Team Manager COACH!
Chapter 18
“HOW ARE WE GOING to do this?” Olivia asked when the teens met together. Janice, Rick, Sara, Debbie, Jake, and Dennis had agreed to meet about the dress code for athletics.
“You kind of got us all into this,” Jake said. “I’m not sure what Rick and I are even doing here. Nobody ever complains about what guys wear unless we try to wear torn jeans or a sleeveless T-shirt.”
“You obviously didn’t see what Fred was wearing Monday,” Sara said.
“I saw,” Rick said. “No matter how I scrub my eyes I can’t unsee that. The worst was that I saw all six of you from behind and was trying to figure out who the cute girl with the tight ass was. Then he turned around.”
“He might be gay, but he’s had his hands where no boy’s hands have gone before,” Sara said. “Besides, we all agreed that we took it too far Monday. Olivia videoed us just to show us how bad we looked onscreen.”
“Well, let’s start there, then,” Dennis said. “How much was too far?”
“We wore plunging necklines and cheekies on Monday,” Sara said.
“What are cheekies?” Rick asked.
“They are shorts that expose the butt cheeks. More coverage than a thong, but less than a traditional bikini bottom,” Sara said.
“School rules for class say no cleavage should show and no midriff when standing at attention,” Debbie said. “Do we have to have that? We aren’t disrupting class by showing a little cleavage.”
“I never have my stomach covered when I’m running in the summer,” Janice said. The tall sophomore looked really good when she ran, too. “We don’t show underboob, but I’ve been showing a little valley now that I’ve got something on top. I think what the girls were wearing on Monday, though, was a V-cut all the way to the understrap.”
“Cheerleading rules specifically outlaw just bra tops,” Sara added. “We were rebelling. I think the Angelines would refuse to practice, though, if they couldn’t practice in their sports bras. But I guess they shouldn’t be the style that has a plunging neckline.”
“So, the shorts you all wore on Monday were too short,” Dennis said. “I think they should cover the cheeks for our exercise videos.”
“If we can get away with just that I’ll be happy,” Janice said. “I’m not going to run in long leggings. Everyplace else I’ve run, I’ve worn tight short shorts and a sports bra since the time I started racing in sixth grade. Not that I’m short on school spirit, but I don’t need to run in school sponsored events or teams. If we make practice stuff too bulky, I’ll just start running on the road instead of for the school.”
“All right, but that means guys should be able to wear and practice in the same thing, right? We could basically practice in our tighty-whities,” Rick said.
“Ew! Yuck!” Sara said. “We have to consider that, don’t we?”
“Rules don’t actually have to apply equally to men and women,” Dennis said. “But we don’t want to start discriminating against one or the other.”
“Two inches,” Janice said. “I’ve got several pair of running shorts that are two inches below the butt ledge. Two inches should keep guys from looking too gross.”
“Most will probably stick with the mid-thigh length. That’s what Dennis works out in,” Jake said.
“Okay,” Olivia said, looking up from her computer screen. “Try this out: Tops may show cleavage and be sleeveless or strapped. Tops must cover the breasts and nipples. Shorts must be at least two inches below the cheeks.”
“I guess,” Debbie said.
The descriptions and definitions went on and on. By the end of their session, they all looked at the list of rules and groaned.
“I hate all this garbage rules. Who’s going to measure from my crotch to the hem of my shorts? I like you, but if you come around with a tape measure when I’m working out, I’m going to flatten you,” Janice said.
“It still doesn’t help with the video exercises,” Dennis complained to his girlfriends Saturday afternoon. “We came to a screeching halt Monday afternoon when that woman came busting in. I need to find another place where we can video.”
“I have an idea,” Tori said. “Natalie and Brenda, could you come home with me for a few minutes?”
“Minutes. Hours. All night if you want, luscious,” Nat said.
“Um… yeah. But this time it’s purely a business meeting. Will you join us, Dennis?” The three girls and Dennis left while everyone else returned to studying.
“I have an idea,” Amy said to the eight girls remaining with her. “I’ll probably go to hell for even thinking of it, but tell me what you think of this.”
Sunday morning, the teens’ pew at Trinity Lutheran church was empty. Peg was a little sad, but she still sang beautifully. Her sisters and brother were on important business.
The Disciples of the Pentecost Church, on the other hand, had visitors. The teens did not go into the church, but stayed on the road at the entrance to their parking area. They were dressed in their workout clothes, and they weren’t alone. Nearly every female athlete at Bartley High was present—some shivering—as they held signs. “Stay out of our school and we’ll stay out of your church!” “Butt out!” “No Christian Taliban!” “We’ll be the naked cherubs you see in heaven.” “Control yourself, not us.”
A few members slowed up to turn into the parking area and upon seeing the teens protesting, decided it was a good day to skip church. A few attempted to shame the girls. And that’s all there were. The church met in a double-wide trailer just out of town. As soon as it appeared everyone was in who was coming, the teens all ran to their cars and went home to get warm.
“I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me drink, naked and you clothed me,” Dennis laughed as his girlfriends began filing out of Tori’s bedroom in sweats or street clothes.
“Well, it was cold out there,” Lana laughed. “My nipples are still trying to poke through my bra.”
“How did you even get permission to join the protest on a Sunday morning?” Dennis asked.
“I just told my parents that I was going to go to the Pentecostal church to see what it was like,” she grinned.
“I think we managed to be in and out without any of our parents knowing,” Leanne laughed.
“I wouldn’t bet on that,” Roberta said. “One thing I’ve discovered is that our parents know a whole lot more than we think they do.”
“Experience, Roberta?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Why did we decide to come to Tori’s house?” Rosie asked. “Not that I object. But you guys took off yesterday afternoon and we were in full protest mode when you got back, so none of us know what happened.”
“Let’s go out to the barn,” Tori said. “I see the cheerleaders and Olivia are here.” Instead of inviting everyone into the house, the crew met the others in the yard and led them to the barn.
“This is it?” Olivia asked. “It’s kind of rustic, but I guess it will do. Can we hide the tractors?”
“It’s warmer than I expected it to be,” Sara said.
“We could hang some curtains up between the exercise area and the equipment,” Natalie said. “We just have to pull them aside so Mr. McDonald can get to the equipment during the week.”
“And your parents said it was okay?” Fred asked. “I’m in.”
“Welcome to the new workout recording studio, then,” Tori said. “We are no longer on school property nor during school hours. That case the supreme court ruled on this summer says the school can’t punish us for what we do in our personal life. We could exercise naked out here if we wanted to.”
“That’s going a little far, isn’t it?” Rae asked. “We just decided the outfits we were wearing Monday weren’t enough for the video.”
“It was just an idea,” Tori said. She winked at Dennis and he blushed.
“Why is it so warm in here?” Debbie asked. “I expected it to be cold.”
“Dad has all these heat lamps hanging around so he doesn’t freeze while working on equipment in the winter. He said we could use them for when we were all gathered out here. If we get some lights, they might heat the place up a bit, too,” Tori said.
“Not to mention how Dennis and the cheerleaders will heat things up with their bodies,” Nat laughed.
“When can we start?” Claudia asked. “Are we recording today?”
“It’s hard to pick a regular time when we can all get together,” Dennis said. “And Donna, Doc, Sharon, and Rebecca have all said they think they can get releases from their parents and join us. It will be nice to have the whole cheer squad leading the exercises. School was convenient, but we’ll have to travel to get here. And starting tomorrow, we have basketball practice right after conditioning.”
“We’re early out on Wednesday and Thursday this week and there’s no school Friday,” Olivia said. “Instead of trying to decide a regular schedule, why don’t we just shoot those days and see how it works to come out here?”
“I’m good with that.” The rest agreed.
For the first time, basketball tryouts at Bartley were held after a full conditioning session for all players, male and female. There was a good bit of razzing going on between the boys and girls, fueled by the cheerleaders. Frequent chants of Wolverines and Angelines were started by the cheerleaders in response to questions like “Who’ll have the best season this year?” By the time the gym divider was pulled to start the actual tryouts, everyone was hyped up. Ardith took the girls through the same physical evaluation she had the previous year. Dennis wrote down stats and the girls went to see Janet Mills, the cheerleading coach who replaced Ms. Niedermeyer as Family and Consumer Sciences teacher, to get measured and weighed. Lana assisted Janet as they ran evaluations of each of the eighteen girls who tried out. Then they went through shooting and dribbling drills.
Pat Fisher and Renée Lambert hung around, assisting Ardith when she needed an extra pair of eyes and generally observing how she ran tryouts. They were also standing by in case there were enough girls to field a girls’ JV team, though neither Pat nor Renée knew all that much about coaching basketball. It didn’t look like they’d have enough girls for that. Ardith could commit fifteen girls to dress for a varsity game, but she could practice more than that if she thought it was necessary.
“Women! We’ve placed clean towels inside the door to the locker room and made sure all the shampoo and products were refreshed before practice,” Dennis shouted at the end of the day’s workout. “Please limit yourselves to two towels. All towels go in the laundry bag when you are finished. Do not put any personal items in the laundry bag; you’ll never see them again. The towels go to a service for laundry and are not done by me or Lana. Please don’t leave any wet items in lockers overnight. Team managers cleaned out the locker rooms after volleyball, football, and cross country and they were pretty gross. If you discover anything that we missed in preparing the locker rooms, please report it to Lana or to me. You have thirty minutes to get showered and out of there. Go!” The girls went.
“Do you expect to keep everyone again this year?” Dennis asked Ardith.
“Not sure yet. There are a couple who just don’t seem to have their hearts in it, but if they show up for the second day of tryouts tomorrow, I might change my mind.” She paused and looked directly at Dennis. “It’s going to be a different locker room this year, Dennis. Don’t try to pick up where you left off last year.”
“No ma’am. I’ve talked to my girls about it and they all agreed to play it straight,” he said.
“That’s one thing that won’t change,” Ardith laughed. “Even the new players are still going to be your girls. Treat them right and help them be successful.”
“Dennis! Can you give Rosie and me a lift home?” Leanne shouted in the hall. He nodded to Ardith and left.
Tuesday, the tryouts were even more intense.
“Are you going to work us like that before every practice?” Drew Darnell complained as they broke to head to the boys’ side of the gym divider. Dennis didn’t have a chance to answer.
“Are you suggesting this isn’t enough?” Neil Griffith barked. He was the new varsity basketball coach. “Dennis has plenty of energy to give us harder workouts. I’ve been concerned he was going too easy on you.”
“Easy! Coach!”
“Be prepared for more and harder workouts,” Neil shouted. “Now, get lined up and ready to dribble. Coach Andy, give them the drill.” Andy was the JV coach and they had determined they would split the guys who tried out between varsity and JV, but they were all trying out together.
The boys all left and Chris Davis approached Dennis. She was a nice and fairly quiet girl that Dennis knew mostly as the girl who sat on the other side of Jennifer Eckert in his elementary school classes.
“Um… Not to complain, but will you seriously be making workouts harder than this?” she whispered.
“Workouts will get progressively more Intense as we get everyone moved up to the same working level,” Dennis answered. “But don’t worry. We don’t expect you to be at the same physical level as the players who have participated in volleyball and cross country or who have worked out with us every day. I want you to progress at a steady speed that you’ll be happy with—not only with the speed, but with the results.”
“Wow! You really know this stuff, don’t you?”
“I’ve studied it pretty hard.”
Chris and the others who only showed up for the workout went home and only the girls trying out for basketball were left.
“Let’s get rolling with the free throw drill,” Ardith called. All eighteen girls showed up for the second day of practice. “Dennis, I’d like a demonstration of proper form and what to look for in a foul shot.”
“Yes, Coach!” Dennis stepped up to the foul line and Lana threw him a basketball. He bounced it a few times to move into the proper headspace for shooting, then he set himself, looked at the basket, and shot.
“One!” his girlfriends shouted to the surprise of the new girls.
“Okay, you can count them out,” Ardith laughed. “Before you take the next shot, describe your process, Dennis.”
“Yes, Coach. When you approach the foul line, you’ll be coming off an intense encounter on the floor. You’ve been running and somewhere in the scrabble for the ball, you were fouled. Your heart is beating hard because all of a sudden, you know every eye in the gymnasium is on you. So, the first thing you do when you come to the line is get a feel for the ball and let yourself sink into it. A couple of bounces will separate this time from the time on the court. Block out everything around you. Next, set yourself at the line. Whatever you find is your best shooting position, check your feet and your distance from side to side. Get in the exact same position every time you step up to the line. Next, position yourself for the shot and focus on the rim. When you are truly focused, the rim will look like it’s ten feet wide. Finally, use your grip on the ball and hand positions to loft the ball into the air.” He bounced the ball twice, checked his position, brought his sight up to the rim, and launched the ball.
“Two!” the team shouted.
“It’s important to do exactly the same thing every time you approach the line. Find your rhythm and your confidence,” he said. He caught the ball from Lana and went through the same procedure.
“Three!” the team shouted. Dennis stepped away from the line.
“Okay, we’re not going to have a contest today,” Ardith said. “What’s your record now, Dennis?”
“Um… Not sure.”
“Forty!” the girls shouted.
“Really?” Bobbie asked. “You shot forty free throws before you missed one?”
“Um… I didn’t miss any, I guess. I just got tired of shooting them and quit,” Dennis said.
“All right. You all have a goal to work up to. Let’s start. Keep the steps in mind and line up to approach the foul line.”
They divided up at the different baskets and ran through the drill. Some of the girls couldn’t hit the backboard from the foul line.
“Don’t worry,” Rosie said to Bobbie, one of the freshman girls. “The first time I tried to dribble last year, I kicked the ball all the way to the other end of the court.”
“No! You’re kidding. You’re so good now,” the freshman said. She was nearly a foot shorter than Rosie’s 6'2". Her dirty blonde hair was worn straight to her boobs, like most of the girls.
“Nowhere near as good as some of the girls. But if you follow Dennis’s instructions, you’ll be handling the ball like a pro in no time.” Bobbie turned her focus immediately from Rosie to the instructions Dennis was giving and began dribbling.
Ardith called the team together on the bench while Dennis and Lana put away cones and basketballs. She looked at her clipboard.
“We don’t have quite enough girls to split into a varsity and junior varsity squad,” she said. “Probably will have next year, but not this year. We’d need a couple more freshmen to split you off into a freshman team. So, what I need to know is how many of you want to put in the work to play varsity basketball? You’ve had a sample of how hard we’re going to be working at it. This is your chance to back out with no questions asked and no recriminations. But if you want to play varsity basketball, I want to see your hands in the air now.”
Eighteen hands flashed into the air. The girls were all still sweating and panting from the last batch of sprints, so they knew what they were getting into. Ardith nodded, pleased with what she saw.
“We start practice tomorrow with conditioning right after school. Don’t ever skip your conditioning and assume you can just show up for practice after. Conditioning exercises are part of your daily practice. What do we do on the court?”
“Run run run!” those with any experience yelled.
“We run for forty-eight minutes. That’s how we win games. We outrun our opponents. When they’re dropping from exhaustion, we keep running, right around them,” Ardith said. “I will rotate who sits out and who dresses for games, so you might not dress for every game, but you’ll dress at a minimum for half of the regular season. A starting position is always yours to win. Show me you’re working on your skills and you want that position. Show me you can work with your teammates. The time is yours! Who are we?”
“Angelines!”
“Hit the showers.”
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