Gladiators of the Gridiron

Ty listened to the wheels and chain of his bike spin. Here he was, arriving at the school’s football field, at eight in the morning on a Sunday.

He cruised through the surprisingly open gate, and stopped in the car park, dumping his bike aside. Coach Hoang was already waiting for him.

‘You took your time getting here, Samuels.’

‘And how’d you get here so early?’

‘Uber.’

Ty raised a brow.

Coach Hoang shrugged. ‘Hey, there’s always someone who’s up and available at all ours. Was probably at the end of a night shift driving drunks home.’

‘Uh-huh.’

Coach Hoang’s expression became stern. ‘Alright, that’s enough chatting. Get out there and get warmed up—start stretching.’

‘Yes, Coach,’ Ty said mockingly before jogging past and heading out onto the turf. He noticed that no cones or any other pieces of equipment were set up.

After he was loose and limber, Coach Hoang had him run laps of the field, up and down the full length five times, then around the boundary for another five.

When Ty was done, he jogged over and slowed to a stop in front of Coach Hoang. ‘That it? You going to just keep me running around all day?’

‘I might. You got a problem with that?’

Ty struggled to hold back a scowl. ‘I don’t see how this is going to be of much help if that’s the case.’

‘That’s just fine. You’re the athlete, I’m the coach. You don’t need to see how it benefits you, you just need to do as I say. Now, gimme another lap just for mouthing off.’

Ty opened his mouth but closed it again without saying anything. He turned away and took off again, only airing his grievances under his breath once Coach Hoang was out of earshot.

He raced through the punishment lap, going all out as he was eager to get this warm-up over with so he could move on to something better.

When he was done, he slowed to a stop in front of Coach Hoang, panting softly as he looked down at him. ‘There, happy now?’

‘Are you happy with that performance?’

Ty narrowed his eyes but didn’t say anything.

‘Alright, that was good enough. Now, drop down and give me a hundred push-ups.’

Ty sighed but slowly got down on the ground, propping himself up on his hands and toes.

‘What’s the matter, Samuels? You don’t like to work hard if you aren’t playing ball?’

‘I never said that.’

‘Your attitude sure did.’

‘Hey. I’ve started working out with JJ. I’m willing to put in the work no matter what as long as it’s going to make me better.’

‘Hm, you’re going to the gym with Jones?’ Coach Hoang leaned back a bit, looking Ty over. ‘That’s good. Make sure you keep at it, even if you’re not showing any results. And get started already! You waiting for a whistle to blow or something?’

Ty grumbled but lowered himself until the grass was tickling his nose, and then he pushed himself back up forcefully.

‘Keep those elbows tucked in and keep your back straight. But that’s one.’

Ty clenched his jaw, listening to Coach Hoang count higher and higher.

‘Twenty-seven. God, you’re skinny. You need to eat more.’

‘I’m not that small. I ain’t no Rabbit.’

‘You’re not much better … is that why you’re so hard on him?’

‘Huh?’ Ty’s rhythm faltered, but he recovered and didn’t stop, though he was no longer keeping count, and it didn’t seem like Coach Hoang was either.

‘Don’t act like I haven’t noticed. You haven’t exactly kept your thoughts about the kid to yourself. Is it because you see yourself in him?’

‘What?!’ Ty stopped now, sitting up on his knees.

‘Hey, get back down, I didn’t say you could stop.’

Ty didn’t hide his scowl at all this time. ‘I’m nothing like him, and he’s nothing like me.’

‘You could learn from him. When he loses, when he fucks up, he doesn’t get mad, he doesn’t blame himself or anyone else, he just puts his head down and keeps on giving his all, trying his hardest to make sure he never makes the same mistake twice.’

‘Oh, ‘cause I give up right away, don’t I?’

‘No, but you aren’t thinking clearly, you don’t move on. You get caught up on every little thing. Your opponent makes one catch and you get stuck on that play for the rest of the game, so then you can’t see what’s right in front of you.’

Ty kept pushing, staring angrily at the ground.

‘That’s why you lost again. You were too focused on the game last week against the Bears. You were so worried about letting that happen again that you couldn’t lock in properly and you let them get away with so much bullshit that I KNOW you can stop. You’re incredibly gifted, Tyrese, you just have to get past those mental blocks you’re putting on yourself.’

Ty opened his mouth to respond.

‘Ah! I don’t want to hear it.’ Coach Hoang raised a hand. ‘Go and run another lap because you stopped without me saying you could.’

‘Motherfucker…’ Ty pushed himself up and brushed himself off before he jogged to the sideline and started another lap.

Again, Ty got through the punishment as quickly as he could. When he returned he dropped back down in front of Coach Hoang and resumed his push-ups without needing to be told. Though he stopped as soon as he heard the number that came out of Coach Hoang’s mouth.

‘One.’

Ty froze and looked up at him. ‘What?!’

‘You heard me. One. You’re starting again because we were interrupted thanks to you. You need to do one hundred in a row, no breaks, no interruptions.’

‘Are you fucking…’ Ty shook his head but dropped down and pushed up again.

Coach Hoang smirked. ‘One.’

Ty glared up at him but didn’t say anything. Coach Hoang’s counting continued.

After a while, Coach Hoang’s monotonous counting was broken by himself. ‘What’s going to happen when you lose again?’ he asked.

‘I’m not,’ Ty grunted.

‘Okay. What happens IF you lose again.’

Ty gritted his teeth but continued his push-ups. He thought about it for a moment. He was going to have to face King Denzel and Marshall again if he was going to make it to the State Championships let alone the National Tournament.

What if there was someone even stronger than them before that? He moved with increased vigour, pushing himself hard. He had to get stronger, faster, better—NOW.

‘I’m not going to lose,’ he said quietly.

‘No one intends to lose, no one WANTS to lose either. But that shit happens. You have to accept that it can and it will. And when it does, you can’t blow up like that.’

Ty didn’t say anything.

After a little while longer Coach Hoang stopped him. ‘Alright, that’s one hundred, get up.’

Ty stood up, his chest was tight, and a faint burning sensation spread from his centre out along his arms.

‘Get a drink, then you can do some sprints up the stands.’

Ty looked over to the stands that crowded one side of the field. He nodded.

He and Coach Hoang were quiet after that. Ty ran up and down those stairs time after time, never uttering a complaint or questioning how much longer he’d have to run for.

Coach Hoang watched on from the bottom of the stands. He didn’t question Ty, didn’t make any small comments, and didn’t antagonise him any further. He could see the boy was already dealing with things, chewing on his thoughts like they were a tough old steak.

After he’d done enough sprints up the stands, Coach Hoang had Ty jumping up them next and making his descent backwards one step at a time.

When Coach Hoang thought Ty had done enough of that, he moved him over to the goalpost at the end of the field and had him do pullups off it until Ty felt as if his arms would fall off.

‘Alright, hit the grass and take a breather.’

Ty dropped down, panting hard as he sat on the turf, hunched over. His arms were numb.

‘Do you know why I’m making you do this?’ Coach Hoang asked.

‘Because … you don’t … like me?’ Ty said between breaths.

Coach Hoang laughed. ‘Is that how it comes across? I like you very much, Samuels, I think you could be a very special player one day. So in fact it’d be the opposite, I’m doing this because I see so much potential in you. But no, I’m talking about the reason for this specifically.’

Ty would’ve shrugged if he could’ve. ‘Because you want me to be stronger then.’

‘Yes. I want YOU to be stronger. I want your body to be better, right now, I don’t care about bettering Tyrese Samuels the football player. We just need to get your body to its peak.’

‘But isn’t that still going to make me better at football?’

‘Naturally, yes, but that’s not the aim, more of a side effect.’

Ty was utterly confused.

‘You’d never lost before—not a game of football, at least—not until last weekend, right?’

Ty nodded.

‘And You’ve been playing since you were a kid … when do you think you’ve grown more as a football player? The last five years leading up to your first loss? Or from the Bears game to now?’

‘What are you talking about? How could one week ever be the same as five years?’

‘Because a loss against competition that is stronger than you, or on par with you is going to make you grow much more than beating up on weaker opponents. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if—regarding your skills as a player, at least—you hadn’t grown at all since you turned ten.’

‘That’s insane.’

‘Is it? I didn’t see how good you were at ten years old, so you might be the better judge, but I think my point still stands. Your instincts for the game, your awareness, your ability to read your opponent, these things, they’re instinctual to you. Sure, you have your flaws—you can crack under pressure, pressure YOU put yourself under, and you can try to make the hero play all by yourself which leaves you open to exploitation by the offence, but I think at a very young age, you reached a level that was so far above your peers, that you could no longer learn anything from beating them.’

Ty closed his eyes. Football had always come easy to him. All those years of dominance, had they really been meaningless? A way to inflate his ego? But what else was he supposed to do? He could only compete against those who were put in front of him.

‘The best way to hone a blade is against another of the same quality,’ Coach Hoang said. ‘After years of outclassing others, having the sharpest edge, you’ve finally met your match, and even one that is far superior to you.’

Ty gave him a dirty look.

Coach Hoang ignored him and continued. ‘You’re an exceptional player. Sure, you’ve learnt things from the few victories we’ve had so far, but nothing can help you like your battles against the likes of Kingston and Ward. Those are what push you beyond your limits, and what will help your skills skyrocket. We just need to make sure you have the body that can keep up with your newfound potential. So you CAN reel in that catch, so you CAN chase down that ball, so you CAN break away from everyone and take that kickoff back to the house. So you can be the best you can be.’

Ty was quiet. It made sense. He had never pushed himself before like he had against either Denzel or Marshall. Not even when he was duelling Justin, or when he had to overcome his and Deshaun’s inability to work together, and ESPECIALLY not in his first game against that damn ogre.

‘Get up. Finish off with some backwards sprints up and down the field, then you can go home… oh! Actually, if you’ve got a membership at a gym now, you can go relax in the sauna—it’s really good for your strained and tired muscles.’

Ty stood and turned around, getting started on the final laps Coach Hoang wanted from him. With Ty going backwards, Coach Hoang was able to keep up with him, and sped along by his side.

‘Hey, we’ll have to do this more often,’ Coach Hoang said and then looked around. ‘Probably not here during the week, but I’ll figure something out. This was pretty spontaneous, but thanks for coming out here. I really appreciate that you’re willing to put in the extra effort.’

‘Of course.’ Ty flashed a sharp grin. ‘Thanks for looking out for me, Coach.’

Coach Hoang slowed to a stop, watching Ty with a smile. “This kid is definitely going places … we just gotta fix that damn head of his.”