Les and Pat ran off to play in their big game. Their dog, Princess, tugged on the leash, hoping she could play, as well. Ted held her back. He petted Princess and got her to sit on the sidelines.

We looked on as Les and Pat played soccer, We say soccer here in the United States But outside of the United States, they say football. The name football makes a lot of sense since the players use their feet to kick the ball. The goalkeeper can use her hands to stop the ball, but the rest of the players can’t use their hands. But maybe an even better name would be feetball. After all, you use both feet. Soccer, football, or feetball—which name do you think is best?

At one point Les made a nice pass. Her teammate had a shot on goal. She kicked the ball hard, but it bounced off the goalpost.

Pat played well, too. She had to block two shots by the Dickens players. She knocked one out of bounds and grabbed one with her mitts.

Pat played well, too. She had to block two shots by the Dickens players. She knocked one out of bounds and grabbed one with her mitts.

Both teams had shots on goal, but for a long time there was no scoring. The clock ticked down. It started to look like the game would end in a 0-0 tic. Then Les got the ball. She passed to a teammate. The teammate ran a bit and then passed the ball back to Les. Les took a shot. The ball went zipping past the Dickens goalkeeper and into the net!

Goal! The Clark Bees ran and jumped on top of Les. Clark was in the lead, but there was still time left in the game.

The Dickens players got the ball back. They ran and passed the ball. A Dickens player took a shot, but Pat grabbed it. Just then the horn went off. The game was over!

The Clark Bees were the winners. They were the state soccer champs!