“86 minutes, 2 goals down, it’s coming to an end.” I said to myself while looking at the scoring board.
“Beep… beep… beep…” The full-time whistle sounded, and the team was crowned champions. All my teammates were running around the field cheering and celebrating the first trophy that we brought for our school. I didn’t spend much time celebrating, I just sat on the field while looking at the medal around my neck until Ben interrupted me.
Ben was the playmaker and my best friend on the team. We were described as the “KB duo” as we shocked every team that played against us.
“Hey captain, the trophy lifting ceremony is about to start, get up!” exclaimed Ben while running at me.
“Sorry, just a second.” I replied and used my full speed to run towards the stage.
“Here’s the trophy, congratulations, not only the captain of the team but also the MVP of the tournament, you finally did it.” said coach Bolton.
“Thanks coach, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you” I said to coach Bolton, holding back my tears.
“3…2…” the team started counting, “1… we are the champions… my friend…” the famous song by Queen played again as we looked at the lifted trophy, and I finally couldn’t hold my tears back and started to recall how it all started 6 years earlier.
-------
If you met me 6 years ago, you wouldn’t recognize me. My face was round as a ball, not to mention my bouncy tummy. However, I wasn’t the kind of person who naturally had a heavier set. As I remember, I was very thin as a child, and I had a nickname of “chopstick kid” until the age of 12 when I started to gain weight. I never considered myself as a “fat boy” but a “cute boy” as my relatives always said that I was cute. I would have 5 meals a day including breakfast, lunch, dinner and two sets of afternoon tea with chips, which made my weight rise a lot in a short period of time. Even when my friends nicknamed me as “Ken the fatty”, I didn't care as I would obey the old saying “Every fat boy is a diamond in the rough,” and believe that I would become the second Eddie Pang one day to shut them up.
I have always been a football enthusiast ever since I was a small child. Being a member of the school’s football team was my dream since primary school, but I would never be selected no matter how hard I tried. Much to my surprise, the reason for rejecting me was the same from every coach since junior primary- “You haven’t reached our standard yet.” What standard was it? No one knows, at least no one had told me about “the standard”. I remember scoring 4 goals in a single match and that the coach still told me that I hadn’t reached the standard to play in the school team. That made me even more confused.
I am a persevering and optimistic person so I never gave up on my dream and I would participate in every year's team selection. However, as time passed by, I started to feel frustrated about failing every time, and I would have to go home straight away after participating in the team selection. When I was in secondary four, I tried out again, expecting the same disappointing result. As expected, I was sent home again.
Unexpectedly, however, after I got home, I got a call from the coach for my secondary school’s football team - Coach Bolton. Coach Bolton was an experienced English coach hired by the school to introduce the “European style” of play to the school’s football team. He wanted to discuss my performance at the team selection with me. I immediately dashed back to the school gym after receiving his call, thinking that my time had finally come.
“Ken Lee, striker position, right?” Coach Bolton asked while looking at the board.
“Yes, I am! Did I get in? I am ready to serve the team!” I exclaimed.
“No, I am sorry…”
Filled with disappointment, I interrupted with sarcasm, “Got it, haven’t reached the standard yet, right? I understand.”
Coach Bolton smiled and said “Ken Lee, excellent shooting, passing and aggression, you are the best striker I have ever seen in this school, your standard is far beyond all the candidates.”
“So why don’t you choose me? That doesn’t make sense, coach!” I started to get angry and was shouting at him now.
“Because of your stamina,” Coach Bolton said. “You aren’t selected because you aren’t fit enough, I can’t choose a person who does not have good stamina.” Coach Bolton continued to explain.
“What? Just because I am a bit chubby? My stamina is as good as other candidates!” I shouted. Knowing that I wouldn’t be satisfied with his answer, coach Bolton took me to the school football field and said “Here, if you can run 30 loops in 9 minutes, you’re in.”
“Remember what you’ve said,” I told coach Bolton seriously with my eyes glowing. I immediately went to my locker to get the dusty training suit which my mum had prepared for me to go to the school gym for exercising. I quickly got dressed and got myself ready for the challenge.
“Start!” I quickly used my full speed to dash after hearing coach Bolton’s announcement. Much to my surprise, I just used less than a minute to finish 3 loops and I started to think that it wasn’t challenging at all. I started to run even faster at the 4th loop as I wanted to shock coach Bolton and to show him that I was the best player he could have ever get. However, starting from the 5th loop, I started to feel pain in my chest and that I couldn’t boost further so I stopped running and tried to walk through the 5th loop.
When I crossed the finishing line, I looked at the time counting machine by the sidelines which the number “6” had appeared on the screen meaning that there were only 6 minutes left for me to run 25 more loops. I started to panic and used my full speed to dash again. However, this tactic didn’t work this time, the pain in my chest just became even worse. I felt that I couldn’t continue running. I wanted to tell coach Bolton that I wanted to stop but knowing that I would lose the chance of getting in the team, I decided to stay on field till the end.
“10 loops in 9 minutes, that’s what I meant, Ken,” said coach Bolton softly, like a father talking to a son, I could feel the warmth in his words. However, the warmth in his words couldn’t gloss over my disappointment. “Sorry coach, I will come again next year.”
When I was about to leave the field, coach Bolton asked to take a picture of me, then asked me an interesting question.
“Who’s your favorite player, Ken?”
“Ronaldo.” I replied. Coach Bolton then told me to stay behind a little longer to give me some tips for the next team selection.
“Here.” said coach Bolton, showing a picture of myself and young Ronaldo.
“You are on the left and Ronaldo’s on the right, Ronaldo is considered the best player in the world. He was very thin when he was small, as you can see here. He was never chosen to be in the school team because he was too thin. And he has now become…” Coach Bolton paused while showing me another picture of Ronaldo now.
“The best player in the world.” Coach Bolton continued.
“Do you think you can be a good football player with the body that you have now?” Coach Bolton said while handing me the phone on his hand. Looking at the 3 pictures, I was surprised. I couldn’t even believe my eyes. This was the first time that I thought about how unfit I looked. Seeing myself sweating battered and exhausted, I really couldn’t believe I looked like that.
“Is that really me?” I asked coach Bolton for confirmation. Coach Bolton nodded without saying a word. “How could this guy get into a school team? Why couldn't I recognize it earlier?” my mind was filled with confusion and disappointment and I burst into tears.
“It’s okay Ken, come again next year, in your best form. I will wait, the next Ronaldo!” Coach Bolton padded my shoulder and exclaimed. I could see faith in and warmth in his eyes; I knew that he believed in me.
“See you next year coach.” I said while wiping my tears and leaving the field with dedication.
Dressed in the dusty training suit with my hair tied. “School gym, here I come!” I shouted.
---------
“3…2…” the team started counting, “1… we are the champions… my friend…” the famous song by Queen was played again, looking at the lifted trophy, I finally couldn’t hold back my tears, the chubby kid finally became a champion, the “Ronaldo” that he wanted to be.