Read The Ball Hogs for Free Online

another tip on his list. He ran two laps around the outside of the soccer field. The ball only got away from him once.
    He started to run a third lap. Suddenly he heard someone running close behind him. He turned and saw Mark.
    Mark did not have a ball, so he was running very fast. He caught up to Ben and kicked Ben’s ball to the side.
    “Quit it!” Ben said.
    “You’re too slow!” Mark said. “And youthink you’re so cool because you have your own ball.” He kept running.

    Ben ran over to his ball. He could see Coach Patty and Shayna getting out of their car. Other members of the team were arriving, too.
    “Come over here!” Ben called to Mark.
    “Why?”
    “Just come here.”
    Mark stopped running and walked over to Ben. “What?” he asked.
    Ben didn’t want to admit this, but he had to say it. “We’ve been hurting the team.”
    “I haven’t.”
    “Yes, you have,” Ben said. “When we don’t pass, we hurt the team’s chances.”
    “I’m the best player we have,” Mark said. “You hurt the team when you don’t pass to me.”
    “You do the same thing when you don’t pass to me!”
    Before Mark could answer, Coach Pattycalled the team over to her. “We’ve really improved,” she said. “If we work hard today, I think we’ll be ready to win on Saturday.”
    Coach had the team do some drills that focused on passing. “It’s the best way to set up a shot,” she said.
    In one drill, a player would take the ball to the corner of the field, then pass backward to a teammate. That player then passed the ball across the field, sending it right in front of the goal. A third player was waiting there to stop the ball, then shoot it into the net.
    “Think of a triangle,” Coach said. “The ball moves from one point, to a second point, to a third point. The defenders will chase after the ball. If we pass it quickly, we’ll have an open shot before they can catch up.”
    They worked through the drill several times.
    “Now it will get harder,” Coach said. “We’lldo the same drill, but with a defender on the field. We’ll have to speed it up.”

    Ben waited on the field for Erin’s pass to come from the corner. He stopped the ball and turned quickly toward the center of the field. Mark was playing defense. He came toward Ben, trying to stop him. Ben swiftly kicked the ball toward Kim.
    Kim took the pass, dribbled once, and shot the ball into the goal.
    “Great job!” Coach said. “Good things happen when we work together.”
    Ben jogged over to the spot in front of the goal. It was his turn to be the third point in the triangle.
    Here came the pass. Ben stopped it with the inside of his foot. He took a step to his left to get past the defender. The only thing between him and the goal was the goalie.
    He planted his left foot and kicked hard with his right. The ball left the ground and flew on a line drive toward the goal.
    The goalie reached for the ball, but it landed solidly in the net. Ben had scored. He lifted his arms and yelled, “Yes!”
    “Nice shot,” Coach Patty said. “That’s how teamwork pays off.”
    After practice, the team gathered around the coach again.
    “Passing is the best way to move the ball,” she said. “But if you have a good chance to shoot, then take it. The second point of the triangle doesn’t always have to pass. Sometimes that player has a chance to score, too. And the third point doesn’t always have the best shot, either. He can pass the ball right back.”
    Ben wiped his sweaty face on the sleeve of his T-shirt. There was no doubt that the team had played better today.
    Now if they could only manage to do it in a game.

CHAPTER TEN
Holding His Ground

    The next day at recess, Ben was back on the four-square court. The ball came into Ben’s square and he controlled it skillfully, letting it bounce once before slamming it toward Loop.
    Loop stepped back and swatted the ball across to Mark, who spun it into Ben’s square.
    Ben pivoted and