The off-season was officially upon the Arcadia Titans football team. Sure, their season had been finished before the year had even begun, yet despite losing the Arizona State Championship and missing Nationals, they'd still been practising just as hard as ever. However, even with the return of school after spring break, football practice hadn't resumed, and Jackson was facing a conundrum.
He crunched into a buttered piece of toast, chewing over his thoughts as much as the toast itself. Think as he might, he was at a loss as what to do with the lack of training. He had plenty of time to himself now, but what was he supposed to do with it? How could he replace team training in a strong enough way to maintain his balance, without losing too much on the football side of things.
'What's on your mind, Jackie?' his father asked, noticing the look of concentration and slow, methodical chewing.
'I'm worried I'll lose my balance without football practice.'
'Just because you don't have football practice doesn't mean you can't train yourself,' his mother chimed.
'Yeah, but it's not the same.'
'What, not happy with your big brother's super awesome extra training schedule?' Tommy said, suppressing a chuckle.
Scowling, Jackson reached over and pinched a slice of bacon from Tommy's plate. 'Hey!' Tommy exclaimed, drawing a giggle from Chrissy as Jackson simply grinned in response. William hid his smile, whilst Elizabeth clicked her tongue.
'Well maybe it's time for you to take a break from football,' she said.
Take a break? But he hadn't even started. Jackson scrunched up his face as if his stolen piece of bacon tasted sour.
'Oh come now, it won't be that bad,' she said. 'It'll only be until the summer training camps start up. You could get a part-time job.'
'A job?'
'Hahaha, don't act so horrified, Jackie. It'll be good for you. Wouldn't you like to have some extra money?'
'Could be handy now you've got a girlfriend to take on dates,' William said. 'Somebody needs to pay for that, and you won't want it to be her, or your parents.'
'That's not… helpful right now,' Jackson said, blushing. 'I can't just give up on my training.'
'You're not giving up, you're just… taking a break,' William implored. 'Besides, it's not like you'll have to get an office job where you're doing nothing but sitting on your butt all day. What if you start small and just deliver pizzas. Your new bike could be fitted with a basket, couldn't it?'
Jackson's brow furrowed. Delivering pizzas? He'd have to ride his bike a lot, which would be good for his stamina and keeping his legs strong, though it still wasn't doing much for his hands or any other part of his game. Even if strong legs were the foundation for everything, they weren't the replacement for everything.
'You're overthinking things, little bro,' Tommy said. 'If football practice is done for a while, you just need to keep up the grind on your own. What separates the good players from the greats is how much you're willing to push YOURSELF. Your coaches and teammates—hell, even me or dad—won't always be there to hold your hand for you.
'I'm not asking anyone to hold my hand… besides, aren't you gonna be late for your lectures?'
'Hm? Oh crap, what time is it?' Tommy stood up so abruptly his chair almost toppled over. 'Dad, can you drive me in?'
'Sounds like we all need to get a move on,' William said, standing much more calmly. He kissed Elizabeth on the cheek, before taking his plate over to the sink.
His and Tommy's departure was the start of the family exodus from breakfast. Plates were stacked into the dishwasher, glasses of orange juice were drained before following suit, and bags were hastily slung over shoulders before the Woods family departed on their various ways.
Tommy and Dad left in Dad's car, whilst Chrissy and Mom went the opposite way down the street in hers, and then there was Jackson scrambling onto his bike and heading to school on his own.
Cruising through the streets on the way to Arcadia High, Jackson thought more about the idea of delivering pizzas, which was sounding less ridiculous by the minute.
By the time he'd reached his school, he hadn't rejected the idea completely, but he knew it wasn't a proper replacement for training. Maybe he could look into it, and ask around if some nearby places needed another delivery boy. The money would be nice, not to mention the employee discount.
Yet he still had to figure out the rest of his difference. Sure, grinding and training harder himself could help a bit, but that still wasn't good enough to replace the structure of dedicated team practice… what the hell would?
He was so caught up in this problem, for once he didn't even care about potentially seeing Jasmine as he walked to his locker. He auto-piloted right to class, and found a seat in the back row, arriving before any of his friends.
Even as they found their way to him and settled into the nearby seats, as did the rest of the students, and class eventually got underway, Jackson was still lost in his own thoughts. Everything else was just background noise.
School. His school's team practice was over. But maybe ASU would still be having their team practices. College teams never really stopped practising, even during the "off-season." What if he joined Tommy's training? Would that even be allowed. His dad was on the coaching staff as well…
But even if they could get him into practices, somewhere he wouldn't be in the way, and he'd just be following along with them, it'd be way too impractical. First of all, he'd never make it to the sessions in time. He'd have to bike there himself, and it'd probably be over by the time he arrived.
Thinking more about it, they'd never let him join anyway. He slumped against his desk. 'Stupid.'
'You good, bro?' Eddie whispered, leaning towards him.
Jackson sat up straight. 'Yeah, yeah, don't worry about me.'
Sachin and Marcus looked over, but shrugged.
Class passed without issue, though when Jackson trudged out into the hall, trailing behind his friends, an idea hit him. Maybe he had been on the right track when he thought about joining another team's training… he just needed to find the right team, and hop onto their TRACK.
He stared at the backs of his friends, a smile growing on his face.
The question was too important, and required too much discussion to be whispered about during a class—the teacher would've disrupted them; separated them—so Jackson had to bide his time until lunch, when the perfect opportunity arose.
Following Sachin, Eddie, and Marcus to their own table, Jackson passed by the sprawling groups that made up the football team. He locked eyes with Kenny for a moment, and he got that feeling again. He was a renegade, going against his teammates. Nearly as much an enemy as an opposing player would be, certainly Kenny was as big a rival as Kentavious Rice would be. But it had to be done.
Jackson slid into his seat beside Eddie and said: 'Hey, I've got something to ask you guys.'
'What is it, bro?' They looked at him expectantly.
'Do you think I could tag along on your track team training?'
Sachin and Marcus again shared a glance. Several questions passing between them in a second. Was that allowed? Could they do it anyway? Would they get in trouble? Could Jackson even keep up?
Eddie meanwhile, didn't take his eyes off Jackson. He was the one to answer the question. 'We'll have to ask the coach, but we can vouch for you. It should be alright if you're just tagging along.'
'Right, like if he's following you guys, he'll just be running around a bunch,' Sachin said.
'We do more than just run around, man.'
'Yeah, but I'm saying he probably can't do my shit 'cause there's only limited equipment. Like how the football team wouldn't just let anyone tag along on their training 'cause they all gotta take turns and stuff.'
'The idiot's got a point,' Eddie said, 'even if he's expressing it horribly.'
'Bruh.'
Jackson smiled, listening to his friends' banter as he ate. Now all that was left was the hard part. At least it was pretty much out of his hands. There wouldn't be much he could do to convince any of the coaches that he won't get in the way by following along the training.
On the way out of the cafeteria, he passed his teammates again. It really did feel like he was leaving them behind. Was that the kind of thing a proper teammate should do? But what else could he do? It's not like they could ALL join the track team's practice—Jackson alone might not be able to. Maybe it was fine. After all, hadn't the National Championship tournament been the perfect example for how a single player could elevate his team? In a tournament comprised of State Champions, the ones who went deep were the ones with the most exceptional leader.
If the Titans wanted to be champions next season, even just STATE champions, someone had to take charge. Jackson Woods will be that someone. He carried that conviction with him throughout the rest of the school day as a reminder to why he was doing what he was doing and leaving his teammates behind.
After the final bell rang, Jackson once again followed Sachin, Eddie, and Marcus, heading out the back to the track and field practice area. He didn't have a proper uniform, but his casual clothes were sporty enough.
It was Eddie who approached the coach with Jackson's idea. The short, feisty-looking woman grimaced as she listened to Eddie's plea. Jackson hoped she was just one of those people who naturally looked angry all the time even if they weren't, but he still felt the need to move in and say his piece as well.
'Hi, ma'am. I promise I'm not going to get in the way or disrupt anything for your team. I know they've all got important meets coming up, but I think if I was here with them I could really help push these guys to try even harder. And the moment you feel like I'm too much of a problem, you can throw me out immediately.'
Coach Hamm sighed but nodded, waving Jackson away. 'Keep up, kid. No-one's going to help you, and if you slow either of these boys down for a second, you're gone.'
Eddie and Jackson grinned at one another, bumping fists quickly. 'Thank you, ma'am!' Jackson shouted. 'I promise you won't regret this.'
She mumbled something about already starting to as she walked away, though Jackson was too excited to hear her. He was in, now he just needed to prove he could keep up, and his off-season was saved.
Following behind both Eddie and Marcus in their respective fields was fine enough—even though Jackson struggled at first and was nowhere near a match for either Marcus's speed, nor Eddie's endurance, he at least didn't drag them down with him.
However, both boys' training was too focused on their legs and their stamina.
With Marcus, despite his earlier objections, it was a LOT of running. The best way to get better at running was… to run. But it was constant motion, too. For Marcus, resting meant either a casual jog, or walking. There was no sitting or even standing around and waiting for the next thing.
It was all about short (about a minute, give or take) bursts of top speed, followed by elongated periods of "rest."
At least there were some stair sprints and high-knees to give it SOME variety. (Later Marcus apologised for Jackson joining on a track day, promising the gym sessions were much less boring and one-note.)
Eddie's wasn't much better. It was more running, with the emphasis on MORE. Round and round the four-hundred metre track he went, transitioning from high-speed jogging/easy sprinting, to slow jogs between every one or two laps.
He was there for the high-knees and stair climbs as well, but again it proved the best way to get better at running was to RUN.
Jackson couldn't fault it, really. If football wasn't such a gruelling sport, and the risk of injury wasn't so high, he'd bet Coach Otsen would have them playing scrimmage games every practice.
At the end of the day, it was fine, and certainly gave Jackson a killer workout for his legs, but it wasn't the robust, well-rounded training he needed.
If he could've joined Sachin, maybe that would've helped him out, but he couldn't find any time or space to fit in without disrupting everything until the official practice was over.
Thankfully, Sachin did him a solid and stayed back for some extra training and to show Jackson the ropes, and in these exercises Jackson found the balance his workout needed.
Of course it targeted mostly his upper body, but there was still plenty of stretches to help his flexibility, and also an emphasis on core strength. Even if it was dizzying at times.
The easiest one for Ty to join in with was the Dry Drill, though it was the most dizzying, as it was essentially just throwing a shot put… without the shot put. A simulation, if you will. Sachin preferred to use a small medicine ball during this for added weight and realism.
What caught Jackson most off guard was the flexibility part. That medicine ball came into play many more times, as there was plenty of stretches and twists engaging his core muscles while holding the ball steady, and even some focus on the legs, with squats and jumps and even "A-Drills" where Sachin split his legs into an "A" before powering through on a short-motion throw.
All in all it was a good day, and Jackson felt that satisfying warmth throughout his legs—which were almost burning—up through his core and along his arms, focusing on his shoulders.
Though it was also a long one as they had to stay an extra hour after practice was done. So as good as it was, it just wasn't practical with Sachin having to be his personal trainer basically.
The group rolled onto the streets on their bikes, cruising towards the suburbs on their ways home.
'I'm sorry,' Jackson said. 'You guys put your necks on the line for me and even stayed back to help but I… maybe this idea was stupid.'
'Hey, don't worry about it, man.'
'Yeah, it was good to have you back on the team, bro, even if it was only for one day.'
'Bruh, you guys ain't the one's who had to do extra training… which is a sacrifice I'd make every day for one of my bros.'
'Hahah, thanks guys, that means a lot. But don't worry, I'm not gonna ask you to do that every day.'
'What are you gonna do instead?' Eddie asked.
Jackson rode in quiet contemplation for a while. It was a good question, and one he'd have to think hard about that night. Finally, he said: 'I'm not sure. But whatever it is, I'm gonna have to do it on my own.'
'We're here if you need us, bro.'
'Hah. Don't worry, I bet Tommy's gonna call you up for another one of his surprise practices soon.'
'Bruh. As long as he ain't making us play dodgeball again.'
'You just mad 'cause you got out the most, man.'
'Shut up!'
Sachin swerved towards Marcus, who laughed and swerved away. Thus began a mad chase that split the group in two, though even Eddie and Jackson were soon parting ways, and Jackson was left on his own.
Maybe that's exactly as it should be. Tommy was right—Jackson would have to grind by himself, and grind hard enough to make up for his lack of full team training. And hell, if he found the time for it, maybe his mom and dad were right about that part-time job, too.