“No, I don’t think I will.”
In the aftermath of an event their team had just fallen apart in, Coach Quickly of the Savage Speeders was completely blindsided by Coach Rango of the O’rangers, who had just secured their team a gold medal in that same event. Going into Event 15 of the 2019 Marble League, no team could win the championship except the top 3, and the Savage Speeders had just been denied from the overall podium for the first time in their career. The O’rangers were now just 8 points away from eclipsing them in the standings, with one event to go.
“I am the closer,” Speedy insisted. “How else would we have been able to win in 2016? This is not the time to give up.”
But Coach Quickly chose Rapidly to race in the Sand Rally, and their call paid off. Rapidly kept a top-half position for the majority of the race, and although they weren’t able to pass Kinnowin, Rapidly finished in fifth, just one place behind them. The Savage Speeders finished behind Mellow Yellow in the standings but ahead of the O’rangers, which was all that Coach Quickly needed to reply to Rango,
“We’re better off on our own, anyway.”
On the other side of the results, Coach Bombay was in misery. Captain Mallard hadn’t been able to crack the top half of the race order and finished tenth, which could have been good enough to surpass the Raspberry Racers if Razzy had placed behind Mallard. In the end, Coach Berry’s decision to have the Racers captain compete in the final event paid off.
“I know how you feel,” a voice from behind muttered. Coach Bombay turned to their left to see Coach Smokey, who had rolled over from the opposite side of the center grandstand to comfort Bombay, the latter of whom was surprised to see Coach Smokey speak at all–they had muttered no more than five words at the inaugural coaches’ conference.
One of the few to not choose their team captain for the final event, Coach Smokey selected Smoggy, who had medaled in the 5 Meter Sprint, to take on the final sprint in the sand. They placed thirteenth, a far cry from any chance the Hazers had at winning the Marble League or even finishing as its runners-up.
“Thanks,” replied Bombay. “It’s just…I never imagined there would be so much pressure to do this kind of thing. What do I do now?”
“You roll on,” Smokey answered, without hesitation. From above them, the loudspeaker crackled with instructions for the closing ceremony, and the two rolled down together to the podium as frustrated Oceanics fans were cleared away from the arena.
The next day, conversations were equally as colorful at the final coaches’ conference of the 2019 Marble League, where each team’s coach elects to represent themselves and their teams to other coaches, the Committee, and JMR Staff. I was seated next to Mellacus, who was to the right of Jelle as they patiently listened and responded to critiques. To the surprise of very few, one team was missing a representative: the Oceanics.
Coach Wyspy was the first to come forward. “I still don’t understand why my team was disqualified in the Relay. The block that was knocked over was not in the path of any passing athlete, and would not have changed their results.”
“You had the slowest time! Nothing would have changed,” Quickly interjected, much to the ire of Wyspy. “What? It’s not like we defended our title in Relay.”
“Maybe if your pick in the Sprint didn’t bounce off the walls so much…” sneered Rango.
Mellacus slammed down a bright red gavel. “That’s enough.” The room went silent.
After nearly a minute of near-quiet, Coach Tarzan asked to speak. “So…the scoring for Surfing was confusing, even if our team earned the gold. Is there any way that could be clarified in the future?”
“Easily,” responded Mellacus. “Sorry for the confusion.”
More silence followed until Coach Truffle, who asked about standardizing a system for athlete choices.
“There’s a lot of pressure on us to choose athletes for their strongest events or because they’re historically well-performing. Do you have any advice for us on how to work with this?”
Across the room, coaches nodded in agreement.
“This season, I made sure that every athlete was featured at least once, and I went from there,” said Coach Black Hole. “For me, giving every main team member two events was ideal, and it was ideal for the entire team as well – we got to maintain a steady form throughout the tournament and hone in on our best events.”
“You never know for sure how well your athletes will do in a given event either,” admitted Coach Berry. “Putting Rezzy into the Underwater Race after Razzy had gotten fifth in Qualifiers was a bit of a risk, but Rezzy ended up getting fifth, too.”
“But it depends,” Coach Pinky Promise added. “The Oceanics won the Funnel Race in the Friendly Round and got fifteenth during the main tournament—all with the same athlete choice. You can’t blame them for thinking that would work out in their favor.”
Coach Truffle nodded. “I see. Thank you very much.”
“It’s alright. You know the job we have is madness.” Coach Mellow sighed. “No matter how it turns out, we’ll be questioned for it. And it doesn’t matter that we’re not the athletes competing, because we’re overseeing the ones who are. We bear that responsibility.”
“I’d never thought of it that way. Interesting,” mused Coach White Eye. “Maybe putting Red Eye in back-to-back events really was a poor decision.”
“I think I see what Mellow’s trying to say,” Coach Ringo added. “If their training showed them doing well in both events, you had no reason to question that decision. In hindsight, you still have to own it, even if it’s not what you wanted.”
“Hmm. I see. Thanks,” said White Eye, nodding before passing the microphone back to a member of security.
But when they turned around to face the front, it was not security…it was none other than (former) Coach Tide.
“I know I’m not welcome here,” Tide muttered, both in response to gasps across the crowd and to their own shame. “I’m not even welcome in my own franchise. But before I probably get banned from this stadium…
I just wanted to say that I agree with what’s been said. I felt the frustration of coaching more than I ever anticipated, and it made me miss all of the intense training that it takes to compete out there. The decisions we make come under fire whether we win or we lose, and that’s unavoidable. But it’s also for a cause that we care deeply about: for a team that we want to see succeed and for fans that we want to make proud. As coaches, we come under fire, but we roll on.”
For the third time in the conference, the room was silent for a few moments after Tide finished speaking. The deafening silence ended with a wave of thunderous applause and cheering.
“What a way to go,” remarked Coach Thunderstorm as security calmly escorted Tide out of the room.
“I couldn’t agree more,” Coach Harmony replied, chuckling. “There’s a lot of meaning in something as spontaneous as that. Hey, it could make for a great headline!”
Overhearing their banter, I scribbled the idea down in my notebook. Under fire, they roll on.
Credits
- Writer: Stynth
- Editor: Skyfall_707
- Photographer: Jelle’s Marble Runs
- Reference: Marble League 2019 | Jelle’s Marble Runs
- Release: 16/11/2021
Project Marblearth 