All This Time // H.S. // A.U.

Chapter Eighty-Two

HARRY

"Okay, everybody, listen up!" I cup my hands to my mouth to get the large groups attention.

Immediately, forty pairs of eyes locked onto me. "We're gonna break for ten minutes. Drink some water, use the restroom, then we will be scrimmaging for the rest of the day. We've already got you all broken up into two teams, so come back to us and we'll pass out your jerseys."

A wave of excited murmurs pass through the crowd of kids. I grinned, Andre taking over, "These are specially made with your names on the back, provided by Adidas, so don't forget to thank our sponsor over there," he points to a woman who looks up from her phone and waves, "for pulling some strings."

Really, it was Andre who had pulled some strings. His sponsorship through the brand was going on year four, and they jumped at the chance to help us out. It was more for the publicity than out of the goodness of their hearts, but we would take what we could.

The brand representative who was here, Lauren, was spending the weekend watching over the camp, documenting and shoving the photographers lens in our business at every chance. It was a bit annoying and we had to have every kids parents sign a release form to make sure they were okay with their kid being photographed, but both Andre and I knew it would help us out in the long run.

While the kids ran off, some to their parents on the sidelines, others racing to the restroom on the far side, Andre walked over, clapping my hand, and I said, "This is going great."

He nods in agreement, "I'm surprised at how easily they're all listening. I kind of thought it was gonna be a nightmare trying to get their attention."

I huff out a laugh, "You do realize it's because each and every one of those kids idolize you. They keep looking up at you with starry eyes."

"I am awesome."

Laughing, I say, "This was a good idea. We can fit in one or two more of these small camps before your preseason starts, and then next year we will have enough interest and money for a full season. I think the numbers were projecting five teams or something."

"Five teams?" His thick eyebrows lifted high on his forehead, "We're gonna need some help."

"Yep." I clapped his shoulder, but the conversation was cut short as kids started to gather around.

When organizing the camp, we decided to make the age range from eleven to thirteen. Middle school age. The next one would be fourteen to seventeen. These kids were old enough to actually play, instead of tripping over their feet for ninety minutes like six year olds do. They were all eager to learn and play - many not able to play for their schools because of costs.

Growing up, I had no real concept of how much it cost to play soccer. Obviously, I knew my club teams cost a lot, but that wasn't something on my mind. Of course, I was in a position of privilege when it came to money. These kids didn't have the luxury. The gear we provided for them was most of their first. I noticed several kids had gone home after yesterday and wiped down their cleats to perfection, showing up with them practically shining for the second day of camp. They were proud of what they now owned, taking care of it all to the extreme.

We passed out the jerseys, calling out last names for the kids to come up. Some of them acted like we gave them bars of gold, making me grin from ear to ear. Their excitement was infectious, and I found myself smiling and laughing for most of the day.

About twenty minutes until we were scheduled to end, I heard a familiar voice in the crowd. Like I was tuned to her, my eyes immediately found Riley. She was clapping at the goal that was just made, cheering on the kids. Meeting my eyes, she waved, a bright smile crossing her face. She looked cute as hell with her hair up in big round buns and face almost makeup free. I knew she had spent most of the day at the spa with Amanda, and I could tell she was glowing from all the pampering.