Coach Horan // n.h.

01

Coach Horan » chapter 01








"Alright ladies," the new coach said, tapping his blue inked pen on his clipboard. He scanned our faces, scribbling tiny things next to our names when he discovered something new about us.

The whole girls football team was lined up on the halfway mark, our new coach, Coach Horan, staring us down. He'd taken reign of our team after Coach Matthews had moved to coach the UCLA Bruins. I was upset needless to say, I have no idea who this guy is, and I wanted my old coach back. I was the favorite, and I'm not gonna even try to deny that. I liked being the favorite, I had a good football career going for me because of how much Coach Matthews bragged about me.

But I couldn't deny that this guy was, well, not ugly. He had brown hair with the tips dyed a blonde color, spiked up in a quiff. He had light skin, definitely Irish like the rest of us here. His blue eyes barely visible because of his excessive squinting, the sun beaming down on all of our eyes. All in all, he wasn't bad looking. But I wanted my old coach back.

"My name is Niall Horan, but I'd really appreciate it if you called me Coach Horan." He said with a tiny smile. "I'll be coaching you all through this football season, and I expect the same respect and effort you give Coach Matthews. I can easily give him a call and have him straighten you guys back up" he smirked.


He finally looked down at his clipboard, and when he looked up, it was directly at me. He looked away quickly, but the small eye contact we shared made my hands sweat and-No! Don't think like that. Gross.

"Adelaide Hills? Captain?" He said and looked up. I nervously raised my hand as all of the girls stared at me, waiting for my answer.

"That's me, Coach" I said, trying to butter him up with my easy cooperation, but he just looked at me with a straight face. I stood there awkwardly, shifting on my worn football boots.

"Alright, I'm just gonna call you Addy. Addy, round up the girls and start practice, I'd like to have a little chat with you" he said, nodding at me before gesturing for us to take over the field.

"Ladies, one lap around the field and then stretch. I mean stretch, don't pull a Coraline and tear your hamstring because she didn't stretch" I said and chuckled a little bit, and so did they. I smirked at my best friend, Brooklyn, before jogging to Coach Horan.

When I came over to him, he was already observing the girls as they ran, probably testing their endurance abilities.

"Hey, Coach Horan" I said, standing in front of him. The wind made his hair move, looking unbelievably soft. Yeah. I can't deny it any further. Up close, you could see how young he really was, he couldn't be more than 22 years old.

"Alright Addy, what position do you play?" He asked, looking at me. I looked back at him, biting my lip.

"I play striker or center mid." I said, looking at him again. His eyes darted around my face quickly, and then he pressed his lips together. He nodded, then turned me and gave me a little push,

"Stretch with your team" he said, not giving me another glance. Well, he can try to not be so rude to me.

We all stretched, the stretches led by me and Brooklyn, my co-captain. The whole time Coach looked at his clipboard, biting his lip every once in awhile. I caught myself staring, so I looked down at my shin guards to distract myself.

Why am I getting so infatuated with him? Yeah, he's good looking, but I promised myself that no guy would get in between me and football. I hate this feeling, and I can't get rid of it.

"Girls! I'd like you to set yourself up for a scrimmage. Pick teams, one team wears their shirt backwards and the others forwards" he said, and it was easy to depict who was who because when the practice jersey that Coach Matthews had provided last year was forward, a huge lion with a football in his mouth was shown.

Teams were chosen and me and Brooklyn ended up on different teams. I frowned at her, and she pouted, then giggled.

We decided that my team would have our shirt backwards, but my team would also have ball first.

When coach blew his whistle, we started kickoff. I kicked the ball to the right wing, and she passed it to one of the midfielders.

Right away, I heard Coach scream at me. "Addy! Why are you standing still? Get open when your team has the ball!" He screamed, and I heard the other girls snicker at me. Probably because Coach Matthews never screamed at me.

The game went on and on, consisting of the same thing: my team got the ball, made a bad pass and Brooklyn's team got the ball. Brooklyn's team made a bad pass and my team got the ball.

That was until I got a chance to score. I called for the ball and received it, splitting right through the defensive line. I kicked the ball hard, determined it would hit the back of the net, but it didn't. It hit the post, bouncing right off. One of the defensive players kicked it away, diminishing my chance to score.

"Addy! What the hell was that?! Stop trying to be fancy and kick the freaking ball into one of the corners!" Coach Horan screamed louder than the last time, and I couldn't help but blush.

I sighed, clenching my fists. I kept playing, eventfully getting the ball. I dribbled up, determined to make a goal.


C'mon, show that fucker that you can score, and score well.


But on the way I accidentally pushed one of the girls down, not even caring until I heard Coach Horan blow his whistle.

"Madeline, take Adelaide's place as striker. Adelaide, you're on the bench" Coach said, clearly annoyed in me. The girls made their usually 'oohs', the ones that everyone makes when you're in deep shit trouble.

Am I the only one that noticed he was screaming at me only? Not Brooklyn, not Alice, not Meghan, not Crystal, not Kayla, but me. Only me. That infuriated me.

I sat on the bench, taking a big gulp of water before he started to run his big mouth again.

"What the hell was that out there?" He said, opening his arms out in disbelief. "One, you positioned yourself wrong. Two, you try to impress everyone by hitting the ball high in the corner. Terrible idea. You want a hard pass into the corner because the goalie would have to dive to get the ball. Play to inspire, not to impress. And thirdly, you push a girl down, blatantly, right in front of my eyes. Care to explain, Hills?" He criticized me, his stupid arms crossed over his stupid chest. I hate him. So much.

"It's called football, Coach. We all make mistakes and she weighs like 5 pounds, I didn't push her" I defended, but he wasn't hearing it. Well, fuck you.

"I don't want excuses. Take off your boots and shin guards because you're not playing the rest of practice." He said, not looking at me. He stared at the other girls, nodding his head as Brooklyn's team scored.

"Well played, Brooklyn! Good positioning and great goal. Great job" he called towards her.

I tried not to rip his throat out, angrily untying my laces. Of course, he praises the other girls, but when it comes to me? Hell no! He couldn't hate me more.

"As your punishment for playing so horribly today, you're having an extra session with me. Conditioning and shots on goal Saturday at 10." He said sternly, and I was seriously debating on throwing my boot at him. Purposely with the studs on his stupid face.

"Yes Coach", I mocked, throwing my boots into my athletics bag along with my shin guards. I kept my socks on, sliding on my slides and getting up, ready to call my mum.

"Where do you think you're going, Hills?" He said, looking at me. "Sit down. You're watching the rest of practice with me"

I clenched my jaw, "I apologize, Coach Horan" I said, and he looked directly at me.

"Don't back talk me, Hills. Watch your mouth" he said, then resumed his focus back into the scrimmage.

This wasn't going to be easy, not at all. Doesn't help that he has to be hot but I hate him and he hates me.

Just remember: nothing can get in between you and football. Nothing.


















hi so i don't know if you guys will like this. i play soccer in the states so i know my fair share about soccer. it'd be nice if you left a comment or something as well :)