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COACH BOMBAY HAD tied the team up with one big rope. He said it would be a good exercise for "team building".
"This is more crowed than a truckload of goats!"
"Someone licked me!"
"Oh, I smell somethin."
"Goldberg!" The whole team shouted at the Goldberg, assuming it was him.
He sighed, "It wasn't me."
"No, it was me!" Dean Portman said with a big smile, lifting his arms up. Everyone groaned and started to voice complaints about being uncomfortable.
Coach Bombay suddenly blew his whistle, "I don't know how to make this any clearer. You are a team. And to win this thing, you have to work as one. Now as one, skate."
They all complied and started to skate. Everyone immediately fell on their backs, some slipping out of the rope.
"Everyone goes their own way, everyone falls down," Coach advised. "Now get up and try again."
They all scrambled up and Coach Bombay tied them up again.
"All right, all of you move to your right," Dean shouted to the group, as they started to slowly move to the right.
"Who made you boss? Everyone to the left," Fulton shot back, making the other half of the team go to the left.
They fell again, this time right in the middle.
Coach Bombay sighed, "You guys can argue all you want, but I am not untying you until you move as one."
They went back up and got retied once more. This time, Y/n was right in front of Charlie. He thought this was lucky, for the girl couldn't spot the redness on his cheeks.
They all started to move in the same direction for once, successfully skating as one.
"Now you're learning! Communication! That's it!" Coach praised. "Good, together. Move together. Charge! All right! Right turn! That's it!"
The group turned successfully again, Coach patting Charlie on the back. "Knock wood, Charlie."
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"You guys are startin' to look like hockey players. I'm proud of ya, team," Coach Bombay spoke. "You worked hard today. But hockey should also be fun."
He walked up to Dwayne, "Rancher Dwayne."
"Yes, sir," Dwayne replied.
"Round me up some stray cattle there," Coach handed him the rope he was holding.
"My pleasure!"
The kids started to try and get away from Dwayne as fast as they could, some falling in the process.
He started to skate towards Averman, who was trying to convince Dwayne to go for Y/n. Of course, the convincing didn't work and he ended up on the floor with the rope wrapped around him.
"Hey, Cowboy!" Y/n shouted to Dwayne with a smirk. "Want some help?"
"Yes ma'am!" He responded with a giddy smile on his face.
Y/n took the rope and started directly towards Adam, who was facing away from her.
She managed to pull him down, making him squeal, as he didn't think anyone would trip him.
"Thought you had better reflexes, Banks," She teased, skating away backwards.
Y/n tossed Dwayne the rope back and watched him rope Charlie. She flashed Charlie a quick grin, before skating right past him.
Charlie closed his eyes and tried to push back a smile, failing completely.
Eventually, Team U.S.A was gathered by Dwayne, who wanted to teach them how to do the "Texas shuffle".
Coach Bombay joined in at one point, leaving soon after, for he couldn't stop laughing.
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Tibbles had unmasked a giant cereal box, one that had a huge photo of the team on it.
Tibbles cleared his throat, "Today, it's a Wheaties box. Tomorrow, it's video games, action figures, lunch boxes. The sky is the limit. Now, just have to make sure that everybody knows who you are, try on one of these."
He picked up a jersey and showed it to everyone. It had the countries colors on it, with the words "Team U.S.A" on it.
"Brought to you by those wonderful people at Hendrix for all your hockey needs. Fulton, there you go," Tibbles threw the jersey to Fulton. "Everybody take your own. I'm not gonna give 'em out to everybody."
Everyone made comments on how good it looked and got up to get their own. Everyone except Charlie.
"That's nice, Coach. But we're Ducks. This stuff says "Hendrix" all over it," He told his coach.
"Well, yeah, they're our sponsors, Charlie."
"So what? Can't we be U.S.A Ducks? Or at least keep our own colors?"
"It's business stuff, Charlie. Don't worry about it," Coach Bombay got up from his seat.
Once Y/n got her jersey, she went to sit back down, only to see a hurt looking Charlie. She quickly went to sit near him, tilting her head to meet Charlie's.
He simply smiled at her, before getting up to get his own jersey, leaving a confused Y/n.
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It was now their first lesson of the summer. The team was gathered outside, near a lake, all sitting on logs or rocks.
"Ancient Greece was the beginning of Western Civilization," Ms. Mackay taught. "See, in Greece, they didn't have professional sports or Wheaties boxes. So the athletes competed for another reason. Anybody?"
"Falafels?" Goldberg asked, genuinely curious.
"You wish, Goldberg."
Ms. Mackay turned to Charlie, who had his hand raised. "Charlie?"
"Pride."
"That's right. The various city-states waved their flags and wore their home colors proudly."
"Did America always dominate?" Fulton asked the woman, smiling.
The team laughed, before Ms. Mackay continued, "No. America wasn't around back then. It's okay. Don't forget that compared to other countries, America is still young, still forming it's own identity. America is a teenager, just like you."
"Like us?" Jesse questioned.
"You bet. A little awkward at times, but always right there on the verge of greatness."
