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Toby. Let’s change places.”
    â€œWell …” I said slowly.
    He went on to everyone, “If you’re defending, you need to be aggressive as you go into the tackle. You need to intimidate your opponent.” He turned back to me and challenged, “I’m a forward coming at you, Toby, and you’re the defender who has to stop me. First — assume the ready position.”
    I assumed the ready position.
    â€œNow, I’m coming at you with the ball, so — intimidate me!”
    I put my thumbs behind my ears so they stuck out, crossed my eyes, wiggled my fingers, and said, “Blugga-blugga-blugga-blugga.”
    Brian said, “Come on, Toby.”
    Mr. Fleet said, “Julie, you try.” He faced Julie with the ball as he went on, “The problem with a little missy like you is that you’re going to find it hard to be intimidating.”
    I thought — Uh-oh. I’d seen Julie in action. And calling her a “little missy” is not a good idea. She might look like a fairy princess — we tease her about it at school, telling her she looks as if she should be in an old fairy-tale book, because of her long, curly, blonde hair — but on the soccer field she’s a gorilla.
    Mr. Fleet advanced on her with the ball at his feet.
    Julie struck ferociously. Her foot whipped out and crunched the ball against Mr. Fleet’s ankle. As his foot recoiled from the tackle, she took the ball.
    He gasped, “Not bad, Julie.”
    Julie grinned.
    â€œLet’s do it again,” he challenged. “This time, I’ll be ready.”
    He dribbled the ball towards Julie. We watched as she went into the tackle. The next thing we knew Mr. Fleet was behind her, with the ball still at his feet.
    We applauded.
    â€œIt’s like magic,” I said.
    â€œCool,” said Brian. “Do it again. I’ll tackle you.”
    â€œWatch,” Mr. Fleet told us.
    He approached Brian with the ball. Brian went to tackle, and our coach was behind him. We applauded again.
    â€œNow I’ll do it slowly. Watch carefully. As you approach the defender, bring your left foot back. This makes the defender think you’ll move to your right. But you bring your left foot over the ball, wrong-footing the defender, and use the outside of your left foot to push the ball around him — or her. Now, with partners, you take turns trying it.”
    While everyone paired up to try the move, Mr. Fleet said quietly, “You can succeed at drills like this, Toby, just like you can succeed at soccer and become a valuable team member — if you really want to.”
    He moved on up the line.
    He’d said it nicely, but I felt as if he was disappointed with me. I even felt bad about fooling around earlier in the practice, but quickly forgot about it when we started another dribbling exercise where we had to run around the field keeping a ball close to our feet and changing direction.
    Then Mr. Fleet gathered us together and said, “You play well as a team because you know one another and how you play. Now let’s take your team play to the next level. I want you to take your soccer seriously, to play aggressively, and to use passing formations. I call them the geometry of soccer. I want to see diamond shapes on the field.”
    In groups of four, we made diamond shapes and practiced passing the ball around, before finishing with a gentle jog up and down the field and more stretching exercises.
    As we sat on the field stretching, Mr. Fleet said, “There’s one more thing we should practice. Stand in a circle with your arms around each other’s shoulders and chant with me: We’re Brunswick Valley. We’re pleased to meet you. Are you ready to lose? ’Cause we’re going to beat you . Say it aggressively so that you intimidate your opponents before the game even begins.”
    Shay stood apart while we prepared to do the chant. Julie was