“All right, guys, listen up.” Jake’s booming voice demanded quiet, and in a moment he had all of the eleven-year-olds’ undivided attention. “The first game of the season is always a very important one. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have fun. I want all of you to do your part, do what we practiced, and we will be successful.” Various expressions, from curious to excited, anxious to confident, showed on the boys’ faces. “We have to want it more than they do,” Jake continued. “It’s our heart that separates us from everyone else, because we want it more.” He looked into the eyes of each teammate and noticed that Justin’s gaze kept shifting from him to the bleachers just behind him. It’s a big day; probably looking for his father. “Don’t try and play outside yourself. Be you, do you, and win or lose, just be sure you’ve given it your all.”

Justin raised his hand. “But Coach, I thought winning was everything.”

“Winning is better,” Jake replied. “But giving your all is best. Any more questions?” Jake looked around the circle and when none of the other boys spoke up, he placed his hand in the middle of the circle. The boys piled their hands on top of his. “Who are we?” he demanded.

“Hurricanes!”

“What do we do?”

“Tear it up!”

“How do we play?”

“Hard!”

“What do we have?”

“Heart!”

“Then get out there and—”

“Get it done, work it out, tear it up!”

“That’s what’s up. Now, one, two, three!”

“Hurricanes!”

The boys ran onto the field. Justin glanced up to the stands once more and then turned to join his teammates near the fifty-yard line. Jake, who’d been watching Justin out the corner of his eye, grabbed his shoulder as he ran by. “Is your dad coming?” With a hand still on Justin’s shoulder, Jake turned and scanned the stands, which were fairly crowded considering this was an elementary school football game at eleven o’clock on a Saturday morning. When he heard no answer, he looked back at the student he thought might actually have potential in the NFL. “Justin?” For just a moment, he saw something raw and very familiar in the boy’s eyes.

“My mom,” Justin replied, pulling his eyes away from the stands and looking at Jake. He pasted a wide smile on his face, totally unaware that Jake had already seen the pain it covered. “We’re gonna win today, Coach,” he said with confidence.

Jake squeezed his shoulder and gave a wink. “Let’s go to work.”