Lead With Your Heart

Soccer Dreams

A shout of Maritza’s name greets them as they arrive on the soccer field. It’s Violeta Moreno, a seventh-grader from Maritza’s school soccer team who recently moved into the neighborhood near Maritza’s grandparents. The two trade their team’s elbow-to-elbow tap. Violeta explains, with obvious frustration, that Mr. Ramos refuses to let girls play, worried they’ll get hurt, even though the boys collide just as hard and nobody benches them. Violeta’s younger cousin, Mia, decked out in a miniature national team jersey, hovers nearby, clearly eager to get in the game.

Mr. Ramos lights up when he spots Maritza, bragging to a crew of curious boys about her medal and her speed. Eventually, Maritza has to calm them down just to get a word in. She asks Mr. Ramos about the new rule, and he admits he changed it for the girls’ safety. He says if someone gets hurt, he’s the one who gets blamed.

Maritza understands the fear, but the excuse doesn’t sit right. She’s collected plenty of bruised ribs and bloody noses herself, and nobody worries about her getting hurt. Violeta jumps in, too, reminding him that everyone in the neighborhood trusts him to keep the games fair and that he’d never let anyone, girl or boy, get away with real roughness. Maritza plays her last card: the next Messi could show up on this field today, but so could the next Marta or Megan. Mr. Ramos flips through the papers on his clipboard, then looks up and says the girls can play.

Cheers erupt, and Maritza trades fist bumps with Violeta, who jokes that Maritza sounds like a real coach. Their talk turns to Violeta’s own dream of playing for the U.S. Women’s National Team and becoming its first Latina coach. Maritza’s encouragement only half-chases away the doubt in Violeta’s eyes.

Then trumpets blare from the festival stage, and Maritza remembers her promise. She sprints across the park and reaches the stage just as the dancers spin through the finale of the jarabe tapatío, having missed the whole performance. When she waves, Sierra’s bright smile crumples into a scowl.