.
"We are 2 goals down; we need to pick it up. Tasha, when you get the ball, pass it straight to Meg. Meg, pass it to Milly. Milly, you can choose to pass it to Jules or Jess, or take a shot at goal. We can do it," Spiero put his hand out, and the rest of the team put their hands on top. "One, two, three, Santa Clara!" they all shouted.
The team ran out and started the third quarter with great enthusiasm and determination.
Both teams, managed to score 2 goals off penalty shots.
Then, just as Jess got the ball and seemed to be on a goal scoring run, she was hit side – on by one of the Los Angeles Jet players and crashed to the ground.
As the game was stopped, all of the players, umpires and coaches gathered around her. She did not move.
Finally, the paramedics carried her off on a stretcher, and she was taken to hospital.
The other team members were very upset and concerned, but Spiero reminded them that the match was not over and that they must remain focused.
"You can still win this, you must be strong. Don't let Jess and yourselves down. This is what you have trained for. Now get out there and show them what you're made of!"
Throughout a grueling last quarter, the lead changed several times. But in the final seconds Jules was fouled and got a penalty shot.
It all came down to this. As Jules lined up to take her shot, she said to herself, "This is for you Jess," and she kicked the ball into the top corner of the net, winning the game, by one point.
All of the girls ran over to congratulate her. Spiero also ran out to congratulate the team.
They were all presented with individual medals, and a lovely team trophy. Jules accepted her own and Jess' medal.
Spiero asked the team, "Where do you want to go out to celebrate?" The girls looked at each other and said, "We can't go out. We want to go and see Jess. The celebrations can wait,"
Chapter 24 – The Hospital
They arrived at the hospital, to hear that Jess had regained consciousness. They were dying to tell her the news. But the doctor said that, "Only three people can go in to see her, at once".
"I think that Jules deserves to go in," Milly said to the rest of the team. The others agreed.
"Yes, and the captain too," Spiero added.
As they walked in, Jess sat up.
"What happened? Did we win?" Jess asked. They all looked at each other.
"Yes we won!" screamed Meg, as she hugged Jess.
"Here's your medal," Jules put the medal around Jess' neck and smiled.
"You gave the team a right good scare," Spiero added, "But it only made them more determined to win,"
The next day, Jess was released from hospital, with a mild concussion. But that night, they all went out for a belated celebratory dinner.
The End