Johnny Smalls is a fourteen year old student at Crescenta Valley High School. He is five feet and one inch tall, which is short for his age. Johnny has a passion for the sport of football, but he has never played due to his unathletic body. This year at CV, Johnny wants to join the football team, but he needs to try out first. A week before tryouts, Johnny brought home the permission slip for his parents to sign, but he was afraid they would not sign it. Johnny’s parents are very overprotective; he was not allowed to play basketball at the park with his friends, so why would they sign the slip. He decided that it was worth a try, and that night he hoped for a miracle.
“Mom, Dad, I was wondering if you could sign this for school?” asked Johnny.
“What is it for?” replied his mother.
“The football team,” Johnny answered shyly.
“No, we will not allow this,” shouted his father.
“Johnny, you are not the type to play football,” calmly said his mother.
“Then who is, the big, strong, tall kids? Just because I am smaller than them does not mean I can not play the same sport as them. I am fourteen years old mom, you do not have to baby me,” replied Johnny as he stomped out of the room.
“Johnny, baby that's not what I meant,” said his mother.
That night Johnny felt very discouraged, he did not come to eat dinner, and he slept very early. The next day, he could not look at his parents in the eyes, but that night he spoke with his brother, and he felt much better.
“Hey, bro,” said Johnny.
“Hey. I heard you wanted to play football,” said his brother, Danny.
“Yeah, but Mom and Dad are not letting,” Johnny replied sadly.
“Well, what if I said I could make it happen?” asked Danny.
“What do you mean?” asked Johnny.
“Well, I am eighteen years old, so I am an adult. Why don't I sign the form?” asked Danny.
“Are you being serious?” replied Johnny.
“Yes, but only if you promise not tell Mom and Dad,” said Danny.
“Deal!” Johnny replied happily.
The rest of the night Johnny was a different person; he was very happy that someone believed in him. The day of tryouts, Johnny went to school excited and proud. His cover-up story was that he was staying late to do his homework at the library. When he walked onto the field, everyone looked at him and laughed, but he did not care a bit.
“Wow, good luck out there today,” said the coach as Johnny turned in his slip.
“Thank you Coach,” said Johnny.
After tryouts, Coach gave a little speech to the boys.
“Thank you to everyone who tried out today. It takes a lot of courage to come and try out for the schools football team, and you boys were up to the challenge. Members of the team will be posted up next week.”
For the next week, Johnny and Danny kept the secret from their parents, wondering if they would ever tell them. The day that the team would be posted, Johnny was very nervous; he could not wait until the bell rang to find out if his name was on the list. After the bell rang, he ran to the gym and checked the list. He looked through all sixty names and could not see his, so he read it again and finally saw his name written in black ink. When Danny found out, he was very excited, and he decided to tell his parents. That night, Johnny and Danny approached their parents.
“Mom, Dad, I made the football team,” said Johnny
“What?” said their father.
“I signed his form for him,” said Danny.
“Are you serious?” shouted their father, “Daniel Smalls come with me.”
After an hour of yelling and arguing, Danny and his father finally agreed to let Johnny play.
After a month of playing great football for the school, Johnny was well known all throughout the school. The school team had made the semi-final game, and they were very close to make it to the championship, but during this game something went wrong. In the fourth quarter, Johnny went up to catch the ball but was thrown down right on his wrist. The team ended up winning the game, and everyone was excited except Johnny. Later that day, Johnny found out that he sprained his wrist, and he could not play in the final game, but he did not give up. The day of the final game, Johnny woke up and decided he wanted to play. After trying very hard to convince his parents, he suited up to play. The game was close, it was 21-23, and the Falcons were down, with three seconds left on the clock, Johnny caught a sixty yard Hail Mary for the win.
“Johnny, Johnny, Johnny...,” chanted everyone in the stands.
“Great job Johnny! It takes a lot of courage to pull that off,” said Johnny’s coach.
“Thanks coach,” replied Johnny.