#4 - Scorcher

It's a Sunday morning. Approximately eleven in the morning. Most people either just woke up or are still in bed sleeping. If you think Cheng Hou is currently on his way to a primary school's football field, then you'd be right. If you also think Meili is still sleeping because she just started sleeping a couple of hours ago, you'd also be on the money.

Getting off the bike he rented at the train station he dropped off from, Cheng Hou parked it in a parking zone under the void deck of the neighborhood buildings that surrounded the school. He walked to the school's side gate that connected to the school's field. An artificial turf that looked polished with freshly painted markings. Although the field was smaller than most secondary school fields, it was still a great sight for whoever wanted to use the field for their activities.

And as expected, it was empty. Not only was it too early in the morning for most people, but it was also too hot. By just cycling a few minutes to the school from the station, Cheng Hou was sweating. It also didn't help that the black bits in the turfed ground made it feel like stepping on coal with the blazing heat hitting down. But it's as the saying goes, you have to sacrifice comfort when you want to make it to the top. Quote by me, the author.

Cheng Hou sat down before immediately getting up as he complained about how hot the ground was. He quickly moved onto a shadier area and placed his bags down. He took out a football and some cones from his main bag and his boots and gloves from the shoe bag. Substituting his footwear for his football boots, he tied them and hit them onto the ground for a better fit. Just as he was about to start with his warm up, a girl of his age walked in. The both of them looked at each other momentarily, looking slightly surprised that someone else besides them was at the school at this point of time.

Not paying much notice to her once they locked eyes, Cheng Hou continued with what he was doing. Starting out with a small jog from the halfway line towards the center circle, he'd incorporates elements of stretching into his jogs. Kicking his legs up, back, or to each side before proceeding to raise his legs and move it back in in an arch motion. Closing and opening the gates in layman terms. He'd do some crossovers, lunges, and not forgetting about getting his arms active by swinging them around in different iterations. He'd end his warm up routine with some static stretching as he gets his hamstrings and glutes activated. Doing a bit of split stretching to wake his lower body up.

Grabbing his coned markers, he poked his football towards one of the goalposts to start his own training. He rarely mixes up his own routine and sticks to the basics. Basics such as footwork, agility, ball work, passing, and diving. He couldn't do much work on handling due to a lack of walls in the school, and he didn't want to cause a public nuisance by using the apartment building's walls as a rebounder. It was a good idea that he decided to do handling focused work at his neighborhood the day before when not many people were around.

While thinking of what to do next, the girl who came in earlier ran up to him.

"Hey," she called out to him. "Sorry, but do you think I can borrow some of your cones?"

Looking at her as if she was from another planet, Cheng Hou inquired, "Why?"

"Why?" The girl panted, "To do the same thing you're doing," she looked with a hint of confusion. "I forgot my cones this morning and I want to do a bit of dribble and movement work."

"There's actually people who train on their own?" Cheng Hou bluntly hit back. Only for the girl to stare at him with a blank expression on her face. "Right, I do the same," Cheng Hou realized. "Yeah, I'll give you some. How many do you need?"

"Not much, just about eight to nine."

"Sure, no worries," he said as he picked up the remaining stack and counted through them, giving her ten each. 

"Thanks," she said and waved as she ran back to her side of the field. As for Cheng Hou, he just thought of something he wanted to work on. Cross claiming.

As the game of football progresses, so does every position and the role each player is expected to play. Goalkeepers have gone from just staying in their 18-yard box and stopping shots to becoming the eleventh man. They are more involved in the play when it comes to building up from the back, running out of their box to sweep away any incoming balls, and stopping promising attacks from the source. And when it comes to crosses into the box, they can be extremely detrimental. A good ball swung in that meets the head of a master in the air can easily see a goal being scored.

In these instances, goalkeepers are more than often expected to take initiative and run out for these kinds of balls. Calling out for them and making a timely run and jump to catch the ball in the air. And that's what Cheng Hou wanted to work on. Holding the ball in his hands, he'd throw them into the air. He'd watch the ball's movement and track it, as it starts to fall down, he'd jump and raise his hands up to safely secure the ball at the highest possible point. Sometimes he would throw them away from his position in order to perfect his timing. He'd hold his ground first before making a run to where the ball was going to land and attack it. 

In every claim he made, he was conscious on bringing a knee up. Depending on where he's facing, he'd raise either his left or right leg. One reason was to generate more power in his jumps, and the second reason was to protect himself from any challengers for the ball. Goalkeepers make themselves vulnerable to injuries and run ins when the go for the ball. Having their eye only on the spherical object, they become easily endangered when other players challenge them. Not just their opponents, but their defenders who are also trying to get rid of the danger in the area. The risk of one small push throwing every momentum away from the 'keeper can lead to a poor landing that may end up with a terrible ankle injury. It was something Cheng Hou forgets to do whenever he comes out for crosses and it's something he definitely needs to incorporate as muscle memory.

After he was done with what he wanted to do, he decided to go for a bit of a break. He went to his bag and took off his gloves and dropped them onto the ground. He grabbed his phone and wallet and went to a convenience store nearby. Picking out a chocolate bar and a sports drink, he paid for them at the counter and walked out. Checking his social medias with his phone on one hand, a plastic bag with his drink held by the wrist of the other as his free hand held the chocolate bar he was eating. He walked back into the school field as he finished his chocolate bar.

Next to his bag was the girl from earlier who was holding the cones that she borrowed earlier. As Cheng Hou walked back to his stuff, the brown-haired girl walked up to him and called him out.

"Eh."

"Mm?" Cheng Hou replied.

"Can you practice with me?"