Recreational Quidditch Pitch

This beautifully kept pitch is completely hidden from Muggles, even though it is located right in the middle of London. The size of the pitch and the height of the hoops are up to international standards, and recreational teams often book the pitch for their practices and games. Little league Quidditch, small family groups, and pick-up games are often spotted on the pitch when it isn't otherwise in use.

Note: This is not a professional pitch, and National League Quidditch games do NOT occur here.

As much as she was trying to keep morale up in their less than ideal location, Mariel just had to get out of that filthy old hangar for a few minutes. What better opportunity than her lunch break? Certainly no one would fault her for that and she wouldn't be gone that long if they needed her. But she needed to be around some magic even if it was for a short time.

The 28 year old had thought about going to Diagon Alley and eating at her favorite cafe as it was only a short bus ride then walk from her current workplace. But as she had brought her lunch to work with the intention of eating it there, she simply took her bagged lunch with her in search of somewhere else.

The Recreational Quidditch Pitch actually crossed her mind next and, once she had gotten off the bus at the stop not far from there, Mariel walked the short distance to the sports park. Green eyes landed on the small figures out on the pitch and she casually watched some older teenagers in what seemed to be a pick up game as she went to find a seat on a bench nearby. Really, they were old enough to get a job but she was thankful for the distraction. It would be nice to watch some actual Quidditch for a few even if it wasn't a real game.

As she sat, the brunette pulled out a salad from her bag and began eating as she became lost in thought. Thrilled as she was with her new position, the feeling couldn't help but to be overshadowed by the deplorable conditions they had to work in. Her employees knew that wasn't her doing, right?

He had decided to bring the boys down to the pitch and let them watch the kids out there playing a pick up game again. Letting him run out and sit on the ground under them and told them to be careful and watch out for the falling quaffle. He'd offered to take them while Becca had the girls and had done the one thing she detested. Taken them shopping. He didn't want her to worry about taking all four kids shopping, two were bad enough. Hopefully they'd be back soon but for now, he'd just enjoy the quiet of the sidelines.

He was heading towards the bench when he saw another woman there, he'd seen her around the ministry a few times and was almost sure she was the new department head that had just been hired. "Hello." he said kindly with a smile. Was she watching someone out there in particular? A brother perhaps that was playing. "Mind if I join you?"

Her name...Morgan wasn't it? He just couldn't think of her first name.

Mariel took a few bites of her salad, her mind a million miles away as she allowed her green eyes to focus on the figures on the brooms in the air. She wasn't really paying all that much attention to them, just wanted to feel more in her element than anything else as she let her mind wander. It had been an interesting start to her new position and she began to think of things that needed done, wondering if she should have brought her notebook, before she stopped herself. No, this was her break, she didn't need to think about such things right now. It was difficult enough to do what she needed in the face of adversity, she was allowed a few minutes to breathe.

She was so lost in thought that she hadn't noticed the young boys running out to the pitch or that anyone else had come there at all until she heard a voice beside her. Green eyes snapped up to the face of a man standing near the bench. "Oh, of course not.. please, sit," she replied, returning the smile as she slid over a bit to allow him some more room. He looked awfully familiar, did he not? She looked at him for another moment before asking, "Are you with the Ministry by chance? I feel like I've run into you there." Someone in a directive position even. And she really should probably know at least certain people there now.

Waving as Jay called out he smiled at the boys who were now running around pretending to fly on the broomsticks they'd left at home. "Thank you" he said with a smile and took a seat. "I am, I'm Gidyun Yenorin, head of International Cooperation. You are...Morgan right?" he asked hoping somehow he had gotten at least her first or last name right. Otherwise that was going to be a little awkward! He'd been there for going on two years now and still didn't seem to be able to keep up with all the department head changes that had happened since he became department head. Becca still teased him saying he'd chased them all away!

Including the minister!

"I'm sure you might have, I have been around quite a bit, though I've only been at the British Ministry for going on two years now."

Mariel's green eyes turned from the Ministry man for a moment, following his line of vision to the children running about on the pitch. His kids, perhaps. She glanced back with a small smile as he chose to sit down next to her and she took another bite of her salad. Surely he wouldn't mind if she finished her lunch while the possible engaged in some light conversation?

The brunette was still trying to place him when he spoke, first confirming that he did work at the Ministry, then gave his title as well as his name. She smiled wider as he seemed to know her as well. "Well, yes.. Mariel Morgan," she nodded, rather pleased with his recognition. "A pleasure to meet you, Gidyun." First names were acceptable, right?

"International Cooperation must be a very interesting department," she said after another bite of salad. She had long thought so with her love of travel. Other countries and cultures were fascinating to her. "I am a Games and Sports girl myself though," she grinned letting her eyes drift back to the pitch. Even on her off time, it seemed.

He'd been sure to leave his office the moment his lunch break arrived so he could make the most of this. No time to waste when important things needed discussing and certain people needed setting straight. It had been a good week and something since Ashby crashed his office but he could still hear the tone he took with him like the man was sitting next to him giving him the mini-speech all over again.

Gavin leaned against the seat above him in the stands, watching the empty pitch before him while he waited on his company. Mr. Neves was known for his punctuality, he couldn't say the same for the other man simply because he'd never formally made his acquaintance.

As an afterthought it occured to him that he should have brought something to snack on but he could take care of that...after.

Right, lunchtime it was. And for William, that meant back to spying. Hands shoved in his pockets and ballcap tucked low on his forehead, William walked quickly into the recreational quidditch pitch. As cool as this place was, he wasn't here to play quidditch today. He was here for a Top Secret meeting.

So... where was the guy they were supposed to be meeting with? Come to think of it, where was João? This wasn't a trap, was it?!! He hastily pushed back his cap and gave his forehead a scratch, glancing all around the pitch and stands from his spot near the entrance. Wait, *squiiiint* what was that? Somebody up in the seats? It might be worth checking out....

He jogged up to the top where the other guy was. Hmm. He grunted in the other man's direction, shoving his ballcap down lower on his head now. Was this... Gavin?

Well he couldn't just ask, could he. That wouldn't be very spy of him. So he settled instead for taking a seat slightly behind the guy and staring suspiciously at the back of his head.

The pitch didn't stay empty long before he spotted someone in a cap making his way over to the stands. A raised brow was as much acknowledgement as he was prepared to give to this new addition to the pitch while he waited for the other two. You think they would show some urgency but at this hour of the day anything could happen.

Gavin squinted as the man got closer. Wasn't he....the one he and Aron had walked in on in Harmony's office...during the pants ordeal? Funny running into him here.

The grunt wasn't returned. Whether the man took it as impolite or not was up to him but this was his lunch hour, nothing dictated that he had to be anymore social than he was already being. This was a stretch in itself, meeting with people when he could have stayed in his office or gone off to the park...or bored a hole in Emily's schedule.

Him sitting behind him didn't bother him at first but then he got this odd feeling he was being watched. Call it a hypersensitivity to the presence of others but he could almost FEEL his eyes boring into the back of his head. Gavin turned slowly and sure enough found the man's eyes on him.

Er....."What?" Yeah, what, quit with the staring busines, yeah?

João wasn't late!

He nearly ran to the pitch, if only it wouldn't draw attention, but he was still out of breath due to anticipation and walking fast. He wondered what would Mr. Isaacs say and why the man'd picked this place. If he was going to fire him, he would do that in his office, right?

Right?!

Well, no running from fate, so he entered the pitch at the precise meeting time and looked around. He was wearing a jeans and a white shirt with some stupid pattern not to draw attention to himself. On top of it, he wore a black, hooded sweater and the hood was over his head not to be recognised. He wouldn't pull it back until he spotted -

Oh, there they were! He climbed the stairs quickly and stood between them.

"Mr. Isaacs, Williamson."

William continued sort of staring at the guy in front of him, trying to decide if he was in fact this Isaacs character or not. Unable to discern the answer, he gave the man a simple shrug. "Nothing." What, ya gotta problem with being stared at, mate?

And then João was arriving and standing between them, and William realized with a start that the guy he was staring at WAS this Isaacs guy. Oh! Oops!

"Hey, sorry for staring," he stood up and moved down to sit beside the guy, like a sociable human being. "I didn't know who you were, but you looked sort of familiar...." he trailed off and pulled his hand out of his pocket to offer it to the guy. "William Williamson. Magical Creatures." And João obviously already knew who he was, so.

Nothing.

Uh-huh...that's what he thought. Gavin turned slowly til he was facing forward again, not sure how he felt about someone staring at him for 'nothing'. After a second's thought he decided to disregard the whole encounter and hope the man didn't have business that would keep him here too long. This wait could become uncomfortable.

Thankfully Mr. Neves showed up in the next instant. Not late per say, not when you thought of the fact they still had one more person before they could begin this informal meeting. That's all it was. Completely off the records, not to be repeated again. If it called for it, they would have to move a few seats away from the creep with the cap on....but then...Mr. Neves was acknowledging him and Gavin turned to look at him again, watching as he descended the seats and took up the spot next to him. Well then.

It was now that Gavin could get a good look at him and his intro certainly helped. He...was the man with the sarong down in Harmony's office. Were it not for his professionalism he would have shot Mr. Neves a questioning look. The company one kept said a lot about the person. Anything you want to be telling us, hmm?

"Pleasure to formally meet you Mr. Williamson. Have a seat Mr. Neves and we can get right to what I've called you both here for." He paused and glanced between the two, trying to imagine how they'd managed to get caught. "Mr. Summers dropped by my office earlier this week. Either of you want to hazard a guess as to why?"

João only chose to sit next to WWW when he was told to, and turned to Mr. Isaacs -

He was going to be fired, wasn't he? That was it. Either fired or being put on probation, which meant 'fired' anyway. Adeus, Grã-Bretanha. It was nice knowing you.

He tried his best not to show his anxiety, but he didn't know how successful he was this time. Being fired would certainly go down his record, after all. He couldn't even fully realise what it meant.

"Because we wanted a small, official tour in his department." João knew better than to play the fool and make him angry, because Mr. Isaacs was no fool.

Yeah.

Ah good, the Senior Undersecretary didn't seem too mad about being stared at earlier. He did, however, not seem so......... pleased with that Summers chap. That tour confusion was TOTALLY not William's fault, by the way. He was just tagging along with João's plan.

"I'm guessing he got pretty offended by our simple request?" William shrugged. "That dude's got a problem." A people problem. He was clearly not friendly... or open to tours.

Was Mr. Neves feeling alright? Gavin raised an eyebrow at him, contemplating just how much he was meant to read into it. They didn't have all day to be sat out here at the pitch. Whatever had him concerned he would assume could be put on hold, otherwise he would have stated beforehand his inability to make it. That's how much confidence Gavin had in the efficiency of the Personal Assistant.

He leaned back in his seat, looking perfectly at ease as he listened. It didn't seem the brow would be lowering just yet. "You...you mentioned the word tour?" ....He....was going to pretend that hadn't been the case but that became harder when Williamson described it as a 'simple request'. BLIIIIIIIINK.

They didn't.

"Uh-huh....." There was a moment of staring and nothing more something he'd considered rude only moments earlier, completely warranted. They went asking for a tour? No, no that wasn't it, he was reading it all wrong. Misunderstanding them. That had to be it. "Right. Fascinating, truly, until the part where the Department Head got involved." That part wasn't so great. "One doesn't try running into people when trying to get a tour of the Department of Mysteries, it's quite the opposite. When they get caught, I get complaints." See the picture? Gavin leaned forward and looked between the two of them. "Clearly I'll have to show you both how it's done." Which wouldn't really be cutting into his schedule given he'd set some time aside for it personally. The Senior Undersecretary rose with a lazy stretch. "Well? Are you two coming or not?" They had a boat to properly invade. He'd explain on the way.

...the way WWW talked. If João didn't know better, he'd believe Aspen when she said his IQ level was 4. But instead, he was glad he spoke more openly than him. Depending on Mr. Isaacs' reaction, he would see just how much in trouble he was.

Err... were they supposed to answer that? João was confused. He couldn't tell which would ensure being fired, so he stared back.

...this assistant was CONFUSED. He frowned and didn't even try to hide it. His mouth was slightly ajar, he was THAT confused. He didn't understand. He could tell Mr. Isaacs wasn't happy with the situation, but...

......

What.

Just what.

"So - you'll -" He couldn't believe it! He choked once in shock. They weren't in trouble but were actually going to go there with -

"Of course we are coming!" It was just a SHOCK but - of course - he was on his feet the next moment. This was GREAT! He wasn't even on probation AND would see the mysteriessss.

He had the best boss, yo.

What? Yeah they had mentioned the word tour, why wouldn't they? It was João's plan to go in through the front door, so to speak. William was confused why that was wrong....

He shrugged and glanced at João before looking back to the Senior Undersecretary. "Oh, you're... we're... yeah I'm coming!" He untangled his long legs from where he was sitting and followed after the other two. Should they be disillusioned first or something...??!?!

Victoria had made sure to get to the pitch early. She had been working on these tryouts for awhile making sure they were completely ready, so once she got it through her son's head that he was not coming to watch from being grounded she made her way over. Walking in she looked around, the day seemed nice no rain at leas so they shouldn't have any trouble seeing these seventh years.

Pulling out her parchment with the list of names she made her way out onto the field. Checking to see if there was plenty of water for the potentials and that the balls were ready to go. She assumed the beaters would bring their own bats, but just in case had grabbed a couple of those as well.

She had been feeling nervous like she was forgetting something, but everything seemed in order. Brown eyes lifting seeing a figure she squinted into an almost glare. Should have figured she'd be the first to arrive.


This was just ridiculous, the entire thing. How were they ever suppose to get to see full potential in players like this. That crummy school better get their act together and start having quidditch again. Her profession needed up and coming stars, but how was she suppose to really know which ones were up and coming in just a few hours?

Rebecca made her way over to the practice pitch early. She was never one to be late, no late got you no where in life. As she walked into the.. well yes she guessed it was a pitch. Merlin why didn't they hold these at the Catapults stadium, it was at least nicer.

The reason seemed to be right in front of her as she moved. "Victoria" That was going to be her only greeting to the woman, she had nothing to say to the pathetic division manager turning on her heel she made her way over to where she was told managers would be watching.

This was... interesting. West supposed it counted as neutral ground and that was why the tryouts were to be held here, but still, it was different to say the least. He was early of course, with plenty of time to warm up. He was meeting Theo and Mo here, but he doubted they'd be as early as he was. He still had precisely one week before his contract as a reserve for the Wanderers would be up, and he'd not decided if he was going to stay on with them or not. For one thing if he did he'd only accept first string, nothing less, and for another he wasn't going to be taken for a ride, they had to offer him a good deal. Line his pockets and he'd make it worth their while in return.... or worth the while of whichever other teams came to the table this time around.

West was old hat at this by this point in his life, first from four years attending tryouts with Slytherin, and then two years running them as captain, and of course from his successful under-seventeens tryouts back in fifth year and sixth year, and attending invitational tryouts the previous Summer, so he was relaxed as he arrived, custom Vannacutt broom over one shoulder.

Was he supposed to check in? The newly graduated Slytherin noted Ms. Maroon looking all clipboard official and headed over to her.

"Good day ma'am, West Odessa." He started with his name on the off chance she didn't recognize him and beamed at her, "Is it alright if I go warm up or do you need me to wait for further instruction first?"

Mariel was pleasantly distracted as she headed into the recreational pitch with thoughts of the previous weekend and recent discussions on her mind. She did try her best to at least push those thoughts to a deeper part of her subconscious for now as she did want to give today's events the better part of her attention. It was likely that at least a few of those trying out today would find themselves on a professional team and she found it necessary to keep updated on that.

Her own paperwork in hand, she made her way over to the few figures on the pitch. "Hello Victoria," she smiled brightly at the woman as she approached. "Mr. Odessa, glad you could make it," she nodded at the teenager, recognizing the name as he said it though not the face as she wasn't in regulations anymore and didn't work quite as closely with the teams as she once did. She'd let Victoria handle the details, such as whether or not the boy could warm up now. The brunette was just here to observe and help out with any issues should they arrive. "Let me know if you need anything, hm?" she said to the blonde, giving her another smile before heading over to the seating area.

Taking note of the managers already present, Mariel gave a nod in greeting before taking a seat. "Good morning, Mrs. Maroon," she said cordially to the blonde sitting next to her. Yes, of course she knew who she was for more than one reason. Glancing down at her paperwork, she waited for the other players to arrive so they could get started.

His first official duty as manager, Kieran was rather looking forward to today's proceedings. Of course, his own former position being left open, he needed to decide if one of these kids were worthy or if he should negotiate a trade with another team. There were a few he had his eye on, but he wanted to see what kind of talent presented itself today. It really was a shame that they didn't have the opportunity to scout for talent during their games, though he wasn't manager then. But he was now, so Quidditch best be reinstated so they could actually assess talent.

Making his way over to the seats, he flashed a smile at the people there, mostly women. "Hello ladies," he grinned at them as he sat down. Kieran Kavanaugh needed no introduction, not when he was Kenmare Kestrals' star chaser for nearly 20 years before retiring this summer. Anyone who knew Quidditch should know who he was and that was merely expected of this crowd.

Being here Beck had no idea what he was suppose to do. Well he knew what to do but not really. He had to help out with the tryouts and he was more than willing to help out. There was nothing wrong with that but he didn't know that he was important enough to ask to help them out. With his broom in hand Beck walked out towards the pitch. He knew that this was the correct spot because Ministry people were here and so were some younger player for the tryouts. This was going to be fun, he knew it. Anyone that had the slightest bit of interest in Quidditch really caught Beck's eye.

The Frenchman looked around at all the important Ministry people. He wanted to see if he knew anyone. Maybe he could see if there were people that he had met at the meet and great event from a few or months back. Beck really had at a lot of fun at the meet and great. He thought it was a very good idea and he had so much fun that day. He would have to tell the Game and Sports Department Head that it was an amazing idea and whoever had thought of it was a genius and that it should happen next year as well.

Beck walked up to the Ministry people with his broom in hand. He did remember one face but he wasn't that sure about his name. It might be Victoria. Beck nodded to himself. "Bonjour everyone." Beck said with his beautiful French accent and then he flashed a million dollar smile at all of them. He would have greeted the Victoria woman if he was spot on with them name but it was best if he just kept his mouth shut and not embarrass himself.

For all of Mo's ridiculous nerves throughout his seventh term, he was feeling pretty good at the moment. It helped that he had a few solid tryout sessions already under his breath, and it helped that he'd just turned 18 and was feeling about a hundred feet tall. Also helped that Cat had made him breakfast, his mum had cried a bit, and he had West and Theo here today. Mo was a good Chaser, but he was really really good when he played with his mates.

"Marcus Branxton," he stepped up to the woman with the clipboard and tried to peek at her list. Who else was here? What teams were watching today? Hmm? He'd heard West's question, and he was eager to take to the pitch as well. Better to fly rather than stay here and lose the cool he'd somehow gathered. Or his breakfast. Or both.


Cough cough. The London recreational pitch was very disappointing, and not a little bit plebeian, and Brennan Cooper wished it was cool enough to get away with wearing gloves. He had the vague feeling that everything here would be a little bit sticky. Hands tucked safely in his pockets, Cooper strolled across the pitch to where the women were ostensibly in charge.

In theory. This all seemed a bit madcap to him. Why was he, owner of the Wasps and the one who should be worrying about advertisers and promotional events, here watching a bunch of fresh faced baby hopefuls instead? Maybe because he needed something new and splashy for his team, something to bring fans back to Wimbourne and put their butts into his seats.

Sigh. His life was very depressing.

"When are we beginning?" he barked at the one with the clipboard. Rebecca Maroon got a nod.

Victoria looked up from her clipboard as she heard someone coming near. Hoping it wasn’t her ex-husband’s wife she gave the boy a smile. “Hello, Victoria Maroon. Nice to meet you Mr. Odessa. Yes you could do some warming up, but as soon as the rest are here we will be starting.” She looked around the pitch and then at her watch. She had a bit more time so maybe she should walk over and speak with Becky.

Just as she was going to Vic heard a familiar voice. “Good morning Mariel.” She nodded to her boss. “Everything seems to be running smooth so far, but I’ll let you know.” She had been working hard on making sure things were finalized since returning from her vacation, so Victoria didn’t have any doubts it would run smoothly. Glancing at another person coming up she recognized him and adjusted her clipboard to one arm. “Mr. Salvatore very nice to see you. Thank you so much for coming and helping out today. I’m Victoria Maroon. If you’d like some time to warm up all our chasers are not here yet.” She figured she didn’t have to really show him the pitch since they were on it.

Oh and another one, very good she thought as she looked at her list. “Mr. Branxton, I’ve heard our name a time or two. Victoria Maroon, you might know my son.” She had heard of all these names actually, but Bart never missed a beat when it came to Quidditch. Looking at the time again and then at the growing amount of people that had come to watch she decided that maybe it was a good time to start. Any other chasers could just jump in once they arrived. Her eyes looked up once more seeing, was that Brennan Cooper? She didn’t expect to see him today, “Right now actually sir.”

She wasn’t one to really speak in front of a group and she certainly didn’t feel important enough to do it, so this was just awkward for her. Moving so that she was in front of everyone she cleared her throat. “Thank you everyone who’s come out. With the recent cancelation of Quidditch at Hogwarts myself and Miss Morgan, I mean Mrs. De La Garza.” Whoops she still hadn’t been use to saying that yet. “felt it was needed to have something so that scouts, coaches, managers, and owners could see the talent that the school has.” Giving the boys a smile of encouragement. “Mr. Salvatore was kind enough to come and be our keeper for this tryout today. What you will be doing is working together just as you would in a match to get the quaffle down the field and into the hoops. Mr. Salvatore will be there doing his job by trying to block your shots. Good luck everyone you may begin.” Moving over to the trunk she popped a quaffle out and tossed it towards Mr. Odessa. It was time to see what they could do.


Rebecca had just found a seat when she saw Mariel whatever her new name was sit down. “Hello. You know I wish you would have chosen better place to hold this tryout, really you would think a ministry department would have more sense. Though I can’t expect much when you actually have Victoria running things.” Ridiculous the woman was still working there after all her formal complaints.
Noticing a player she listened as he said his name and made a mental note. Her blasted step son talked about these people, but she could have cared less. She had to see what they were worth before she cared. Seeing Beck Salvatore enter the pitch did perk her interest though. Maybe this wouldn’t be such a waste of day, she could watch this most likely untalented group of children and steal a great beater away from the tornados. She was still waiting to hear from Cameron on his decision and it would just be splendid if she could take two away from that cruddy team.

Her eyes moved to Kieran Kavanaugh , [b] “Finally decide to join this side of the world Kieran? Do you really think you have what it takes? It’s not just tossing a quaffle around anymore. Seeing another child come in Rebecca couldn’t be more annoyed. They all were skinny, how on earth could they handle the pro’s. Her expectation was falling faster and faster and it was very low to start with. Tapping her freshly manicured nails on her knee she as happy when Cooper came in and asked about it getting started. “Cooper, don’t trust your employees to find you young talent?” Not that she blamed him, she’d never trust anyone that worked for the Catapults to find her talent. No she did that all herself.

Listening to Victoria talk was like getting teeth pulled the muggle way. Really the woman was just awful at this job, but at least she finally got it move. So hopefully they will see some talent soon.



Ooc: Hey guys! Thanks for coming out! This is the official start of the chaser part. Just go ahead and get in the air and RP with each other. Emily when you get here with Theo just jump right in!! Just RP it out however you would like and then when your charrie tosses it in Bre can Rp Beck blocking or it going past him!

West went ahead and got warmed up as soon as he got word to do so, which first involved running a lap of the pitch and then mounting his broom and taking a few lazy swoops. Mo got a big grin when he showed up and West resisted the urge to go bother his 'uncle' (who was really his mother's cousin, but y'know, old guy) since that was always a good show... but time to be professional now. He wasn't too worried about facing down Salvatore either, West had been up against tougher keepers before and besides Salvatore would have a really tough go of it once himself and Theo and Mo slipped into their old formations. Really, the fact that the three of them were trying out together was a definite plus after being on the England Under Seventeen's team as a unit. And given he'd known Mo since they were babies, and him and Theo had always flown together since day one, West could probably close his eyes and still pass accurately to either one of them.

He'd build up to things though and it appeared it was time to start, so West flew down close, not dismounting to listen to Ms. Maroon. Good thing too, since she popped a Quaffle at him. West snagged it as quick-as-you-like with the fingertips of one hand and immediately tucked it under his arm and peeled off to gain some altitude.

Nice enough to let Salvatore get himself comfortably in position too. Did Alec, Asher, and Wade warn the guy about him? They should've. He was about to face the terrortwins... and Marcus Branxton after all. Hmm. They really needed an more inclusive nickname, didn't they?

Truth be told, he'd thought Erin would be here, but as a Scout, what better to be than...

...well, he never really minded London, so any place was good if there was going to be Quidditch around. Of good quality, that is.

As a former Chaser, this particular tryout was important to him. While his days of glory were relatively behind him, the team they had put together was one of the best. Actually, the best one. No doubt his scouting skills had plenty to do with it. The players, of course, gave everything on the field. And he was expecting to see some greatness today. If not, well, Jack Lockhart definitely had other places to browse.

A place blue shirt was visible the moment he took off the dark gray jacket that complemented the suit quite nicely. The pale blue clearly distinguished him as part of the Appleby Arrows team. A nod and several greetings happened before the beginning was announced. His eyes had landed on Brennan for a moment. Jack had always admitted being slightly jealous that the Wasps were the team his daughter chose to play with.

Now, Branxton. Why did that sound familiar?