Coach Sam had a successful profile and had retired from coaching two years ago. After his retirement he went to his home town to assist his wife in running a poultry business that was initially managed by his wife.
Though he had retired, he never lost sight on Castle FC he coached for 10 years before his retirement. He watched their matches and read about them in news. When Coach Sam started coaching Castle FC, they were relegated and frustrated. He helped them up to victory and titles.
When he handed over to the new coach, with time the discipline he instilled on the club and players quietly rusted out. Most old players also retired from football and new ones were bought to replace them. They enjoyed the success and forgot to maintain the foundation. Soon they fall at the bottom of the table of their league. Though they struggled at the end but their struggle was too late, they were relegated.
Coach Sam followed them up as they flawed, he felt disappointed and would not do anything because he refused Castle FC offer to stick around after retirement. One day a letter was delivered to him, it came from Castle FC, and he already knew what it was all about and therefore refused to answer to their call. Mrs. Sam (Coach Sam’s wife) persuaded him to answer the call. When he got to the management of Castle FC, he gave them conditions. The conditions stated that they would withdraw Castle FC from the league entirely and let him take them for a camp training vacation. They agreed to let him have his way and signed him enough financial support.
Coach Sam took the boys to a remote town and they camped at a place so close to a local pitch. The new players who did not know when Coach Sam reigned as the head coach of the club objected his decision complaining they cannot live such a low life. Castle FC management granted them permission to leave because they trusted Coach Sam and his decision. They know he can bring them back stronger than before. Though not all of the new guys left but most of them left leaving them to 15 players out of 35 players. As they train in that pitch, people of the town would come and watch them. Coach Sam later discovered 5 players in that town and got management of Castle FC to sign them which they did.
The older players realized their wrongs and \helped Coach Sam to train the new ones on Coach Sam’s principles and values. Soon they learned discipline and worked tirelessly to restore their fitness, passion and focus. They involved themselves in various severe trainings and sometimes charity work for the town. Coach Sam knew then that they are now ready for the lower and the main league. He contacted the club’s management to bring them back to the lower league because they were relegated.
It was easy for them to come out of relegation as they trashed each opponent club mercilessly. They later became nightmare for clubs in the main league as these clubs followed them up on their journey back to the main league. With that momentum Castle FC was on the mouth of the press as they trashed their first opponent on their first match of the main league. The main league was not easy for them as they have mostly inexperienced players in their team. Coach Sam never took that as an excuse as he motivated his team to the 4th position in the league. Everyone gave up on them as the league was almost over and that they are yet to play the strong clubs, so they ruled them out as competitors of the title.
When Coach Sam found out that these were bordering his boys he called them out to talk to them, even as the next day was the day for one their decisive matches. He knew that if he let the boys to play that way, they would lose the match. He began by reminding them of the shame they suffered when they were relegated, they disappointment in their faces when their teammates abandoned them for the bigger popular clubs, the almost never ending training they passed through and how far they have come to this stage. Before he was through with his speech, they all shouted on top of their voices and their moral grew.
The next day Castle FC trashed their opponent mercilessly that the fear of them grew greatly in the heart of their remaining opponents. They continued to win their matches until their last match which if they win with one goal they will win the league title. They fearlessly stormed their opponent stadium because it was an away match for them. A win or draw for their opponent would help them qualify for another championship, so for both team the match is an important one. After the first 45 minutes both team had not scored and that is good for their opponent. Their opponent would play defensive and the advantage is on their side. At that point their opponent was the favorite. Coach Sam called his boys and said to them, “Go there and fight for Coach Sam.” The old boys actually knew what that means, so they put out the best performance in the second half. Even as they tried more and more, they could not break the defense of the opponent instead their opponent attackers would occasionally threaten their defense.
Just as when everyone thought it was all over, the first goal of the match came forth and it was in favor of Castle FC. At about the 85th minute, a shot from one of their new boys from the camp town managed to run past the defenders and the goalkeeper of their opponent inside the goalpost, and the assist came from the captain of the team (one of the old boys). Coach Sam could not believe his eyes as they whole stadium was rowdy but asked his assistants whether it was goal and they said yes! He shouted and fell, his technical crew thought it was part of the celebration but when the match continued and he did not get up, one of them went and saw he was breathing too fast and raised an alarm. Coach Sam was carried away to a nearby hospital.
The match has ended, as the Castle boys were celebrating, they asked the technical team where their coach was but no one could give them an answer. They were urged to go ahead and receive their title first. The boys refused and threatened not to go anywhere until they tell them where their coach is. When they heard what happened to their coach, they abandoned the title reception and rushed to the hospital, the reception was later suspended because of the incident.
Before they got to the hospital, Coach Sam had regained his consciousness. When he saw them, he congratulated them on their victory and thanked them for making him proud. They were asked to go in order to give him space. Before they could get to their respective home they heard that Coach Sam is dead. At his death, Coach Sam was 83 years old. The Castle boys and the rest of Castle FC crew and management paid their last respect to the Coach Sam at his burial. Coach Sam’s daughter took Mrs. Sam with her to live with her so as to take good care of her.
By J_amaze
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