Grade 7, Learnmore Institute
There was a boy named Jabu who grew up wishing to become a soccer player but his friends at his flat did not think he could do it. He lived in a small village with his mother and they did not have enough money to provide for most of their needs. He tried getting jobs to do things for his mother but he couldn’t handle the work because he would be tired when he got back from school.
One day he tried joining a soccer club. He saw that the bullies who were laughing at him were in that same club so he went home. He did not know what to do besides quitting. His mother told him a story about a boy who never quits, and said that he could do the same. The boy listened closely and promised not to quit.
Jabu worked one more job that paid him R100 so with that money he bought a R50 soccer ball so that he could train at the park. As the days went by, he continued with the training. The boy knew that some boys will recognise his face, so he put on a mask so that people won’t see him. The boy went to a soccer club that was at the lowest place in the league table.
The team accepted Jabu but kept asking him why he wears a mask. He answered, ‘There are boys who play soccer who bully me, and I don’t want them to recognise me.’ The team understood and continued with their training. The coach was called and was told that there was a tournament taking place two weeks from that day. The coach told the players but they didn’t feel like entering because they knew they would come out of the tournament before they move to the next game.
Jabu didn’t like the way the team felt about entering the tournament. Jabu stood up and told the team that if they want to succeed they have to train even harder to win. The team was motivated and they trained hard. The next day he went to school and he saw the boys who tease him inviting people to the tournament. He felt bad because he didn’t have friends at school. One of his team players, Erik, asked him if he had a friend and wanted to be his friend. They invited him to the tournament and asked if he could make it. He didn’t know what to say except to just say yes. The day before the tournament starts they had to pick a captain for their team. They voted for Jabu and he was happy to take the lead. Erik told Jabu that he met a new friend also called Jabu. Jabu was surprised but he had to hide his secret. He said he wished that he could have also met him.
It was time for the tournament to begin and he was still wearing his mask. The first game started and they had a strong opponent. They were two goals behind their opponents. The team decided to quit but when they saw Jabu working hard, they felt it was unfair for him to be working alone. They worked very hard and won the game by 3-2. The games kept going with them becoming the winners and their opponents being the losers. It was time for the finals to begin and when Jabu saw that the team they were playing against was the team with the boy that bullied him, he felt scared and frightened. Erik was wondering out of all the games why he was scared of this one.Erik talked to Jabu about why he was scared. Jabu told Erik the truth but got him to promise that he would not tell anyone. Erik stuck to his promise. When the match began, Jabu couldn’t focus and kept losing the ball.
At half-time, the players were worried about Jabu so they decided to work even harder. The second half continued and Jabu realised that the team was being put under pressure. Jabu was playing better than before. Out of nowhere, Jabu scored a fantastic long range goal. People were surprised and asked themselves who the mysterious soccer player was. One of the boys from the other team tackled Jabu so hard that they had to substitute him. Jabu was on the field crying, ‘leave me alone.’ Jabu continued playing, not wanting to stop until the tournament was over. It was a draw with 2-2 and only 1 minute was left for the tournament to end. When his team was talking about strategies, he only said, ‘get me the ball.’ The team kept asking why he wanted to play with an injured leg. Jabu said, ‘You guys are the only friends I have and I want to make you happy.’ His friends understood and the game continued. Erik had the ball not knowing what to do besides passing the ball to Jabu.
Erik passed the ball to Jabu and he took the ball from their side of the field to their opponent’s goal post. His leg was more injured than it had been before but he still managed to take a shot at a goal. The ball went in and everybody celebrated the goal. The match was over.
Over the next hours he saw himself being reported about in the newspaper, and there were teams on the other side of the country who asked that he must reveal himself. The next Monday he forgot to take off his mask and mistakenly went to school with it. Learners were happy that the mysterious soccer player was a learner at their school but some got suspicious that Jabu didn’t come to school. The bullies had planned to take off his mask that day.
During the break, the leaders of the bullies went straight to him and removed his mask. They found out that it was Jabu. The bullies tried to hit him but he was protected by the whole school. Everyone in school except the bullies were his friends and he lived a happy life playing soccer.