Her Sensual Right Winger

League

Six months after Lola’s sacrifice to save herself and Lamar, multitudes of excited fans shook the Leap stadium while the rest of the country sat glued in front of their television screens to watch the rugby league tournament between the Brawny’s and the Stalwart’s.

The monarch country of Leap was famous for two things; their love for their royals and their passion for the rugby game. Anyone visiting the country during the league season got to witness that because the country literally came to a standstill during the games. The fans, including their beloved royals, went absolutely crazy with excitement. The two rival teams separated friends and families during the league season as everyone got into a heated debate about which team was better. Lamar was amongst the lucky fans who got a front seat on the Brawny’s benches, thanks to the free ticket given to him by their captain, Brian the beast, fondly known as Captain BB.

Hefty, sweaty bodies and pure aggression at best dominated the field as each team tried their absolute best to overcome their opponents. Too much was at stake for all of them. This was not just a game that everyone would talk about for a week and forget, not in Leap. Just like all the years before, the winning team will be in the headlines locally and intentionally for at least a month. The country will be talking about this game until the next league final the following year. That was a way of life, their livelihoods and reputations. This was also where their talents were noticed because big international teams would be watching, making this an opportunity of a lifetime for all of them.

Halfway through the tournament, it seemed the two teams were matched with equal strengths as one side scored a try, the other equalised almost immediately. The roars, singing and shouting had dampened down as both teams and fans held their breaths. The game was now near full time, but it was just too close. One mistake would mean a win or loss for either side.

It was at that moment that Ted, the Brawny’s coach, received a call from their manager instructing him to let Tim play.

“Sir, this is ridiculous!” Ted cried, appalled. “Have you seen him play?” he asked. The young man forced them because his father was their sponsor, did not fit to even play small leagues in his opinion.

“No,” Danny admitted.

“That’s because he is useless! He is the definition of political appointee!” Ted shouted while the reserve players exchanged looks and made their own conclusions. There was only one player in their team that was useless and connected enough for their management to demand him to play.

“It’s a command, Ted. You have no choice,” Danny said sternly. His job was to make sure that the team had funds and everyone, including himself, got paid at the end of the month. That was what mattered to him the most.

“Then, I quit!” Ted shouted before taking off his Brawny’s shirt, throwing it on the floor and storming out of the stadium.

“You can’t be serious!” Danny shouted, shocked. He thought being firm would make the coach back down, not quit.

“I am dead serious. This is my reputation on the line,” Ted shouted back before dropping the call. He was frustrated enough with the club that would not let him buy good players, but had enough money to pay for the useless ones.

The game came to a complete standstill as players and fans exchanged curious looks. Ted was very loud when he announced that he was quitting but this was unheard of. No coach has ever quit in the middle of a game before.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Brawnyans and Stewartans, coach Ted has just quit. He is leaving the Brawny’s stranded, as you all know that the team’s assistant coach was booked off for a month after being involved in a car accident two days ago!” the commentator shouted excitedly while chaos broke loose in the stadium and journalists ran after Ted to hear his juicy side of the story.

The Brawny’s team on the field all walked out to their benches to find out what ticked their coach off like that.

“What’s going on gents?” Captain BB asked his teammates who were sitting next to the coach before he quit.

“Management demanded that Tim should play and the coach would not have it,” one player explained, still in disbelief.

Captain BB shook his head. It seemed the Brawny’s management only cared about money.

“Which Tim?” one player asked, confused.

“Me! I am Tim!” Tim shouted angrily. He had been with the team for more than six months already, yet none of them knew his name or even recognised him as part of the team. Even at practice, he sat on the benches and they called him the rich kid. That was the reason he complained to his father and what led to the coach getting the command to let him play.

“Oh! No wonder the coach quit,” another player sneered. They had all watched the varsity league games and saw how terrible he was. That was why the coach never bothered to let him play, even at practice matches.

Tim clenched his fists, ready to punch someone. He was not going to let the team disrespect him when his father was literally paying their salaries.

“Calm down, Gents,” Captain BB said, lifting his hand to diffuse the situation. “We have no coach,” he added with a grin, confusing his teammates.

“And no assistant coach,” the other player reminded him, not understanding why their captain would find that amusing.

“Exactly!” Captain BB beamed. “Ref, let the game continue,” he shouted, shocking everyone, including the team’s management that was watching on screen, still stuck on the way forward.

“Are you crazy? We have no coach or assistant,” another player cried.

“We are stranded,” another one added with a melancholic voice.

“We are stranded and winning,”Captain BB beamed, his grin becoming infectious. “Lamar! Get here, we are playing,” he shouted to the young man he had invited to watch the game at their stands.

Lamar looked around and frowned, wondering if he was hearing things.

“You can’t do that!” cried another player.

“Are you sure?” Captain BB asked.

“He is not part of the team,” another player said. “Surely there’s a rule about that,” he added. Without a coach, they had no idea if such a rule existed.

“Says who?”Captain BB asked. “He’s been in our stands since the beginning of the match,” he added. As far as his teammates knew, Lamar could have been signed that day or week. Their rivals would not know it either.

The player shrugged his shoulders. They all knew Lamar, it was possible that the team had signed him and did not tell them about it.

“Let’s play, boys,” Captain BB said, pulling Lamar, who had already changed onto the field.

The fans went wild when Lamar was shown on the screen substituting another player, but Leap university students were the loudest.

“Hey! What about me?” Tim shouted. Everyone was now excited about Lamar playing and had forgotten the reason the game had stopped in the first place.

“You suck, kid, and you know it. You will come in at exactly five minutes before the game ends,” Captain BB said calmly, his mind already on the game.

Tim shook his head. “But…,”

“Do you want to be seen by the whole world making us loose or do you want to be remembered for being part of the winning team?” Captain BB asked, cutting him short.

Tim swallowed his saliva. He definitely did not want the whole country and world to know him as the guy that made the team loose. “The latter,” he said.

“Great! You can be the assistant coach,” Captain BB suggested.

“Really?” Tim asked with his eyes wide.

“Yes, really.”

“Ref, I am the assistant coach. We are ready to kick off,” Tim announced excitedly. All he ever wanted was to be part of his favourite team. Now he was it’s assistant coach. It was the best feeling in the world.

The referee nodded and blew his whistle to restart the game.

“Ladies and Gentlemen. It seems that the Brawny’s were holding their cards on their chest and hiding their best player. Those of you who don’t know the young right winger, that’s Lamar Lorgan. He dominated the varsity league last season. See him splint, just watch him go! He is unstoppable! It’s a try!” The commentator shouted as the Brawny’s fans jumped to their feet to celebrate points that kept coming, increasing their lead over their rivals.

Tim was so thrilled, he was jumping with joy and did not even want to play his five minutes. For the first time in six months, he felt like he belonged. The team was also so excited, they had all come to embrace him when the game ended. Tim had proved to be a good and passionate assistant coach who expressed his displeasure and shouted at the referee whenever an unfair penalty was issued against them.

“I can’t believe that I am actually saying this, but great job out here kid. We really felt your energy,” Captain BB said, embracing Tim.

“I can’t believe that I am saying this but I loved being your assistant coach,” Tim responded. He really had fun being so close to the action and protecting his players.

“And you, my friend,” Captain BB said, turning his head to Lamar. “You are a dynamite,” he added, getting approval from the rest of the team.

They had all seen him play and there was no denying Lamar’s talents. They had also not won in such a long time until that day, thanks to his incredible speed.

“Thank you for the opportunity, man. I will never forget it,” Lamar said, emotional. This was all he ever wanted. A chance to show his talent to the whole world and he got exactly that. It now did not matter if he had a contract or not with the national teams, the international teams will definitely know that he exists somewhere.

“Hey! Where do you think you are going?” Captain BB asked, getting Lamar confused.

The game was over and the fans were now leaving the stadium. He was also planning to leave.

“You have to stay with us and leave here on the team bus. As far as everyone is concerned, you are part of the team,” Captain BB whispered when he saw his confused expression. This was right before the man of the match was announced and it was no surprise to anyone watching that Lamar was the one who got that title and the fat cheque that came with it.

It was evening by the time Lamar finished doing interviews with different journalists who wanted to know every detail about when he signed up with the Brawny’s and his future plans.

The Brawny’s management had to convene urgently as soon as Lamar was done with his interviews to address the rising issue. Paying Lamar for the game would not be a problem because winning the league came with a really big cheque, but they were now under pressure to secure or risk losing him.

“Can anyone tell me how stupid can we be to give a player of that calibre such a short-term contract?” an old man who was one of the team founders asked.

Lamar had mentioned in one of the interviews that he was on a short contract with the team that was ending the following week, making him open to negotiations with their rivals, who would definitely not miss that opportunity. Not only that, the team would make a lot of money when he gets signed up by any international team. Anyone who saw him play could tell that was inevitable.

“He is actually not on any contract with us, Sir,” Danny explained.

“Excuse me?” the old man asked sharply. “I clearly remember this name was submitted by the captain last season,” the old man added. He had not been to subsequent meetings due to ill health until now.

“He was recommended, Sir, but we only had money to sign one player and the sponsor demanded that we go with another player….,” Danny explained.

“The sponsor what? How stupid are you? Where have you ever heard of a sponsor demanding anything related to players in rugby?” the old man could not believe his ears. According to the club’s policy, the sponsors only had a say on the team’s kit colours, designs and how their products were promoted but had no say when it came to the actual game and players, but now and then those roles got blurred when money was concerned.

“Sir, we voted on it and..,” Danny tried explaining when he noticed that the other members who were part of that decision were distancing themselves from it now.

“I don’t care what you did, you clearly don’t know how to manage a rugby team. Get that kid a contract or you are fired,” the old man yelled. He had the majority of the club shares and could fire the manager without any voting.