James Beaufoy

James was jus like any other kid his age he loved playing around with his friends , hated waking up in the morning and hated going to school the most. He felt school was adults!!! At 11 he thought he was too young to know what man did 5000 years ago. James lived with his father in Southall,London..Yeah u got me right that same suburb of London that's called Mini India. He lived here with his dad...sadly 4 James his mother passed away during child birth. At the time of her delivery the docs asked Susan (his mother) that only 1 of em will survive..she wanted her son to see this beautiful world..so she decided to go ahead. Dat was 11 years ago..James knows his father as his mother as well as his father. To keep James busy his dad took him to a football clinic when he was 8..since then he goes there daily morning with his dad .He practices for 3 hours before heading for school. There are many other kids as well mostly Asians .James is good friends with them there's Salim-Suleiman the twins from Pakistan and Karan a Punjabi Sikh kid. He enjoys their company. He goes through his drills rigorously and hasn’t missed a single practice session right from the tym he joined the club..as he practices his dad keeps a keen vigil for his son who wants to be as famous his idol David Beckham in fact James's room is filled with Becks posters.

Even though James is a good player , the coach Greg Gordon a 50 year something gentlemen doesn’t see him good enough to be in the playing eleven..James hasn’t played in a single match 4 his team the "Southall Sizzlers" in the local league. Greg was an aspiring u-19 footballer representing England ,but a car crash put paid to his footballing career. Then he shifted to Southall to setup the clinic that James attends.

James had asked Greg many times to let him play..but Greg used to put him off saying "Look Jim..u need to wait 4 ur turn...patience builds character..u see ".James used to feel disheartened..but his dad used to give him a pep talk and he would be fine. Then one day suddenly James stopped attending his practice sessions...Greg was a bit surprised coz James would never miss his practice sessions but he wasnt bothered much coz a)The local league was jus a week away

b)The lease on the park was expiring..if Greg didn’t deliver he would have to find sum place else to setup the clinic coz the land was given to him on a lease by the council..provided he would make the local team the champs...4get being the champs..the sizzlers never made it past the quarters in the last 3 years.

c)James was never a top player and was never in the scheme of things..so greg had enough problems of his own to bother about this 11yr old

But this year something unusual happened the Sizzlers were winning though not by huge margins...they managed to get home by the skin of their teeth...sometimes self-goals helped..sometimes luck was on their side.

They slowly made it to the quarters.Edging out a more fancied side in the quarters they moved onto the semis where they had a lucky escape and managed to score a goal in extra time.greg had almost redeemed himself and his clinic. now

there was just one victory between him and his extension of the lease by the council.

The sizzlers had a 2 days off before their big Finals against Greenford Guns..the team was gung-ho and the excitement was palpable in the dressing room . And finally the day of the finals arrived. But Greg had a surprise visitor..it was James.

Greg came up to him and said "It's been a while since I’ve seen u around son..do u know we've made it to the finals !!!"

Breaking into a little jig..James nodded cleared his voice and said “Coach..I’ve never asked u to let me play in the eleven..but I request you to let me play"...Greg wasnt expecting this..that too 4m James who had never figured in his scheme of things. Greg replied" Look son u kidding me ?? this is d finals..we've made it this far for the first tym and there is too much at stake personally for me ..Hope u understand”. But James persisted "please coach let me play please " he continued pleading .Greg turned around and prepared to leave but something held him back...He had never seen James plead so badly in his entire three years..Suddenly Greg was taken in by the innocence of James and he relented and said with a smile “Go wear ur Jersey No.7..Becks is ur fave rite !!" James got into his attire and the sizzler's took the field greeted by a loud cheer from the home teams supporters who gathered there in full strength to support their pota's !!! It's not everyday that a south asian team- at least a team dominated by kids from south-Asia makes it to the finals of a local soccer competiton coz the sub-continent never gave soccer much of a thought as they were always busy cheering their cricketing icons.The whistle blew and the match started as it always does in any soccer game...but today the sizzlers looked a different unit...all coz of a puny character who was exceptionally passing around the ball wearing jersey no.7..it was James..he played like a house on fire..pumping in a brace in d first half and if the thought the first half was good..then the second half was carnage for the Guns as James seemed unstoppable as he found the back of the net every tym the ball got to him. The Sizzlers had routed the Guns thoroughly. The scoreboard read 7-0 in favor of the Sizzlers..All goals were scored by James..naturally he walked away with the MVP of the Match on his debut !!That doesn’t happen everyday in the life of a 11 year old does it ??

Then as the team celebrated and later as everyone packed their kit bags and left..Greg signaled James to stay back..he came up to him and said "Son I haven’t been proven so wrong in my entire career .....what was it with u today ??".James replied "my dad"...Greg looked up to see at the far corner of the ground to see if James's dad was there..he usually sat there to see if he was still there..he wasnt..Then Greg asked " I know ur dad sits there ..he has been since the day u joined my clinic..but today I don’t c him there. He should have been here..he missed an amazing performance by his ward"

Then James replied " Actually there's something i never told you coach..my dad was blind he passed away ten days ago. Today is the first day he is watching me from up above there..Surely he didn’t miss my performance"..he slung his kit bag and left..pausing for a brief second to turn back and say "Thanks coach...4 if u hadn’t given me a chance..my dad wouldn’t have witnessed me perform" and walked slowly disappearing into the darkness as he saw James leave a tear trickled down Greg's cheek.