Hot Prospect by Cindy Jefferies Read Free Book Online Page B

might not think we’ve seen your potential,” said Mr Wender. “But we notice a lot more than you may realise. And remember,” he continued, “we’re looking for character as well as skill. You might be the best striker in the world, but if you’re not a team player we’ll think very hard before taking you on.”
    Roddy thought about the girl in his match who had refused to pass to him several times. He was sure she’d only held onto the ball to try and impress Mr Jenkins, but she’d been tackled and, as a result, they’d almost given away a goal. How on earth would the staff decide if her style of play was influenced by being on trial, or if she was usually selfish with passing?
    â€œTomorrow morning you’ll be doing some activities that will give you a chance to demonstrate more of your skills, and Mr Jenkins will show you our media centre. But for the rest of today,” said the head, “relax and enjoy yourselves. We want your visit here to be fun as well as challenging. And now I’ll leave you in the capable hands of Mr Jenkins and his team.”
    The head left and Mr Jenkins smiled. “Right then,” he said. “We have some excitingactivities for you this afternoon, but first I thought you’d like to know that Sarah Richards, who was injured this morning, is OK. The hospital tells me that she has a simple fracture, which has been put in plaster. She won’t be able to play for quite a while, but we’ve promised her another trial when she’s fit.”
    â€œThat’s good,” Roddy said quietly to Geno.
    â€œShe might not want to come back,” said Geno. “A broken leg is a horrible injury to get. It’s enough to put anyone off.”
    Roddy was surprised. He couldn’t imagine
anything
changing his mind about playing, but then he’d never broken his leg.
    â€œTo help you get to know the school a bit better, we thought we’d organise a short orienteering session this afternoon,” Mr Jenkins continued. “I hope you’ll find it fun, but you will be timed, so you’ll have to be fastif you want to win the prize. It’ll be a good test of your fitness, and teamwork as well. Then there will be a chance to have a swim, and after tea you’ll have free time in the boarding houses. Our students have lots of fun here after school hours. There’s table football, pool and computer games, including plenty of football ones of course, so there’s never any reason to be bored.”
    â€œWhat about TV?” asked a boy near the front.
    â€œEach boarding house
does
have a TV set in the common room,” said Mr Jenkins. “But to be honest they don’t get watched an awful lot … except for when there are football matches!”
    Several people laughed.
    â€œFor the orienteering, you’ll need to get into groups of four,” said Mr Jenkins. “So let’s see how quickly you can organise yourselves.”
    Keira wanted to stay with the two girls she’d met, so Roddy and Geno hooked up with Ali, a goalie, and John, who’d been on the wing in their team earlier. Each group was given a compass and a map of the school and its grounds. They had to get their cards stamped by a member of staff at each checkpoint they navigated to, and there were clues to collect as well. Everyone was told to meet back in the hall afterwards.
    â€œEach clue is a letter,” said Mr Jenkins. “Once you have them all, see if you can make them into a word or phrase. And if you haven’t finished by three o’clock, then just come back here anyway, otherwise it’ll be too late to fit in a swim. Good luck, everyone!”
    Roddy hadn’t done any orienteering before, but Ali had, and he showed them how to use the compass to follow their instructions. They raced off to the first checkpoint, leavingseveral of the other teams standing. But after collecting a couple