Team Manager 2: SPRINT!
Chapter 1
“ATTENTION STUDENTS and faculty. We have some announcements this morning and we’d like to make sure you get this information straight from the office. This is Vice Principal Andrea Morris. Some of you may have heard that Principal Conway is no longer with us. I don’t mean he died, but a serious family emergency has prompted him to resign his position here to tend to family business in Arizona. As a result, I will be the acting principal until the school board has an opportunity to launch a search for a permanent replacement. I’m certain we will have strong leadership for our school again by the start of school in the fall. This has nothing to do with the dismissal of Lori Sanders last week for failing to adequately supervise the Bartley cheer squad. The cheer squad itself has been disbanded for the remainder of this school year.”
There were gasps from many students and a few snorts from basketball players of both genders. None of the former cheerleaders were present.
“Now for some good news. Congratulations to the Bartley High School Angelines for capturing the Class 3A State Championship for girls’ basketball.”
This time, cheers rang out all over the school.
“Please try to contain yourselves. I have two more announcements to go. This afternoon, the Bartley High School Wolverines boys’ basketball varsity will meet the North Bend Shamrocks in their first game of this year’s region five championship tourney. I know you’ll all want to wish them good luck. Therefore, we will have a pep rally at two-fifteen this afternoon so you can wish them well. The fan bus will depart the school at three-thirty.”
There were a few half-hearted cheers in different classes, but nothing like the echoing yells for the Angelines.
“Finally, in the celebration of the return of women’s sports to Bartley High School, we’re happy to announce the formation of a girls’ track team. Girls wishing to participate should meet in the gym at 2:30 today to get details. If you can’t make today’s meeting, please come prepared to try out after school tomorrow. Try to pick up a permission slip today from Coach Graves. I am told there are at least twenty slots open on the team and more girls can join if there is interest. Let’s hope the Angelines show as strongly in track as they have in basketball.”
There was an instant buzz as girls in every class turned to each other to find out if someone else was going to try out and for what.
“That concludes today’s announcements and we return you to your regularly scheduled classroom activities. Study hard, students. We’re only a week and a half away from spring break.”
The speakers went silent and teachers in every classroom worked to bring their classes to order again.
Natalie and Dennis had walked to school, just so they could hold hands. At the entrance to the school grounds, they’d stopped and kissed, with several carloads of kids honking at them. Once inside the grounds, they’d simply walked together without touching in order to abide by the school’s no PDA rule. Once they all gathered at their lunch table, though, the conversation was all about their weekend.
“You really did it? Oh, Natalie, I’m so happy for you,” Leanne said, giving her friend a hug.
“I’m just as happy for Dennis,” Diane sighed. “Now you’ve got experience, so you can kind of teach the rest of us.”
“I’m not saying never,” Dennis replied. “But not right away. Give Natalie and me time to adjust to being lovers.” Some of the comments had Dennis blushing as they discussed size and fit of the various parts.
“Seven condoms?” Amy exclaimed. “In one weekend? Wow! Superman is my hero.”
“Hey, congratulations on the big win Saturday. You guys sure ran away from them in the last quarter,” a somewhat stocky girl in the junior class said as she approached their table.
“Thanks, Corrine,” Roberta said. “Going to join us for track?”
“Does this body look like it could run a hundred-meter dash?” the girl laughed. “Maybe there’s a pie-eating event I could enter.”
“Not pie-eating, but there are events I bet you’d be good at,” Dennis said.
“Who are you?” Corrine asked.
“I’m the team manager,” Dennis responded. “You might want to try the shot put.”
“What’s that?”
“You stand in a seven-foot circle and throw a nine-pound metal ball as far as you can. There’s a special way of throwing it that’s called a ‘put.’ It is like pushing the ball away from your neck.” Dennis did a seated representation of pushing the ball from his neck.
“Weird. You really think I could do that?”
“If you wanted to try, I’d make sure you had the right exercises to strengthen your arms and back so you could be successful. I’m not saying an Olympic champion, but being on a team like this can be a lot of fun.”
“Huh. Maybe I’ll come to the info meeting this afternoon. You’re kind of cute in a geeky sort of way.”
“He’s our boyfriend,” the table of girls chorused.
Corrine started a steady stream of kids who came by the table to congratulate the team and talk about track. The girls did their best to talk everyone into coming to the meeting that afternoon.
“Agent Brisco, it’s Amy from Bartley. You remember?”
“I sure do. The information you gave us helped us round up twenty traffickers and nearly forty kidnapped kids. Do you have new information for me?”
“Yes, sir. I was forced to visit my brother in the hospital yesterday. My parents want to bring him home, but so far, the hospital has insisted he be placed in a nursing home for rehab. But I overheard them talking about getting the lawyer who got my brother out on bail to get them to take him home instead of rehab,” Amy said. She was talking fast because she’d only paused to call after the pep rally and before the meeting in the gym.
“That doesn’t sound good. That lawyer is pulling out every trick in the book.”
“Yes, sir. What I found out was that the lawyer is being paid by Tom Perkins. He’s Sheriff Perkins’ son.”
“I wondered where the money was coming from.”
“Tom Perkins is at school in Ames, but he dates a senior at my school. We saw them one night and they chased us. The Gang of Three were in the backseat of the car. And when I talked to my brother, he claimed he still had friends who would get me so they could rape me in front of him. I’ll bet he meant Tom,” Amy finished.
“I’ll get some more information and call you, Amy.”
“I have to run. ’Bye.”
Ardith was amazed at the turnout of nearly thirty girls for the track organizing meeting. Dennis hurriedly passed out the permission and medical forms so the girls could participate. He had to run back to the coach’s office in order to print more forms.
“Wow! You all know this is the formation meeting for a girls’ track team and not a baking club, right?” There were a few hisses and boos. Good. Girls with some spunk. “Okay, let’s start right in with what the opportunity is. The Angelines suggested that they’d like to run track to keep in shape for basketball. When I heard the suggestion, I thought it was crazy because the season officially started a week ago with first practice. But I talked to Coach Byers, our athletic director, and he told me we weren’t as far behind as I thought. As you all know, the basketball team just left for regional competition and many of them who compete in track and field won’t be able to start practicing until they are eliminated from competition.”
“That won’t be long,” snickered one of the girls up front.
“Who knows? Miracles can happen,” Ardith said. “The big thing I found out, though, is that track and field is considered a co-educational sport. That means the boys and girls practice at the same time and most of the meets are combined boys and girls.”
“We have to compete against the boys?”
“No, that’s not what I mean. It’s just that we compete at the same time, but you will only compete against the girls from the other school or schools,” Ardith explained. “It also means that nearly everything we need in the way of equipment is already in the sports locker for use with the boys. We don’t need to go out and buy hurdles and jumping pits and starting blocks. We just have to take turns using them.”
“Cool! When do we start practice?” Brenda yelled.
“Tomorrow, but there are a couple more notes today, first. Since it is a co-educational team, I’ll officially be the girls’ coach but the head track coach is Coach Andy Anderson and all the coaches will be working with both boys and girls. Coach Andy, which is what he prefers, was also coach of the JV basketball team this year. Their season ended a week ago, in time for those who wanted to start the track training last Monday. I’ve asked Coach Andy to say a few words as well.”
The tall and lanky Coach Andy came out from beside the bleachers. The girls politely applauded, though some seemed more enthusiastic than others. Andy was definitely in the running for ‘dreamboat teacher of the year’ in some girls’ minds.
“Hey! Welcome, Angelines,” Andy started. There were cheers and a lot of girls patting the backs of the team members. “And yes, we’re keeping the name for the girls’ track and field team,” he continued. “I want to go through a little organizational stuff. We coaches kind of rotate around during the school year. I’m the head coach for track and Coach Byers and Coach Graves are both assistant coaches. We’ll be accompanied in practices by Coach Wilson and his junior high team. Yes, that means a lot of people will be out on our field. So, we coaches will be splitting up some of our responsibilities to keep practices moving and make sure no one is waiting forever. I’m into long runs and hurdles. Those will be my area of specialty. Coach Graves, on the other hand, will be working with you on sprints—that’s runs up to 400 meters—and we’ll work together on relays. Coach Byers—if you’ve all met him, you might have wondered how someone so beefy got into basketball—will focus on strength competition. That means shot put and discus. That leaves Coach Wilson. Believe me, that guy is a jumper. He’ll be coaching you on high jump and long jump.”
“We don’t like share locker rooms or anything, do we?” a senior girl with red pigtails asked.
“No, of course not,” Andy said. “However, that brings me to one other assignment. We already have three team managers for the track team. For the most part, they will be in charge of the field and equipment. But we’re also happy to have the Angelines’ team manager working with you. Since he’s used to dealing with girls, he’ll be your inside man, still responsible for towels and uniforms.”
There were a few giggles as girls in the know nudged Natalie and whispered, “Your inside man.” Eventually, Coach Andy got them settled so he could continue.
“He showed some interesting talents during basketball season and we want to use them as much as possible. Dennis, we’re going to ask you to be in charge of conditioning and our first aid. Coaches will work with you and be giving you advice and instruction, but when it comes to getting our team whipped into shape, we’re looking to you. The first half hour of every practice will be conditioning. Stretching, aerobics, and strength. In addition, we want you to help out in the weight room, when the girls are using it. Ladies, we’re scheduling your weight training so it doesn’t overlap with the boys. There’s just too much changing of weights and seat heights and tension to try to integrate the weight room.”
Dennis was taken aback as his Angelines hollered and patted him on the back. He figured he’d be working with the girls on warmups, like he had with Coach Graves, but he never expected to be in charge of conditioning for both boys and girls. It was almost like being a trainer. He couldn’t get the grin off his face.
“All right. Thank you, Coach Andy. Now for some more of the boring stuff.” Ardith moved into the schedule and equipment needs as Coach Andy left to go outside where the boys were practicing. It was still pretty chilly out, so a lot of early practices were held in the gym instead of outside. “Yes, we are going to run you all through the SPARQ assessment so we can see what kind of condition you’re in at the start of the season. SPARQ means Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction, and Quickness. For basketball players, this will be your end of season assessment so we can see how far you progressed during the season. It will also be, as it is for the rest of you, the benchmark for your track season evaluation.”
“Do we like get a grade in this?” Laura Percy asked. She was a pretty cute junior, and like many of the girls in the gym wore her long hair in either a ponytail or pigtails.
“No, no. It’s not like that. The SPARQ evaluations tell us where you started and where you end the season. It’s strictly to help you see your progress and for us as coaches to evaluate our training techniques. Yes, there will be weights and measurements taken. Dennis will be ordering uniforms for you by the end of the week. You have a choice between the tight spandex short shorts so many of you like to wear and a fuller, less form-fitting shorts that some of you jumping or in other field events might prefer. You are responsible for your own practice outfits and for your shoes. Please keep separate shoes for indoors and outdoors. We’ll have an order form available if you’d like spikes for your running events. I’d suggest you include a tracksuit in your personal wardrobe because the weather is not always going to be nice. If you want to buy matching tracksuits, Dennis has a catalogue for you. He also has all the details regarding uniforms and what you can or can’t wear to an event. A couple of you have already asked if you can wear tights and T-shirts under your uniform and the answer is ‘yes.’ Please, though, check the items with Dennis and make sure you are following the rules.”
The instructions took well over the half-hour Ardith had allotted for it but when Dennis passed around a clipboard for each girl to fill out basic info like name, year, and event preference, only two of the girls passed it on, saying it wasn’t for her but she’d cheer for the others.
Natalie kissed Dennis at the school gate, but Rosie and Leanne walked him home. They all shouldered their backpacks so they could hold hands.
“Wow! Look at all those girls you can add to your harem!” Leanne said as they talked about the meeting.
“Huh-uh. Not going to happen. Please don’t try to make it happen. I have the greatest girlfriends any guy could ask for. I don’t need or want any others,” Dennis said firmly.
“Aw. Can’t we push a few your way?”
“No. Remember, no means no. No pressure and no persuading. You gotta promise me that. It’s in the rules.” They agreed and Dennis squeezed the girls’ hands. “You know, this is going to be a lot different than basketball was. I won’t be coming into the locker room. I’m pretty sure some of those new girls would totally freak out. And I expect that some of them will be as shy as Lana. She’ll dress in a corner where no one can see her and only shower at home. Please support them as much as you can.”
“We will. We want you to be proud of us,” Rosie said.
“Oh, sweetheart, I am so proud of you, I’m about to burst.” He kissed Rosie at her door and then walked Leanne home and kissed her at her door. Then he ran across the street and met his sister, who immediately wanted to know what track was like. By the time Dennis got to his homework, it was time for dinner. After Peg went to bed, Dennis finally got around to ironing the girls’ last basketball game uniforms and underwear. He thought of each one as he ironed her jersey and silently wished her goodnight.
Once Dennis got in bed, there was a flurry of text messages waiting on his phone wishing him goodnight and sweet dreams. He answered each of the girls with his own personal message and a wish for a good sleep. Then he settled down to sleep, himself.
Sleep wasn’t as fast coming as usual. He lay there remembering each and every one of the times he and Natalie had made love over the weekend. It was all just too wonderful. He was tempted to do some rubbing while he was remembering but thought maybe he should store some up if it was going to be like that every weekend. Eventually, though, thinking of Natalie brought him such a strong erection that he had to relieve the pressure. That was what he needed in order to fall into deep repose.
Miss Niedermeyer came to the gym on Tuesday to assist Ardith and Dennis with the testing and measurements. Most of the girls and many boys at Bartley had some form of Family and Consumer Sciences class from Miss Niedermeyer, so they were comfortable with her taking measurements. It was the only class other than gym that was still segregated between boys and girls. As soon as she’d tested and been measured, Brenda recorded the weights and measurements because the girls were not happy about Dennis writing them down. Dennis stuck to the athleticism portion of the testing.
It took a full two hours to get all thirty-two girls who showed up on Tuesday through the full test cycle. Dennis had pictures of the two types of uniform shorts the girls could choose attached to the measurements sheet. The girls checked which they wanted and whether they wanted to purchase a tracksuit in the school colors. Payment of $50 was needed by Friday if they wanted a tracksuit. Dennis managed to talk his mom out of $50 from their stash so he could get one, too. He wanted to match his team. The girls were advised to wait to order cleats until they had run in one meet. That way, they would know for sure if they were sticking with the team.
“Well, that was exciting, wasn’t it, ladies? Thank you, Miss Niedermeyer, for helping with the measurements. We managed it all in two hours instead of four,” Ardith said as the girls gathered for her dismissal. “Here’s the schedule for the rest of the week. Short practice tomorrow. We need to be out of the locker room by four. I know, we all expected the gym to be free, but by some miracle the boys pulled out a first round win yesterday and we’ll be hosting the regional semifinal here on Wednesday. Let’s all turn out and cheer for the Wolverines. However, there will be regular practice on both Thursday and Friday. Plan on two full hours plus your time in the locker room and showers. You should be out by five, so I don’t expect it will ruin any of your dates. All this week’s practices will be here in the gym and we will focus on conditioning. I want you to get used to following Dennis so when we join the full team on Monday, you’ll be ready to set an example. Monday, we’ll be focused on selecting events for each of you. Thursday is our first three-school meet. When we contacted them, they were very happy to get a third girls’ team to fill out the field. Let’s hit the locker room now and go home. If you plan on showering, pick up a towel from Dennis outside the locker room door. Who are we?”
“Angelines!” The shout was strong from the basketball players, but the rest of the team was caught off guard.
“You can do better than that. Who are we?”
“Angelines!” The second time was stronger and Ardith shooed them off to the locker room.
Only a few of the girls took towels. Dennis noticed that there were even fewer returned wet. Most had just been used as seat covers.
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