2026-09-28, 09:19 AM - Word count:
Late Season Scouting Jitters
Port Royal, Jamaica - September 28
It started with some background noise, nothing much to go by. Yet the constant buzz about the news coming from his teammates and the coaches, and then the media couldn’t be ignored anymore.
“Tell us! Tell us! Who scouted you? Are you interested in that team? Will you be drafted super early?”
For Franco Maestro, all he cared in the moment was to score goals and help Stockholm chase the Academy title it hadn’t won in many years.
“Look guys, I don’t want to share more than I had a chat with two teams so far. One went well and another it was clear they didn’t need a striker. Can we leave it at that and train? We have Port Royal to face off against tonight.”
Hopefully this would placate the team, at least until tonight. However, taming the media would be another point of contention. They jumped at every opportunity to sensationalise and twist quotes to get traffic and sell papers. Last match, Franco did not score a goal and the sports journalists jumped on the occasion; “Has Maestro been dethroned as the top talent this year?”, “Maestro’s dip in form could let another academy prospect take the lead”, so on and so forth. It wasn’t even a bad game, and Franco was still leading the league with 9 goals in 9 games. But it was true that the pressure of the incessant questions was getting to him as the days went by, and it wasn’t that he could take a day off. No, that would invite more questions from the media and that was the last thing he wanted.
Later in the day in the locker room before the match, the team was getting dressed in preparation for kick off against Port Royal. As the Stockholm players were each at their spots on the benches, getting ready, the incessant tapping of the feet made it obvious to anyone watching that Franco was nervous.
“Hey kid”, coach Bergeson quipped, “Don’t work yourself over it. Live in the now and forget about the past. Play for the people that need you to play well today. Look around, they’re all beside you.”
“Yeah, it’s just the press and scouts around these days it’s get-”
“Yeah yeah… who cares. Just go out and kick the ball. You know everyone will get drafted. Who cares if it’s first or seventeenth, just play your game and you’ll do well no matter where you go. But right now, I need you to go out there for this game. If you want, I’ll take your phone and tablet away until the draft”
For some reason, coach Bergeson’s words felt both comforting and insulting at the same time. Seventeenth? No way he would go that low. First? That was the goal. Anything else would feel like going against what he stood for. His parents reminded him constantly that “to be the best you need to beat the rest”, and they were the best in their respective field.
However, the coach was correct. He had to live in the moment. Who cares about draft day when there is still time now to shine.
As the team got up and listened to the final instructions from the coaching staff, Franco finished lacing up his cleats and stood up. Today was Matchday 10 of 14. Including today he had five more games to show others that he is the best of his class. Teammates, opponents, coaches, media, scouts, fans… anyone out there would see that the number one was him. Franco Maesto.
(602 words)
Port Royal, Jamaica - September 28
It started with some background noise, nothing much to go by. Yet the constant buzz about the news coming from his teammates and the coaches, and then the media couldn’t be ignored anymore.
“Tell us! Tell us! Who scouted you? Are you interested in that team? Will you be drafted super early?”
For Franco Maestro, all he cared in the moment was to score goals and help Stockholm chase the Academy title it hadn’t won in many years.
“Look guys, I don’t want to share more than I had a chat with two teams so far. One went well and another it was clear they didn’t need a striker. Can we leave it at that and train? We have Port Royal to face off against tonight.”
Hopefully this would placate the team, at least until tonight. However, taming the media would be another point of contention. They jumped at every opportunity to sensationalise and twist quotes to get traffic and sell papers. Last match, Franco did not score a goal and the sports journalists jumped on the occasion; “Has Maestro been dethroned as the top talent this year?”, “Maestro’s dip in form could let another academy prospect take the lead”, so on and so forth. It wasn’t even a bad game, and Franco was still leading the league with 9 goals in 9 games. But it was true that the pressure of the incessant questions was getting to him as the days went by, and it wasn’t that he could take a day off. No, that would invite more questions from the media and that was the last thing he wanted.
Later in the day in the locker room before the match, the team was getting dressed in preparation for kick off against Port Royal. As the Stockholm players were each at their spots on the benches, getting ready, the incessant tapping of the feet made it obvious to anyone watching that Franco was nervous.
“Hey kid”, coach Bergeson quipped, “Don’t work yourself over it. Live in the now and forget about the past. Play for the people that need you to play well today. Look around, they’re all beside you.”
“Yeah, it’s just the press and scouts around these days it’s get-”
“Yeah yeah… who cares. Just go out and kick the ball. You know everyone will get drafted. Who cares if it’s first or seventeenth, just play your game and you’ll do well no matter where you go. But right now, I need you to go out there for this game. If you want, I’ll take your phone and tablet away until the draft”
For some reason, coach Bergeson’s words felt both comforting and insulting at the same time. Seventeenth? No way he would go that low. First? That was the goal. Anything else would feel like going against what he stood for. His parents reminded him constantly that “to be the best you need to beat the rest”, and they were the best in their respective field.
However, the coach was correct. He had to live in the moment. Who cares about draft day when there is still time now to shine.
As the team got up and listened to the final instructions from the coaching staff, Franco finished lacing up his cleats and stood up. Today was Matchday 10 of 14. Including today he had five more games to show others that he is the best of his class. Teammates, opponents, coaches, media, scouts, fans… anyone out there would see that the number one was him. Franco Maesto.
(602 words)
![[Image: 6J2WgCi.png]](https://i.imgur.com/6J2WgCi.png)
