Kelly Mercer is eating a bag of chips, watching the trials from afar. One of her friends, Michelle, is sitting next to her. She is looking at Kelly, a bit confused, wondering why she is so focused on the trial.
"Uhm.. Kelly, it's just a trial.. the main game is tomorrow. Why so serious", Michelle asked.
Kelly didn't respond, she was too focused on the trial and her bag of chips. She was thinking to herself.
"This trial doesn't bother me. I'm here to watch that boy. Show me who you are Sonny Hale" she thought while shoveling her chips.
****
On the field, Damien is warming up, and by the corner of his eye he notices Sonny, warming up as well. He gets annoyed, but keeps a calm expression as always.
"Why would someone like him be on the same field as me. I'm going to break his legs off if he gets anywhere near me" Damien muttered.
"Alright everyone!" Joe Willock exclaimed. He was about to explain how the trial programme will go, and the activities to take place.
He continued "Gather around. Today is the first day of Rivermark's trial programme".
"Day 1 of the trial like we said last week, will have 2 parts. The first part being the stamina and fitness test and the second being the technical test".
He explained that the first test will be for stamina and fitness. His associates coordinated the candidates, and assigned them into 20 groups with 10 players in each group.
The first fitness test was going to be a full field suicide run.
A group would run from the Goal line to the 18-yard box and back,
Then From the Goal line to halfway and back.
Then From the Goal line to the opposite 18-yard box and back.
And finally From the Goal line to the opposite goal line and back.
10 players for each set. The bottom 2 players from each set will be removed at this stage.
The first few groups stepped up to do the exercise. After this it was group 8's turn to do the field runs, this was also Sonny's group.
They stepped up. Theo was also in Sonny's group. Theo was buzzing about this as he could push Sonny to try harder. But Sonny was actually prepared for this section of the trial.
When they had lined up, Coach Joe told them the task and blew the whistle. "Fweeee!".
The players started to jog but with a bit of speed in their step. Sonny was keeping up well. They jogged and completed each task, up until the final round which was for the players to run from their goal line to the opponent's goal line and back. A player fainted halfway through but the rest made it back to their goal line.
Sonny finished 4th in this part of the fitness test, with Theo finishing 2nd.
Theo was surprised at how easily Sonny kept up. "Nice job bro!", Theo said while breathing heavily, and his jersey full of sweat.
"Thanks man, been training hard for this these past few weeks", Sonny replied, with a smirk on his face and a bit less sweat than Theo had.
Theo saw that Sonny wasn't breathing as heavily as he was and was a bit confused but didn't put too much attention to it.
The other groups ran their course as well and a total of 20 players were removed. Leaving only 180 players to participate in the next phase of the fitness test.
The players had a quick 15 minute break, before the next stage of the fitness test commenced.
"The next test will be...the Beep test", Coach Joe said. He smirks and looks at the candidates.
Whispers start to go around, most candidates are afraid because of what they've heard about the beep test and how Rivermark implements it into their fitness system.
"I've heard of the beep test before", one mentioned.
"Yeah, it's one of the worst fitness tests out there... even actually pros don't perform too well when they do it". Another replied while shaking with fear.
Coach Joe continued "this session is brutal, there's no stopping until the end, which is when I blow my whistle. If anyone would like to back out, please do so with immediate effect". He said with a grin on his face.
30 players walked out of the pitch immediately, leaving only 150 candidates left. They were reshuffled into 15 groups of 10 players.
Sonny was a bit afraid, due to the fact that he had not prepared for this part of the training, he didn't expect the beep test to be done in the trial.
Coach Joe explained what the session was about. He told them that 4 players will be removed from each group, at the end of the session. Which meant that anything below 6th place wasn't an option for Sonny.
He asked the first group to line up. And each group did the session respectively.
Sonny and a left back were neck and neck with each other, fighting for the 5th spot.
The last beep was called by Joe, Sonny ran with everything he had, but the defender was faster than him. A moment before the defender reached the Goal line, He slipped and fell to the ground, leaving Sonny to pick up 5th place. Barely finishing in the top 6, just behind a goalkeeper, Daniel Lookman who finished 4th.
This adjourned the stamina and fitness test. Only 90 players passed this session, and they were given time to rest before the technical test began.
As the players leave to take a rest, Coach Joe was watching Sonny, impressed that he managed to go this far in the test.
"He's keeping up nicely isn't he?" an assistant of Joe said, with a smirk on her face, looking at Joe.
"Hmm, yes, he really is", Joe chuckled.
"Let's see how he copes in the technical session". Joe said, and walked away to have a sip of water.
Sonny goes to have a seat and drink water. Sweaty and tired, he almost falls to the ground, but Theo comes in clutch and helps him take a seat.
"You're doing very well Sonny, I'm really impressed" he smiled, looking at Sonny.
"Why thank you! Haha" Sonny chuckled
He continued "I've trained a lot for this, I'm not going to pass up this opportunity".
Damien walks by and looks at Sonny, he has a mutual expression, then break character and chuckles "you think you have a chance to get into the team? Don't make me laugh. Just so you know, if you do, get drafted into Day 2 of the trial... don't come close to me, I won't hesitate to break both your legs", He says while pointing at Sonny.
Sonny gets up, feisty "I'm not going anywhere Damien, this is just a warmup".
They faced off, face to face. Sonny full of confidence, and motivated for the coming sessions. In his mind, no one was going to stop him from achieving his dream.