It was a wonderful Saturday morning. The morning sun was fresh and bright with a wonderful and conducive weather all around. The sky was bright and fair, a very nice one for training as usual. Everyone in the team were present for training, except for the coach and his assistant. This was bothering everyone, because it’s an unusual situation. Coach Rock never comes to training late. He was so punctual that sometimes he came to the training pitch as early as 6:00 Am. Some of the team members tried calling his phone line, but it was unreachable. Same with the assistant coach. The team did warmups while they waited for him.

“What’s happening with the coach and assistant coach? Their numbers aren’t going through and they are late to training.” Ricky a member of the team said.

“Yeah, I tried their numbers to, same story. It’s worrying.” Fedrick, another team member added.

“Well, I just hope they are okay.” Cat said.

Some minutes later, someone sent by the principal walked up to them;

“Hello, good morning everyone.” He greeted as they all responded.

“The principal has asked to see you all in the school hall. He has an urgent announcement for you all. Soo, you have about fifteen minutes to freshen up, get out of your training kits and be there.” He informed them and left.

They were quite shocked and worried but they obeyed and about fifteen minutes time they were all present in the hall. There was unsettlement and murmuring of worries from everyone as they waited for the arrival of the principal.

Suddenly the door 🚪 opened and it was the principal.

“Hello and Good morning all.” He greeted, as they responded in unison.

“I know you all have been dead worried 😯 after coming to training today and not seeing neither of your coaches. That’s why I called this meeting.”

“I’m sad to announce that there will be no training today, due to the sad and unpleasant news I got this morning about your coach, Mr. Ricky lost his mum this morning.” The principal announced and immediately there was a burst of unpleasant noise and murmurs.

“He said to apologise on his behalf to you all for not telling you about this himself, the news was so sudden and shocking 🤯, that he had to travel back home town as soon as possible, so I sent the assistant coach and some teachers to accompany him.”

“It’s also sad to inform you all that, he will not be coming back to our school, meaning he is no longer our coach.” He informed them.

“But why sir?!” A team member asked.

“That’s because he isn’t coming back to town. He is staying back at his home town with his family to take over his family business.” The principal answered.

There was silence 🤫 in the hall and gloomy faces sad from the news.

“From next week, you all can resume training, when the assistant coach would be back. I and the school committee will take it upon ourselves to find a very good and experience coach for the team as soon as possible.”

“I know how sad it is to you all to hear this news, I’m sad too. We have lost a good coach and good man, but there was nothing we could do. He lost his mum and had to leave. You should all put in more efforts in training and make him proud come the end of the competition. We will make sure to invite him to the finals, because we are getting there, so cheer up you all.” He addressed them.

“Their number is switched off, which I believe should be due to bad network due to the road trip. Make sure to call him later. Thank you.” The principal concluded and he walked out of the hall, as did the team members.

They walked back home in groups.

“I’m so sorry for coach Ricky. I know how he feels. When I lost my dad, it was so painful. I thought about him everyday and it was as painful as the piecing of a sharp knife.” Monday, one of the team member said.

“Yeah, so sad. I felt the same way when I lost my granny too.” Fedrick added.

“Well, I suggest we should call 📞 him later to give our condolences, that should make him feel better.” Cat suggested.

“Yeah, we should.” Monday agreed.

“It’s really important we get a quality coach as good as he was and fast, because we don’t have much time left before the competition starts.” Fedrick said.

“True, we really don’t have a lot of time left before the competition starts. And you know, it’s really hard to find a qualified Coach at this time. This is really worrying.” Cat agreed.

Monday was quite for a while with his hands slowly combing his beard.

“I think 🤔 I might have the solution to that, but it isn’t going to be a simple or easy one.” Monday said.

“Yeah, but it doesn’t hurt to still hear it, does it?” Cat asked.

“Not really man, just that convincing this person to coach again will be a hard task.”

“Really, why?” Fedrick asked.

“He has quite the sad story with him. He used to be one of the best coaches in high school soccer ⚽. He once coached the Famous Golden Cats. He was so good that he almost got a job as a professional soccer coach.”

“The Golden Cats ?!” Fedrick asked looking surprised.

“Soo, what happened to him?” Cat asked.

“Well, on the day of his interview, he got into an accident on his way to the interview. He lost a leg and was bed ridden for almost a year. This destroyed his dream and coaching career.”

“Ever since then, he has refused to coach or even take up any opportunity to coach.”

“That’s really sad. I can truly see his pains and reason for refusing to go back into coaching.” Cat said.

“You sure know a lot about this person. Who is he to you, if I may ask?” Fedrick asked.

“Well, yeah, am quite familiar with him, because he is my Uncle.”

“Oh, I’m really sorry about your uncle Monday.” There was silence for a while as they walked through the ally.

“But we still have to try to convince him. He is our only chance of winning 🥇 this competition and we can’t afford to lose this chance, so we have to try.” Cat said.

“How do we do that?” Monday asked.

“Leave that to me.” Fedrick responded.

“All you have to do is get me a chance to meet him and leave the rest to me.”

“Then, how about this evening. I’m suppose to have dinner at his place today. His wife invited me over.”

“If you are free tonight, how about going with me. All I have to do is call my Aunt to let her know, I will be coming with a friend.”

“That sounds like a nice idea. The earlier the better. We don’t have lots of time on our hands.” Cat added.

“Sure, am up for it.” Fedrick responded.

“But, we do have another problem.”

“Yeah, what’s that?” Cat asked.

“The Principal, I think we need to convince him to accept your uncle, as he might be reluctant to accept your uncle as the team’s coach because of his condition.” Fedrick explained.

“That’s actually true, but I should be able to work on that.”

“You and Monday should take care of his uncle, I will do my best with the Principal.”

“Okay then, Fedrick, we will meet at my place at 8pm this evening.” Monday informed.

“Sure, 8pm it is.” They kept on chatting and laughing out loud as they walked home.

That evening 🌃, Cat visited the principal at his home. He had to make sure that he could convince the principal before Monday morning.

“How are you Cat my boy?” The principal asked.

“I’m fine sir, and you?”

“As you can see boy, am doing great, thank you.”

“That’s nice to hear, sir.” Cat responded.

“Soo, to what do I own this unannounced visit? Hope there is good news?”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Not actually a bad or good news per say, it could be one depending on your answer, sir.”

“Really now?”

“Yes sir.”

“Okay, so what is the question?” The principal asked as he adjusted himself on his seat, curious to know what all this is about.

“Sir, I just wanted to find out if you have found our team a new coach?”

“Ohh, that? You really got me off my seat there, boy.” The principal responded as he rested his back on his couch 🛋, with a sigh of relieve 😌.

“This is where it becomes bad news, sir. We don’t have a lot of time to spare sir and this situation is causing I and my team mates a lot of worries.” Cat said.

“Well, I know how you all feel. I feel the same way too. I’m really worried, because this happened at a very wrong time and it’s really hard to find a qualified Coach, especially now that the competition is close, but am trying my best to find one.”

“I expect that by Monday that we will have a new coach.”

“Yeah, we surely will, we will sir.” Cat said.

“Sorry?”

“What?... Yeah, what I meant was that, I think we have found ourselves a better than qualified coach. That’s why am here to convince you to give this person a chance, sir.”

“And who might that be?” The principal asked.

“It’s none other than the legendry coach, the uncle to Monday Bedford, one of our team players.”

“Sorry, are you talking about Mr. John Bedford, the legendary coach of the Famous Golden Cats who got into an accident while travelling for an interview?”

“Well, if that is what they call him, then it should be him, yes sir.” There was a weird silence in the room, then suddenly the principal broke it with a loud laugh 😂.

“No….no, you really are funny kid.” The principal responded, still laughing uncontrollably.

“I know what you are thinking sir, but I….”

“You don’t know what I’m thinking kid! Do you think am here to play cards or hide and seek with you?!” He shouted showing a sign of anger.

“Do you know who that man is?”

“Let me tell you a short story boy.” The principal said as he tapped Cat on his shoulder.

“Before I hired Coach Rock, my first preference was Coach Bedford, because like you said, he is a more than qualified coach and again it would be nice to have a legendary coach come out of retirement and help us make history.”

“But you know what he did? He rejected my offer on several occasions.”

“Soo, tell me now, how’d I give a chance to someone who wouldn’t even accept to let go of his past and coach again or you just want to waste my time.”

“You know, at first I was afraid you wouldn’t accept him because of his injured leg, but after hearing this, I am relieved 😌.” Cat responded.

“Really? Who wouldn’t want to have the Legendary coach Bedford in his team, even if he was deaf and dump. Moreover, he still walks with the aid of a walking sticks.” The principal said as they both laughed.

“What if I promise you that I and my colleagues can convince him to coach us?”

“That is the problem Cat. How do you want to do that? If myself couldn’t convince him, how sure am I that you guys can?”

“Please sir, trust us this once and we will deliver.” Cat requested as he held onto the principal’s hand.

“Well, it is said that “no body should be underrated, no matter how small or weak that person may look.” Soo, I will give you boys a chance, but we don’t have a lot of that left.”

“Soo, I give you from now to Monday morning, if you are not successful, I will hire someone else.”

“Thank you Soo much sir, I will make sure we don’t fail you.”

“I hope you don’t fail my boy, am counting on you.” The principal said as he tapped Cat on the shoulder.

Not long after, Cat left the principals house and headed home. As he walked through the ally he thought to himself:

“I really hope Fedrick and Monday can pull this off. We just really have to succeed here.” As he walked down the lonely and quiet ally, he saw one of his neighbourhood friends’, they walked home together chatting and laughing.

Meanwhile, Monday and Fedrick had visited his Uncle, Mr. Bedford’s home for dinner’ with the task of convincing him to go into coaching again. On a circled shaped dining table, they sat round it with lots of delicious 😋 meals, delicacies and soft drinks on it. Monday was asked to say some words of prayer before dinner.

“Soo, Monday, who is your friend here?” Mrs. Bedford asked while struggling to cut through the delicious looking oily beef on her plate with her utensil.

“Yeah, Aunt. He is Fedrick, my friend and one of the best players in my school football ⚽ team.”

“Wow, really? that’s nice.”

“You must have worked hard to be so good, Fredrick.” Mr. Bedford said while sipping from his cup.

“Not really sir, he is just flattering me. I believe we all do our best for the good of our team.” Fedrick responded.

“True, it’s important to give your all to your team, but skills and talent is not enough to guaranty success. You need to work hard for it.”

“Never give up no matter how rough the road may seem. It may be dark in the tunnel right now, but there is always a light to behold, all you have to do is keep going.” Mr. Bedford advised.

“How hard did you work for your team and their success, Mr. Bedford?” Fedrick asked him looking directly into his eyes.

“Excuse me?”

“Sorry am bringing this up now, but I know you used to be a coach, not just a coach but a very talented and experience one, but how hard did you work for your success?”

There was silence in the room as Fedrick and Mr. Bedford kept looking into each other eyes. Monday and Mrs. Bedford were quite shock and speechless😶 especially Monday, because he wasn’t expecting this. The rooms mood was quite soiled.

“If you were given another chance to be a coach again, would you take it?” Fedrick asked.

“Excuse me young man, you shouldn’t be talking of my personal life, especially not on the dining table. It’s rude!”

“I’m really sorry if I’m being disrespectful, but that’s why I am here.”

“Aunt, I’m really sorry about this, I wasn’t expecting….” Monday tried apologizing to his auntie, but she cuts him short.

“Well, I’m really enjoying this now.” She said with a bright smile on her face.

“I have been looking for that one person who could speak your uncle’s language, you just brought him to my house Monday. Aren’t you just a life saver?” Monday looked at his auntie surprising and looking lost.

“Yeah, I think 🤔 I am.” He answered.

“Silly boy, it’s a rhetorical question, it does not require an answer.”

“Well, I wanted to answer it.” Monday responded as they both laughed out.

“Not now Hon, you know my answer will always be no, not even the priest or my own Dad will change my decision.” Mr. Bedford said.

“And why is that? Because of your accident and disability?” Fedrick asked.

“Well that’s a silly excuse.”

“You are just afraid you are no longer capable and qualified to coach, because of your accident. You are afraid of failing and tarnishing whatever is left of your so-called name. But you know, the truth is that you are already a failure.”

“What?!”

“Yeah, you heard me right. You are a failure because you gave up and ran away, hiding here in your comfortable house.”

“Look here young man, you know nothing about me.”

“Well you are right, I don’t, but that’s because you hide away. I know the pain you passed through after your accident I can never tell, but I can tell you it’s a silly excuse to give up your dreams because of it.”

“Take Sir Bobby Charlton of Manchester United who survived the disastrous plan crash that claimed the lives of most of his team mates. He survived and didn’t run away, but instead made good use of the second chance he was given. He went on to become the greatest premier league player and a legend.”

“I myself has been given another opportunity to show the world what am made up off and how good or successful I can be with The Wild Cats.”

“What’s that?” Mr. Monday asked.

“It’s the name of our team uncle.” Monday answered.

“I was framed, humiliated and thrown out of the Golden Cats, but I have been given another opportunity to redeem myself through The Wild Cats and you are the last piece of icing in our success story, Sir.”

“Yes uncle, I think it’s time you come out of retirement and take up a coaching job in our school. There is a vacancy as we are without a coach and desperately need one.” Monday added.

“Okay, that’s enough boys. We should all eat our meal, it’s delicious while hot. I will talk to him later, so let’s dig in.” Mrs. Bedford assured them.

They quietly ate their meal, but through this period, Mr. Bedford was uncomfortable and absent minded as thoughts of regret ran through his head. Few minutes later, they were done with dinner. Fedrick and Monday informed Mr and Mrs. Bedford they would be taking their leave as it was already late. They were seen off by the couple.

“Monday, send my regards to your Mum. Please, tell her I will come visiting soon.” Mrs. Bedford requested.

“Yes Auntie, I will. We will be expecting you.” Monday responded as they both turn away to leave, but Fedrick went back to Mr. Bedford.

“I really wish to see you in school tomorrow morning for training, Coach Bedford. It’s was nice meeting you in person and dinner was nice, thank you for having me.” Fredrick said to Mr. Bedford who just stood at the door quietly mopping at him. They both left with the hope that they had done enough to convince Mr. Bedford.

Monday came so fast, the past Sunday was no fun as there were no team training, because of the team had no coach. It was just a normal Sunday, just church service and after that, just video games all through the day. So was Fedrick boring day spent. The next morning, which was a Monday morning, Fedrick, Monday and Cats anxiously stood outside the school gate, anxiously and worriedly awaiting the arrival of Mr. Bedford. They really hoped they had done enough to convince him to come back to coaching. They had waited for about twenty minutes, but there was no sight of him forth coming.

“Are you guys sure he will come?” Cat asked.

“I really can’t tell. I have known my uncle for a very long time and I can tell you he is a stubborn one. When he sets his mind on something, he keeps to it.” Monday responded.

“Well, I believe he will come. I just have this conviction that he will come.” Fedrick added.

After some minutes, they were exhausted and tired of waiting for him. They had waited enough and it seemed as though he wouldn’t be coming. It was almost time for lectures to commence and they had to go back to class for their lecture.

“Well, we did try our best.” Monday said as they turn away from the gate heading back into the school premises, then they heard a deep thick voice call out to them.

“Hello boys!” on turning, they could see Mr. Bedford walking towards them, holding an office bag on one hand and his walking stick on the other hand.

“It’s him!” Fedrick shouted as they all ran to him. Monday helped him with his bag.

“I knew you would come.” Fedrick said to help excitedly.

“I had to be here. I couldn’t fail you, not after your trust and believe in me.” Mr. Bedford responded.

“Thank you so much.”

“No, I should be the one thanking you for helping me believe in myself again, Fedrick and I promise you all that I will not fail you.”

“Okay, I think we need to go in now, so coach Bedford can meet the Principal and formally apply for the coaching job.” Cat said as they all walked together into the school premises.

Mr. Bedford went straight to the principal’s office to apply for the coaching position. The principal was really surprised to see him.

“Really, I’m surprised to see you here. I am still wondering how they did it, but I’m as well happy to see you.” The principal said with a light smile and offered a hand shake which Mr. Bedford accepted.

“Myself is still wondering how Fedrick got to me, but I’m happy he did.”

Mr. Bedford summitted the required file and after some inspection, he was immediately given the job. He was shown to his office.

Later that day after class, they team held their training after a long time. The principal introduced Mr. Bedford to the team as their new coach. They all introduced their selves to him, then said some words of prayer before commencing training. It was intense but refreshing, the team enjoyed themselves.