2025-08-17, 12:34 PM - Word count:
Nyron Nosworthy sat in his parents' living room. He'd flown back from Port Royal a couple of weeks before, uncertain of his future.
The whole family were here - of course they were, it was draft night. They were all sat, waiting for the show to start. A show that would decide the rest of his life. The SSL had shipped him a webcam to put on top of his TV to capture his reaction - he hoped it was a good reaction.
Thing is, Nyron didn't feel like his scouting period had gone that well. Obviously Port Royal had won the Academy league, and he played pretty well, but he knew the teams would want to talk to him if they had any interest. Maybe 60% of the league had been in touch - he didn't know if this was good or bad.
The TV displayed a message saying there were technical difficulties. Of course there were.
The league was expanding, too - one of the expansion teams had been in touch, the other had not. He didn't even know the name of the team, and they had first overall.
Nyron was nervous. Going high comes with pressure, going too low would feel like a slap in the face.
He hadn't told his family, but he had an idea of the teams that liked him. Liffeyside Celtic - the expansion team he did know - seemed quite keen, Club Deportivo Tenochtitlan had wanted to know a lot about him, and Reykjavik United had been fairly complimentary.
The TV announced the start of the draft. Shit.
Nyron knew he wasn't going first, so he could relax to begin with. Xelajú Cósmico. Huh. He wondered where that was, so he Googled it.
The TV continued. "With the second pick, Liffeyside Celtic select..."
Guatemala - where's that? He opened his maps app.
"... Nyron Nosworthy from Port Royal."
Central America. Interesting. Wait - what?
Nyron looked up, open-mouthed, just in time to see himself on the TV, looking at his phone as his family celebrated around him. TV Nyron looked up, open-mouthed.
The whole family were here - of course they were, it was draft night. They were all sat, waiting for the show to start. A show that would decide the rest of his life. The SSL had shipped him a webcam to put on top of his TV to capture his reaction - he hoped it was a good reaction.
Thing is, Nyron didn't feel like his scouting period had gone that well. Obviously Port Royal had won the Academy league, and he played pretty well, but he knew the teams would want to talk to him if they had any interest. Maybe 60% of the league had been in touch - he didn't know if this was good or bad.
The TV displayed a message saying there were technical difficulties. Of course there were.
The league was expanding, too - one of the expansion teams had been in touch, the other had not. He didn't even know the name of the team, and they had first overall.
Nyron was nervous. Going high comes with pressure, going too low would feel like a slap in the face.
He hadn't told his family, but he had an idea of the teams that liked him. Liffeyside Celtic - the expansion team he did know - seemed quite keen, Club Deportivo Tenochtitlan had wanted to know a lot about him, and Reykjavik United had been fairly complimentary.
The TV announced the start of the draft. Shit.
Nyron knew he wasn't going first, so he could relax to begin with. Xelajú Cósmico. Huh. He wondered where that was, so he Googled it.
The TV continued. "With the second pick, Liffeyside Celtic select..."
Guatemala - where's that? He opened his maps app.
"... Nyron Nosworthy from Port Royal."
Central America. Interesting. Wait - what?
Nyron looked up, open-mouthed, just in time to see himself on the TV, looking at his phone as his family celebrated around him. TV Nyron looked up, open-mouthed.
