Page 340 of Well Played

Oddly, Maeve’s coaching duties were her own inimitable way of forgetting the challenges of work and other disagreeable situations she couldn’t avoid during the work week. This past week was a good example of how the usual scheduling and intertwining of many in-house meetings to keep things moving forward could change at the drop of a ball. An increase in loose ends needing attention had to incorporate new and shorter timelines for adding the GAA and Ireland Olympic committees’ events to the Wake the Giant Festival.

Despite needing to meet face to face, Maeve and Liam found it much easier just to avoid each other by exchanging emails, text messages and Zoom conference calls with each other and the various personnel assigned by each office and committee for working through the red tape to coordinate numerous detailed logistics and timelines. They both knew it was important that everything about this venture worked in perfect harmony. Maeve's personal excitement grew as she witnessed how new focal points for incorporating the Irish’s beloved sports could fit into the long-standing festival weekend.

As advertisements and announcements began materializing on billboards, local radio stations and chat shows, increasing the public’s excitement, the numbers of attendees grew. Close-knit communities throughout the many regions of Ireland, continued passing on by word of mouth, any news to encourage their neighbors, families, and friends to join the upcoming fun.

The ticket sales for the Sunday morning exhibition game featuring The Mournesmen of Down against the scrimmage squad for the developing Olympic Gaelic Football Team sold out in a record time. Maeve’s original ‘meet the players’ event also needed to be increased from her original plan of a two-hour slot after the parade, to opening it up multiple times all day Saturday and Sunday. Sports fans across the island were passionate about their love of Irish sports–football, hurling, camogie, handball and rounders, and didn’t hesitate to open their pockets and wallets to Maeve when she made an appeal to support the local clubs.

“Coach Maeve!”

Shifting her thoughts, she looked up to see Mary Donnely running across the field towards her, with her two best friends, Shona Coyle and Lark Murphy in tow. Waving in their direction, she continued emptying the extra balls out from her bag, tossing each on to the field, away from the sidelines.

“Well, good morning, ladies. How are we feeling on this beautiful blue-sky morning?”

“Brilliant, Coach!” Mary stopped to catch her breath. “Please tell me; are we going to practice kicking points at the goal post? Shona, Lark and I have been practicing all week after school. I bet we can make a score on the net every time either of us has … what do you call it again? ... Oh yeah, now I remember possession. Isn’t that right?”

Both Shona and Lark nodded their heads in agreement, talking at the same time to tell Maeve what they were ready to show her.

“Girls slow down. Of course we are kicking points, but after we do some warmups. I was also thinking we could work on some tricks for passing the ball. What do you think?”

“Yeah!!!”

Leading the girls back on to the field, Maeve blew her whistle to gather the rest of her team together before directing them to line up for warmups before practicing their kicking skills. The usual bedlam followed as a swarm of little girls ran to be the first in line, pushing each other out of the way and whining if they didn’t get the lineup spot they wanted, believing they were entitled to it in their little human logic.

Laughing, she blew hard on her whistle to get their attention. “Okay ladies, enough! If you want, I’ll be more than happy to put you in alphabetical order by first name! I still have the list in my bag. We’re a team and need to work together!”

“LOOK!”

Turning, Maeve followed the direction of Lark’s extended finger.

“It’s footballer Liam McCann!”

“Damn, what the hell is he doing here?” Maeve mumbled under her breath, turning to watch Liam coming towards her and the girls. Unfortunately, it was at that very moment, all twenty girls broke into a moving mass of screaming fans; a compacted mob that reminded her of a YouTube video someone had had shown her from a recent Taylor Swift concert. She could have sworn there were even a couple of medium-sized dogs who joined the ground swell of potentially rabid prepubescent girls, as their g-force of moving bodies bumping into her. The commotion happened so fast she floundered instantly, trying to keep herself from falling forward, and contacting the hard packed ground.

Just before she would have contacted the ground, a sudden whooshing motion of wind engulfed her as someone grabbed her by the waist, lifting her away from the potential impact. Maeve knew instantly who her rescuer was, as she felt his finely tuned athletic reflexes grab her away from injury. Turning around inhis arms now encircling her waist, she couldn’t avoid physical contact with him as she met nose to nose with Liam.

For a few seconds, neither one of them said or did anything as they stared into each other’s eyes. Maeve once thought she had forgotten how deep the blue color of his eyes were, but she was just fooling herself. The deep blue color of his eyes burned into her retinas and memories, still reminding her of the choppy surface of lough waters when the sun was shining. It wasn’t so far-fetched that she could also read that there was a silent and prospective promise waiting to be made if she didn’t extract herself and stand on her own two feet.

Sensing her quandary, Liam smiled before letting her go, mouthing a silent, “Are you okay?” Maeve answered him back with a nod. Releasing her, she turned to see all the girls circling around him and Maeve shouting out questions.

Suddenly, the girls all stopped in a dead silence when they saw Liam raise both of his hands up in the universal gesture to stop before he spoke.

“Ladies! Ladies! Please–can you be silent for a second? I can’t answer you all at once. But before I even try, I think you owe Coach Quinn here a big apology. Do you realize that you almost knocked her down on the ground? She could have gotten injured. Teammates do not do that to each other.”

Maeve bit her lower lip to keep from laughing out loud. It was a sight to witness twenty little girls standing in contemplative silence, all studying the ground in unison as they kicked the toe of their trainers at the dirt.

“Now, what do you have to say for yourselves? I’m going to count to three, and I expect all of you to answer at the same time. Ready? One, two, three …”

“We’re sorry Coach Quinn.”

Pursing her lips together tightly so wouldn’t give away her amusement, she gained some composure before speaking.

“Thank you, ladies. I appreciate your apology. Now, if you could give me a minute with Mr. McCann for a small chat, we can start our practice in a few moments.”

“Coach Quinn?”

Maeve saw Mary raise her hand.

“Yes, Mary.”

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