Page 17 of (La)Crosse My Heart (Sweet Sports Kisses #7)

Clark

" O kay, team. We need to be all in today, all right?" I say. Each of my teammates is in a circle around me, and I feel like we're getting ready to head out onto the field for the first game of the season. That's not for another week, though.

"How hard can it be?" Jackson asks.

I laugh, knowing if the sun doesn't kill our energy, the kids will have drained it right from our souls. That tidbit comes from several summers of experience back home. I smile as I think of Jessa telling me I’m good with kids. Something about that makes me turn to look for her.

“Hard,” Burton says, tossing a ball into the air and catching it in the pocket of his stick.

"Stay hydrated and if the drill doesn't work, improvise,” I say. “Tweak it so the kids catch on or play a game."

We're sitting in the shade, and I watch as the line of kids and their parents winds around the cinderblock building in the middle of the baseball complex.

This is the largest park closest to downtown Salt Lake, with the baseball fields and a grassy area that can hold at least four or five full-length lacrosse fields.

That's a lot of kids, even for the number of guys on our team.

We're going to have to get creative.

I glance around and am surprised Jessa isn't here yet. I figured she'd be the first one to the fields. But then again, I don't know how much of her job is just babysitting me or if she has to do other things as well.

I pull out my phone to call her.

"Hey, Clark. What's up?"

"Are you planning to come to the field today?" I ask, trying to figure out the easiest way to ask that. I don’t want to be super needy, but what I want to ask her makes it sound that way.

"Yeah, I just have to swing by the printer and then I'll be there."

"Would you be able to go to my house and grab the water guns in the garage?"

There's a long pause and then she says, "Yeah. I guess. What are you going to do for water?"

Good question. "There's a big bucket for our random sports crap. Just dump it out and bring that. There's a hose here we can fill it up with."

"Anything else?" She sounds like she's taking our lunch order.

"That would be a huge help. Thank you!" I say loud enough to tease. Shutting the phone, I lean back against the tree, trying to work up the energy to entertain dozens of kids.

"What are you all doing over here?" A lanky guy asks.

I turn to look at him and am about to shoo him away when I see he's wearing a Play It Forward T-shirt.

"We're just waiting for the camp to start."

"Well, this is the best-looking lacrosse camp we've had so far on the tour," the guy says.

Tour? "What's your name?"

"I'm Milo. I work for the organization that heads this up."

"Have there been a bunch of camps so far?" Stack asks.

Milo nods. "From over twenty sports. I think this is my thirty-fourth camp. Which is why I had to bring the coffee this morning, you know? I mean, I don't think I'd be able to function once the kids get going if I didn't have the caffeine pumping through my veins."

"Any advice?" I ask, folding my arms over my chest. I might be competitive, but I don't need to be for a camp. It's not like anyone here is going to another one of these and will compare notes. Well, except Milo here.

"Keep the kids going. They'll be fans for life. There was a time when a kid came to one of our baseball camps and he loved it so much he decided to?—"

"Okay, boys," the gal from registration says, walking over. "We have five different colored shirts, so we'll just need the kids to be in that many groups. You'll need to keep track of the younger ones so they don't wander, especially for bathroom breaks."

We all nod, knowing that's probably a friendly reminder.

"Oh, Milo. When did you get here?" I squint to read her nametag. Stephanie.

"Just a few minutes ago. I didn't realize the directions like north and west were so important when putting them into the GPS, so I ended up out by the Salt Flats. I might have to take a ride out there later. I think I saw an endangered bird."

I glance at my teammates, trying to figure out if this guy is for real or not.

"Well, it's good to have you here,” Stephanie says, giving him a smile. “Do you want to lead out the hillside talk?"

"Absolutely." He turns to us and says, "Okay, tell me your names."

I point to myself and say, "You want our names?"

He nods.

"Clark Denton."

"Burton."

And so on down the line. There's no way this guy is going to remember this.

The registration line finally dies down and all the kids have their gear on and cleats tied. The players are all sitting on a small hill that leads from the baseball fields down to the large grassy area. This must be time for the talk.

"Welcome, families,” Milo begins. “This is such a great time to learn about sports. We're excited to be partnering with the Salt Lake Lancers for this event. If you're here for the street hockey event, that registration will start in about thirty minutes."

I turn to look at Burton and mouth, "Street hockey?"

"Yes, Clark, street hockey," Milo says, turning to give us a look. How in the world did he hear that?

"Okay, we're ready for the groups to be split up. Remember, various charities have donated all of this equipment and it is yours to keep. We only ask that if your player decides not to play in the future, that you donate it to a club in need rather than selling it."

They get all of that gear for free? I could've used something like that as a kid.

"We've got sixty players ready to go. We'll let Clark assign where the groups will play and enjoy your day."

I'm surprised by the sudden responsibility I now have, but I nod and get moving, knowing we've got to look like this was planned all along.

"Okay, when I call out your colors, I'll point to the coaches you'll start with this morning. You'll be with them until we switch."

It doesn't take long to get the kids all split up across the park.

We're about thirty minutes in and I'm working with the smallest group. With them all dressed in their tiny lacrosse gear and helmets that make their heads look giant, I can't help but grin. They look so cute.

"Okay, get a little lower to scoop the ball," I say to one of them and show what they're supposed to do. “Think of how you sit in a chair.”

“A big chair, or a little one?” one kid asks in a high-pitched voice.

It takes a few seconds for me to think that through, hoping I’m answering it so they can understand.

“One you don’t have to climb on. You can just walk over and sit on it.”

I walk around as they pass the ball back and forth, every once in a while getting an actual catch. They get so excited at this age, and I love it. It makes me think of how much I loved lacrosse at that age. How I still love it.

I glance up at the hill and see Jessa there, a whole wagon of stuff next to her. She's got the camera out and is taking pictures.

"What do we do next, Coach?"

Grinning, I say, "We're going to do another drill before we have a drink break. Does that work?"

"Yep," the boy says, nodding and running back to his spot.

Jessa has moved on to other groups. It’s cool she has the talent of taking pictures. It seems like her talents have quadrupled since I knew her in high school.

I leave my group with Finny and walk over to check on the wagon. She's got a lot more than was in my garage.

There are water guns and water balloons, along with several hula hoops and a bowling set. I'm not sure what we'd use those for, but I guess I just have to think in terms of lacrosse skills and come up with something on the fly.

The kids get a water break, and we leave them in the shade for a few minutes to beat the crazy heat wave we've got going through this area.

"Hey," I say to Jessa when I walk up to her. "How's it going?"

She turns to me, and I see she's got slight bags under her eyes. "It's going. How are things for you?"

"Good. It's going to be a long day."

"I'm sure it will feel great at the end."

"Thanks for getting that stuff."

She turns to look at the wagon and says, "No problem.

Hopefully, it helps. I added a few things, trying to find anything that could work for lacrosse drills.

I figured you could set up the bowling pins and have them try to throw a ball and get a strike?

Then the hula hoops would be good for a Tic Tac Toe or something?

I think I remember that as one of Brock's favorite drills when he was younger. "

"I totally forgot about that one. Thank you."

She grins. “Of course. I’m glad I could help. Is that an outfit we bought?”

I glance down at the shorts and my Lancers T-shirt. “No. I figured I’d try to represent the team since we’re all here together.”

She nods and taps her forehead with her palm. “I’m even more of a zombie than I thought.”

I don’t get a chance to ask why she’s a zombie because the buzzer on my phone goes off.

It's time to get back at it. We rotate the groups before settling into the same drills. We can use the water guns and other things for after lunch.

We make it through to the lunch break and I see Jessa talking to one kid. She's got the camera trained on him, asking him a question. Even though I'm not a fan of the camera, I walk over, curious to hear what this little guy will say.

"Why do you like lacrosse?" Jessa asks.

"Because you can like smash other guys when you're playing," he says, his face so animated, "And you can do some sneak plays where you trick the other team and then score. It's the best."

"How long have you played?" Jessa asks.

"This is my second year. I'm seven." He grins, showing a few missing teeth.

It's then I realize that the surrounding boys laugh at his answer, but he just smiles wider.

Maybe I can take a lesson from this kid.

For all the things Jessa has put me through, she's shown me a few things that need to be fixed, and I'm determined to do it.

Because what if this kid decides to play after high school and college? What if I can pave the way to make his life better in this sport?

The day flies by and the kids have an overall great time, which is good, because I'm dead. My legs are tired, and I'm pretty sure I got sunburned.

"Clark Denton," Jessa says, holding up the camera. "How would you say the day turned out?"

There's a quick shiver of fear running up my spine before I turn and say, "Well, I think it was an enjoyable experience overall. What did you think?"

She grins and says, "It was good. We have one more thing we need you and your team to do before the kids go home."

She points to a long table set up with something on top of it. "Will you sign a few things for the kids?"

I walk over with her, surprised to see a whole poster on the table of most of my teammates. Along with that are little individual cards, as well as dozens of lacrosse balls.

"Where did you get this?" I ask, surprised by it. The pictures look like us from a practice, but the colors of the pinnies have been changed to the Lancer teal color. They're all interposed, with one picture blending into the other.

"I worked on it most of the night. Luckily, there was a printer available to make those on short notice."

"Did you pay for all of it yourself?" I ask, knowing it must've cost a small fortune. Not that I know what her finances are, but there's a sliver of gratitude she'd be willing to just give herself to make the kids happy.

She shrugs. “It wasn’t that much. Anything to help the kids, right?”

I call the guys over and have them sit in the chairs behind the table, markers ready to sign the posters and balls.

Jessa helps the kids line up and they bounce around, so excited to get some signed items. It might not seem like a big deal for us, but seeing all these kids excited for a signature from lacrosse players is like the perfect circle moment, since there weren't any pros close to us when I was this young to enjoy.

After signing one poster, I glanced up to see Jessa, poised with her camera taking pictures of the group.

The woman is selfless and all things good. I might not be able to stop myself from falling for her, but is that really the worst thing in the world?