The Ball Hogs Read online

  Shayna had run over and was moving toward the goal. Ben could be a hero and try to score. Instead he passed the ball to Shayna.

  Shayna shot hard. The goalie put up his hands and dived for it. The ball smacked off his hands and bounced wildly in front of the goal.

  Ben and the others charged toward it. Bobcats and Sharks. Blue and yellow. Everyone wanted that ball.

  Ben reached it first. There was no time to dribble. No time to pass. He swung his foot at the ball and watched as it floated toward the goal.

  The goalie was still on his knees. He reached for the ball with all his might. But he couldn’t quite get it.

  Ben had scored!

  Now Shayna had him in a bear hug, and even Mark was slapping him on the shoulder. The Shark goalie shut his eyes and kicked at the dirt. All of the Bobcats were yelling.

  The Sharks put the ball back in play. They kicked it hard and ran down the field. They had to score or they’d lose.

  Ben ran toward the Shark player with the ball. He couldn’t let them tie this game. The player passed the ball across the field. Erin got to it first and kicked it hard and long.

  The referee blew his whistle. The game was over.

  Ben dropped to his knees and raised his arms into the air.

  “We did it!” Kim shouted.

  “Great passing!” said Mark, giving Shayna a fist bump and grinning.

  “We beat the best team in the league!” said Erin.

  “No,” said Ben. “We are the best in the league. We just had to learn to play like a team.”

  Now he knew what winning was like. It was a wonderful feeling. Especially since they’d done it together.

  Ben ran to his parents, who were standing near the sideline.

  His mom was beaming. “Great shot!” she said.

  Dad held up one hand for a high five, and Ben jumped to slap it.

  “We need to celebrate,” Ben said. “Can we go for pizza?”

  “Sounds like a good plan,” Dad said.

  “We’re back in business,” Ben said as they walked toward the car. “Finally got that win!”

  Ben heard his name and turned to look. Mark was standing about twenty feet away, waving him over.

  “I’ll be right back,” Ben said to his parents, and he walked toward Mark.

  Mark looked serious. “Are you playing four square on Monday?”

  “Of course I am,” Ben said.

  Mark nodded. “Me too.” He smiled slightly. “No more double hits?”

  “No more cheap calls?”

  “No.” Mark jutted his chin toward the soccer field. “We were pretty good out there today. … I guess you aren’t such a twerp after all.”

  “You bet we were good.” Ben glanced toward his parents, then he turned back to Mark. “It’s just like Coach keeps saying. Work together. Even if you don’t always like each other, I guess.”

  “I guess.”

  Ben put his hands on his hips. He stared at Mark for a second, then nodded. “So I’ll see you at recess,” he said. He started walking away, then stopped. “There’s a long way to go in this season,” he said. “Lots more soccer games.”

  “Think we can win ’em all?” Mark asked.

  Ben shrugged. “I think we finally know how to. … That doesn’t mean we’ll win ’em.”

  “Keep practicing,” Mark said.

  “You too.”

  Ben thought of that first practice. He thought of those close losses. But most of all he thought about scoring that goal. And he wished the next game could be tomorrow.

  BEN’S TOP TIPS FOR SOCCER PLAYERS

  • Always warm up before a game or practice. Try some jogging and jumping jacks.

  • Work on keeping the ball close to your feet when you dribble. Don’t just kick it and chase it.

  • Pass the ball! It’s the best way to move it. After you pass, move to an open space so the ball can be passed back to you.

  • Be a supportive teammate. Say positive things and encourage everyone to work hard.

  • Always have fun!

  RICH WALLACE is the acclaimed author of many books for young readers, including Sports Camp; Perpetual Check; Wrestling Sturbridge, an ALA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults; Shots on Goal, a Booklist Top 10 Youth Sports Book; and the Winning Season series. He coached soccer for several years, beginning when his older son joined a team in kindergarten.

  Rich Wallace lives in New Hampshire with his wife, author Sandra Neil Wallace. You can visit him on the Web at www.richwallacebooks.com.

  Don’t miss

  Kickers #2: Fake Out

  The Kickers soccer league is heating up, and Ben’s team, the Bobcats, has two losses, one win, and one tie. Ben knows he can pull his team out of its slump and right into the league play-offs with his new move: the fake-out. He practices the tricky footwork every chance he gets. But every time he tries it on the field, he flubs up, loses the ball, and hurts his team. Meanwhile, everyone else is faking him out. Is Ben out of his league?

  In his Kickers series, award-winning author Rich Wallace offers action-filled novels about the Bobcats, a fourth-grade town soccer team, and their bid for the league play-offs.

  Also available:

  Kickers #3: Benched

  Kickers #4: Game-Day Jitters

  THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2010 by Rich Wallace

  Illustrations copyright © 2010 by Jimmy Holder

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

  Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

  Visit us on the Web! www.randomhouse.com/kids

  Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at www.randomhouse.com/teachers

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Wallace, Rich.

  Kickers : the ball hogs / Rich Wallace ; [illustrations by Jimmy Holder]. — 1st ed.

  p. cm.

  Summary: Nine-year-old Ben, a natural athlete and member of the Bobcats co-ed soccer team, wants to overcome his inexperience and prove himself on the field, but his obnoxious teammate, Mark, keeps hogging the ball.

  eISBN: 978-0-375-89632-3

  [1. Soccer—Fiction. 2. Teamwork (Sports)—Fiction. 3. Sportsmanship—Fiction.

  4. Behavior—Fiction.] I. Holder, Jimmy, ill. II. Title. III. Title: Ball hogs.

  PZ7.W15877Kib 2010

  [Fic]—dc22

  2009021349

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