Team Manager CHAMP!
Chapter 15
“THERE’S ONLY TEN of you—now eleven—and you’ve been operating this season without a coach. Tell me how you’ve managed to win seven out of thirteen games, and come close on the other six,” Ardith said as they settled into ribs and burgers at the Roadhouse. The girls all looked to Makayla, a black girl on the team who seemed the least in shape of all the members to look at her, but kept up with every drill Ardith ran them through.
“Well, Coach, those five—Payton, Jillian, Gloria, Eve, and Laura—were our starters last year. They really got used to working with each other, so we’ve kept the arrangement this year. I love the game and love to play, but I’m not first string caliber. I know that. But I want to coach when I get out of here, so they’ve kind of let me manage the bench and substitutions. If we’ve got a good lead, I jump in to play in the last five minutes or so.”
“You’ve done a good job, Makayla. I’m going to depend on your advice and knowledge as I get in sync with the team. So, let’s see. Payton, Gloria, and Laura are seniors and Jillian and Eve are juniors. Oh, yeah. Grace is a junior. And Makayla?”
“I’m a senior. Donna’s a sophomore—the only one who survived last season. And don’t ask me how Madison and Caitlyn got here. They’re the only freshmen who showed up this year. But they’re hot and will make a great contribution to the team,” Makayla said. “We lost four players when Coach Amber passed away. They just packed up their lockers and left. I know one of them is doing well for the Knights, and one transferred up to Minnesota.”
“Well, Brenda’s a sophomore on transfer, so we’ll have a few people to build with next year,” Ardith said. “I’m not going to make any big changes. We’ll start with the same lineup on Wednesday night. I might be substituting more often than you are used to. I want you to get used to running hard for the entire game and to do that, you need to rotate off the floor to catch your breath. So, Makayla, count on more playing time earlier in the game.”
The girls greeted that news enthusiastically and all high-fived their student coach. It was obvious that she was loved by her team as Dennis was by his.
Ardith sighed. She really wanted to call him and tell him he’d do great. He had the skill and respect to guide the team. All he needed was the confidence. But she’d seen him when he was thrown into a situation he wasn’t prepared for and he always rose to the top. And it would only be a few months…
“Good morning, students,” Ms. Morris’s voice came over the PA system in the school. Dennis was glad it was hooked into the athletic pavilion so everyone there could hear the morning announcements. “I hope you all had a fun and relaxing winter break and that you are back and ready to pursue your academic goals with renewed energy.”
There was laughter in nearly every classroom. Unfortunately, Dennis couldn’t hear any of it since he was in the coaches’ office in the athletic pavilion instead of in class. Classes at DMACC didn’t start until the tenth. He was glad he couldn’t see his fellow students as the announcements continued.
“We have several very important announcements to make this morning, so please pay attention. We are sad and happy at the same time to announce that Coach Ardith Graves has resigned in order to take over coaching responsibilities for women’s basketball at Salter University. I am informed that her first recruit to the Crusaders is Bartley alumna Brenda Grant, who has been doing a stellar job in her basketball career at DMACC. The transition is immediate which will leave us with some difficult decisions to make on how to fill the vacuum Coach Graves’ absence leaves.”
Throughout the school, students gasped at the realization their winning basketball coach was no longer with them. The team, especially, was shocked and sat with mouths open, and many had tears in their eyes. They gathered around the veterans who knew anything and simply hugged each other while the rest of the announcements were read.
“Ms. Phillips, who served Bartley for many years until her retirement, has agreed to return as a substitute in the Latin classes until the end of this term in two weeks. I think those of you who are taking Latin classes will have a rare treat to work a couple of weeks with Ms. Phillips. Unfortunately, Ms. Phillips cannot take on the burden of girls’ PE. We have hired substitute teacher Ms. Josie Kelly to take over the physical education classes for the high school girls. Those of you who don’t know Ms. Kelly will enjoy meeting her. She has substituted in various classes over the fall and is enthusiastic about taking on this responsibility.”
Dennis smiled at that. It was a really positive thing and last night he’d talked to Coach Kelly’s wife on the phone.
“That leaves us with the biggest hole in our staffing schedule—the undefeated Angelines basketball team.” There were cheers for the team which made some of the girls feel better. “This is an unusual assignment, but Athletic Director Neil Griffith has assured me that it is the right move. We are promoting Student Assistant Coach Dennis Enders to take over coaching the Angelines. We will now be dropping the word ‘assistant’ from his title. Dennis has shown his ability in substituting for Coach Graves in the past and in leading conditioning and fitness sessions for our entire school and community. We are confident that Student Coach Enders will come through for our team. There is, however, one other assignment to be made. In addition to her duties teaching Phys Ed, Ms. Kelly will also move over to assist Dennis with the girls’ team. That means there will always be an adult female traveling with the team and monitoring activities. Ms. Kelly is excited to take on this responsibility and to work with Dennis.”
When Dennis had talked to her late the previous night, he’d been pleased with her response. She was excited to take an active part in the school and was especially happy that she had a co-wife to keep the home fires burning. Dennis liked Josie and they got along well.
“That concludes our announcements. Afternoon classes will be on assembly schedule today so we can wish our Angelines and Wolverines luck as they travel to the Trojans for tonight’s game. We’ll see you there.”
The announcements ended and Dennis heaved a huge sigh of relief as he sat back in his chair. Maybe this wouldn’t be too bad.
The pep rally in the afternoon was insane. Everyone was wanting to congratulate Dennis and to wish the teams well. Principal Morris introduced the teams and the coaches. It was the first time many students had ever seen Josie Kelly and there were a few inappropriate whistles when she was introduced. At nearly forty, she was certainly still a bit of a fox. The Angelines headed straight for their bus to make the hour-and-a-half trip to the Trojans.
Once there, they were shown to their locker room and the girls started getting ready while Dennis went to meet the Trojan coaches.
“Are you running messages from your coach?” the woman coaching the Trojans asked.
“Uh, no ma’am. I’m sorry. I thought everything had been communicated up the chain. I’m Student Coach Dennis Enders. Our coach, Ardith Graves, took a job at Salter U coaching the Crusaders over the winter break. That kind of leaves the team to me,” Dennis said.
“You’ve got to be kidding!” she said. “Okay, look, Dennis. I’m Jan Nichols. Surely you have an adult with you, don’t you?”
“Oh, yes, ma’am. My assistant coach, Josie Kelly, is with the girls while they get ready. She’ll be up with the team for warmups. I also have two team managers, Lana Brown and Debbie Stackhouse. I’m the only guy with the team.”
“You’re really running the team for the game?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Well, the Angelines have a big reputation. I’d have preferred beating them when they had a real coach. But we’ll take a win any way we can get it.”
“I’m sure you would,” Dennis said, holding her eyes. Her confidence wavered.
“Tracy and Beth are our team managers. Have one of your managers get with them and they’ll get them equipped with practice balls. If you need help with anything, talk to one of the girls. They know as much as I do. Good luck.”
“Good luck to you, Coach.”
Dennis went back to the hall outside the locker room and heaved a sigh. He knocked on the door and Josie stuck her head out.
“I need Lana to run up and get practice balls and give the starting lineup to the officials,” he said.
“Gotcha. Lana? The boss needs you.”
Lana came out of the locker room giggling.
“I sure hope he needs me,” she said as she reached him.
“Strictly business this time, I’m afraid,” he said. “Here’s the lineup sheets. Beth and Tracy, the Trojan team managers, are up there to show you practice balls and all. When can I get in to talk to the girls?”
“Oh, I think they’re waiting. Let me check.” She opened the door of the locker room and poked her head in. She turned back to Dennis. “It’s all yours.” Lana took off for the court to give the lineup to the officials and get the practice balls for her team. Dennis went into the locker room.
“Man in the room!” he called as he entered. No one screamed, so he walked on in. Nearly everyone had their warmups on, though a couple of the starters wore only their uniforms. “All right, team. You’re looking sharp.”
“Hey, Coach!” they called back.
“I know we all are a little shocked with Coach Ardith taking off. Believe me, this was all a surprise to me, as well. I hope you can accept me and we’ll just keep winning like always.” He looked at the team and one girl had a hand up. “Carrie? Got a question?”
“Kind of a statement, Coach,” the freshman said. “I got delegated because we freshmen have only worked with you this year while all the other girls have had you around, like, forever.” They all laughed. “Anyway, we all loved Coach Ardith and we knew she could take us all the way to the state championship. But we’ve all come to love you… when we aren’t hating you for running us so hard. We want you to know that we have the confidence to follow you and know you’ll take us to the championship. We have faith in you as our coach.”
“You trying to make me cry, Carrie? I’m really close.” He took a deep breath and started in again. “I met Coach Nichols from the Trojans a bit ago,” he said. “She didn’t believe I was coaching you. She wanted to know if there was an adult with us.”
“Boo!” the girls hollered.
“Yeah. I told her Coach Kelly was with us, but looking at her now, I’m thinking I’ll be hard pressed to convince the other coaches that she isn’t a student, too.”
Josie was wearing a burgundy miniskirt and powder blue sweater. She looked like she’d just come from class. She was also the shortest person in the room. She was as small as Coach Lyle was big. After the laugh he started in again.
“The thing is, that Coach Nichols told me she was looking forward to beating the Angelines with a real coach at the helm. But, she said, she’d take a win any way she got it. I want to know, are we going to give her a win?”
“NO!”
“What are we going to do?”
“Beat ’em!”
“How do we do it?”
“Run, run, run!”
“Who are we?”
“Angelines!”
“Let’s hit the court and let the Trojans know who’s in town.”
The girls followed Debbie out to the court where Lana handed them basketballs as they came in. There were only enough balls for half the team at a time, but they knew what to do. As soon as they were on the court, Lana called to them.
“Ready? One!”
The girls went into a well-rehearsed dribbling drill in which the bounces of the balls were in perfect sync. They knew exactly what the beat and rhythm were and all passed the ball to the opposite line to continue. The fans in the stands went crazy to see their team warm up and the Trojans all stopped their drill to watch. When the cheerleaders joined in the rhythm on the sidelines, the fans started clapping the cadence. Coach Nichols yelled at her team to focus and get practicing. Dennis smiled and walked over to introduce himself and Josie to the officials. One of the officials and a scorer had worked with the Angelines on other occasions and as soon as they welcomed Dennis and Josie, the other officials nodded their acceptance.
The team lined up for the anthem and introductions and then huddled. Diane, Natalie, Tori, Amy, and Rosie took the court and the game was ready to start.
The Trojans weren’t expecting such a fast start to the game. Diane controlled the tip and Tori rocketed the ball downcourt to Natalie. Nat hit an easy layup with no one around. The Trojans got the ball to inbound it and were met with the Angelines’ full court press. Amy got the steal, threw the ball to the post where Diane spun and hit from the foul line.
The Angelines had scored four times before the Trojans finally got in sync with the speed of their game and began getting the ball to their own end of the court. At the end of the first quarter, the Angelines led 16-9.
The Trojans’ biggest threat was a senior guard who proved to be deadly from the three-point zone. Natalie was scoring more frequently, but most of hers were close-in. The difference between the two came when Natalie sank five out of six free throws while her nemesis had no free throw opportunities. A senior forward for the Trojans got into double figures, as well, but Tori was proving to be as deadly as Natalie. Rosie and Janice, rotating at the forward slot both hit double figures and matched the tall senior’s rebounding.
The end of the game found the Angelines leading by thirty, 69-39. The teams lined up to shake hands as they walked opposite directions from their benches. Dennis brought up the end and shook hands with Coach Nichols.
“I’ll eat my words, with that big helping of crow,” Nichols said. “You and your team are a powerhouse. Good luck in the rest of the season.”
“Thank you, Coach. You’ve got a great team there.”
“What I don’t have is depth,” Nichols said. “Adi and Mallory scored thirty of our thirty-nine points. And they’ll both graduate this year. I wish I had the kind of bench you could call on. Have a great season.”
They stayed to watch the boys play and the guys pulled out a 78-71 victory. Two happy team buses and two happy fan buses made the trip back to Bartley.
“Can we talk now?” Amy asked when she finally connected to Brenda.
“Yes, lover. I’m so sorry everything had to be kept secret. There were so many channels that had to be gone through. Ardith didn’t even tell me what was up until Sunday night,” Brenda said.
“We won our game tonight,” Amy said. “But we miss Ardith.”
“Now that I understand what was going on, I appreciate what she did, but it was really hard and I’ll bet the whole team is a little upset.”
“Fortunately, we have Dennis. Are we really going to Salter University? I expected us to end up at some state school nearby.”
“I can’t believe Ardith managed to work this. She recruited me so I could play most of three years here. She plans to recruit Natalie and Dennis at the end of the season.”
“Me, too, I hope.”
“Well… When you’re ready to graduate, I know she will.”
“I’ve… um… been keeping a secret, too,” Amy said. “Lana and I are going to graduate this spring. We’ve been doubling up on everything with online classes at DMACC. Please tell Ardith to include me. I don’t know what she can do about Lana.”
“I can’t believe it! You little scamps! Wait till Ardith hears!”
“I think she’s talking to Dennis now,” Amy said.
“Ardith! You left me at the mercy of all these girls!” Dennis moaned.
“I’m sure you can handle them,” Ardith laughed. “I listened to the game online. Nice job.”
“They really did it on their own. I just shuffled players in and out and yelled encouragement.”
“Much the same that I’m going to be doing tomorrow night,” Ardith said. “Um… You understand that I did this for us? I just couldn’t risk being in the same space as you any longer. I was sure some pair of us was going to succumb, if not all of us together.”
“So, you really think we’ll all be able to get funding to go to WSU? I wasn’t counting on a Division III school. It was kind of my reach school.”
“It’s actually your fault that I got hired here.”
“What? Why?” Dennis asked.
“Well, I’ve been following up with the schools on your list, trying to get you the best offer by the end of the season. There was no women’s coach here, so I kept badgering the athletic director. He finally said, ‘Why don’t you come and coach these women and then you can recruit who you want?’ And then what could I say? The chance to keep coaching with you and have Brenda and Natalie on my team! It was perfect.”
“Oh. You should probably include Amy and Lana in your plans if you can. They told us Sunday night that they’re graduating in three years instead of four. They’ll be ready to join us next fall.”
“Oh, my God! I’m going to start my first full year with a full team. And you’ll love the girls here who are still on board for next year. We’ll lose four seniors, but the other seven will be ready to take on the world.”
“Seven? You only have eleven players?” Dennis asked.
“That’s including Brenda. And if I recruit two freshmen players instead of just one, I’ll still have plenty of slots to fill if I can identify other great players.”
“That’s terrific. I’ll have to figure out how Lana and I can get included.”
“I’ve got the slot for you. The school will accept you as a student coach if I recruit you. I’ll have to see where Lana fits and what we can work out,” Ardith said.
“That’s really great, honey,” Dennis said. “I can’t wait until we’re all together again and away from high school.”
“I like being your honey. Um… You know, Brenda and I… Well, we sort of got involved last night.”
“Good! I’m so happy she can bridge the gap for a while. Just remember my rule tonight and don’t leave her too weak to play ball tomorrow.”
“Oh, Dennis. I feel so free now. This will be good for all of us. I promise.”
“We’ve been counting on you all along, Ardith. We love you and we’ll manage to make it through the year.”
Wednesday morning, the school was buzzing with the excitement of the Angelines’ and Wolverines’ first victories of the New Year. And there were banners hung in the hallways that the cheerleaders had organized after the games late in the night. They said “Welcome Student Coach Dennis and Assistant Coach Josie! Go Angelines!”
Sara and Rae wiggled their way onto the bench at lunch on either side of Dennis, displacing a laughing Natalie and Lana.
“Coach, we just want you to know that we are here for you, whatever you need,” Sara started.
“I haven’t had my pussy stared at for months!” Rae added, quietly.
Dennis waved his hands.
“I don’t need that kind of help!” he said.
“We know. But we want you to know that we can warm up with the team on our home court if you don’t think it will be too much distraction. We even have music to play during warmups,” Sara said. “The cheerleaders want to show everyone that we’re part of the team.”
“And we’re making the same offer to Coach Neil for the boys,” Rae said. “Except I’m not offering to show him my pussy.”
“Well, thanks for the offer. It brings back many pleasant memories,” Dennis said. “I think having you help the managers lead warmups would be great. And I don’t think there is any rule about how many basketballs we can have in action as long as we provide the same for the other team. And I think we have plenty of basketballs.”
“Probably a lot better balls than what they’re used to playing with,” Natalie said. “We must have gotten fifty new ones this year. All tournament quality.”
“Let’s test it during practice this afternoon,” Dennis said. “Join the managers for warmups and especially, be involved in the basketball dribbling routine.”
Everyone was excited to get back on the court as soon as possible.
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