Free Web NovelChapter 16: Jersey Number 66!
"Are you Diego Montoya?"
The man didn’t waste any time asking. He looked straight at the brunette boy with light green eyes. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
Before Diego could even say anything, Aunt Chickie interrupted the interaction with a calm hand stepping in.
"Is there a problem?" she asked.
The way the man just walked up with a sudden inquiry made her want to protect the kids.
For a second, the two grown-ups just stared at each other. They were both kind of checking each other out. Since they both looked fairly good, it was that kind of quiet moment that happens when adults meet for the first time.
Then the man’s face got nicer. He gave them a big, relaxed smile.
"Not to worry, ma’am," he said in a smooth voice. "I’m just here to help your nephew get started."
He glanced past her at the children and noticed that they were still holding hands and standing really close. He looked a bit surprised, as he’d originally thought they were just brother and sister.
Laughing lightly, the man peered right into Diego’s eye.
"Well," he said. "I can already tell you’re going to be a sports star."
"Follow me so I can get you all set up."
Without waiting for them to say yes, he just turned around and started walking down the hallway.
Aunt Chickie, Diego, and Maltide exchanged a quick, uncertain look, but later fell in behind him.
The man led them down a short corridor and right into the sporting director’s bureau. It didn’t really look like a fancy office, though. It looked more like a tiny command center squeezed into a small room.
At the local level, being a sporting director didn’t quite mean what it did at bigger professional clubs. Here, the person in the job is basically the gatekeeper, an administrator, and also a local power figure. They do the boring stuff like sign-ups and making team lists, but they also get to decide who is welcomed, who actually gets a chance to play, and who gets ignored.
The job is also kind of about politics. The county assigns sporting directors periodically, so whoever sat in this chair often had one foot in football and another in local bureaucracy. Some do it because they want to help the community, others treated the post like a small throne. No one really knows the actual incentive, but everyone knows you have to stay on the Sporting Director’s good side.
The sporting director for EDM San Blas was a huge guy. He had really broad shoulders and a thick neck, and he looked kind of like a barbarian.
Aunt Chickie recognized him right away. She had seen him before at other government jobs he used to have. It just goes to show how small the world is when everyone knows everyone else.
Thankfully, Diego didn’t have to deal with the grumpy sporting director.
The two men whispered to each other for a second, and then the big guy just waved his hand like he wanted them to go away. The first man walked back over to Diego, Matilde, and Aunt Chickie and let out a long breath. It kind of felt like the special treatment so far, was over.
Aunt Chickie cleared her throat and spoke up. "I’m sorry," she said in a nice way. "Everything has been so quick that we didn’t even get your name."
The man tilted his head and gave her a really big, charming smile—the kind of smile a guy has when he knows he’s good-looking. He told them his name was Ray. For some reason, Aunt Chickie felt like she had to introduce herself back, too.
Then, Ray didn’t waste any more time. He turned to the secretary and said, "Get everything finished for them. Put Diego on the U14 team. And give him jersey number 66."
Aunt Chickie looked at him really fast, looking totally shocked.
"U14?" "But he’s only twelve years old!"
Diego was dumbfounded at the mention of U14.
He was only twelve! U14 meant he would be playing against boys who were two years older than him.
At this age, two years is a big difference for boys. Those boys would be way taller, faster, and way stronger. They were basically becoming teenagers while he still felt like a regular kid!
Beside Diego, Maltide frowned thoughtfully. She knew a bit about how sports worked and that age groups could be kind of tricky. Sometimes clubs bent the rules to let really good younger kids play up. She figured there might be other twelve-year-olds in U14, so Diego could probably fit in too.
But the scary part was that U14 teams could sometimes have sixteen-year-olds on them! She looked at Diego and really doubted he could handle guys that big, even if he was super talented.
The club had to know this, too. It didn’t make sense for them to make their own team worse by putting a small kid in.
Ray noticed how tense everyone was and spoke up in a calm voice.
"Your nephew is endorsed," he told Aunt Chickie. "Putting him in U14 is part of the deal. He’ll be fine in that division, don’t worry about it."
Diego looked over at Matilde.
Fine?
The U14 division was the most competitive one in the whole youth league!
The secretary started the final part of the registration by opening the club’s website on her computer. First, she retrieved Diego’s preliminary file that had been submitted earlier, then she double-checked his name against the city records to make sure everything matched up and there weren’t any mistakes.
Once satisfied, she officially clicked him into the system. He wasn’t just a "new kid" anymore; he was an actual player for EDM San Blas. She assigned him a unique player ID, which would follow him through all official competitions, medical records, and disciplinary logs. His placement was set under U14 – EDM San Blas, locked into the municipal league database.
Next, she scanned all his papers into the club’s computer: his birth certificate, where he lived, the permission papers, and his doctor’s note. When she saw the part about his head injury, she stopped and frowned for a second.
But then she just shrugged and kept going. The kid was endorsed, so a little scar probably didn’t matter to her.
She signed him up for training access so he could use the locker rooms and the gear. She made him a digital member card, set up a time for him to get his uniform, and put him on the club’s insurance. Finally, she printed out a little slip of paper that had his name, his team, and his new number: 66.
While she was doing all that boring work, Ray just stood by the door with a relaxed smile.
"I’m going to go get a snack," he said. "The vending machine is the only thing here in good condition."
He turned to walk away, but Matilde reached out and grabbed his wrist to stop him.
"Excuse me, sir. Who exactly is endorsing Diego?"
Ray stopped and looked at her like he was impressed she even asked. He let out a little laugh.
"I’m not sure," he said. "Must be anonymous."
He gave them all a quick wink and then walked out of the room.
--
--
--
--
--
--
A/N: Hope you enjoyed the 16th Chapter! <(￣︶￣)> Please support with powerstones and golden tickets!
