Boot It Read online

  About the Book

  THE CHAMPION CHARLIES

  The JINDABERG JETS season is well underway, but the Jets are still without a win and the team is out of sorts.

  CHARLES has lost his ability to score goals and CHARLOTTE’S super serious approach to training is dividing the team.

  Can the CHAMPION CHARLIES find their winning form?

  Developed in partnership with Football Federation Australia

  The CHAMPION CHARLIES features Caltex Socceroos and Westfield Matildas players, fun football facts and more

  COVER

  ABOUT THE BOOK

  TITLE PAGE

  DEDICATION

  CHAPTER ONE

  BLOWING IT IN THE WIND

  CHAPTER TWO

  PRANKS AND POINTERS

  CHAPTER THREE

  BOOMERANG BOOT

  CHAPTER FOUR

  THE WHIFF FACTOR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  MUGSHOTS

  CHAPTER SIX

  LOW PANTS

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  DEFECTIVE DETECTIVES

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  PARMESAN ON POOP

  CHAPTER NINE

  BOBÔ AND BARBAROUSES

  CHAPTER TEN

  INSTINCT STINKS

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  FOOLPROOF OR FOOLISH?

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  GOOD GRIEF! IT’S THE BOOT THIEF

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  BOOTED!

  THE CHAMPION CHARLIES 1: THE MIX-UP

  IMPRINT

  READ MORE AT PENGUIN BOOKS AUSTRALIA

  For all the kids who eat, sleep and breathe football!

  Have you ever done your hair with a LEAF-BLOWER? Or ironed your shirt with the EXHAUST of a Boeing 747? Maybe you’ve tried to run directly into a HURRICANE?

  Well, that’s how CJ was feeling. It was so windy that his hair pointed straight out, like a cartoon character who’d just survived a TNT explosion. BOOM! You can try to control many aspects of a football game, but no-one can control the weather.

  The Jindaberg Jets were deep into the second half of their game against the Dewberry Dugongs. The very POSH Dewberry Dugongs.

  It was an ‘away’ match, on the edge of the Yarra River that was swirling in the blustery wind. The Dewberry Primary School’s flagpoles almost seemed to be swaying and all the tree branches snaked around as if they were ALIVE. The parents in the crowd huddled beside the toilet blocks with the choppy water at their backs, shielding their faces with scarves, hats, expensive handbags and, in some cases, small yappy dogs. The wind even drowned out the Jets’ karaoke coach, Mr Hyants (also known as HIGHPANTS), who was belting out advice in the form of song, even though no-one could hear a word of it – which wasn’t such a bad thing.

  But back to CJ …

  He was shaken BIG TIME. Although not by the wind, and not even by the SWEATY TOUPEE, stolen by the gale that smacked him in the face at half-time. There was something else playing on his mind.

  ‘Peekaboo, CJ!’ cried Charlotte, as she whizzed past at such speed that her long ponytail was horizontal. ‘Come on, fellow co-captain! Still 0–0. Can’t be much left on the clock!’

  ‘Peekaboo?’ asked Benji, whose little legs pumped furiously as he sped past.

  ‘Yep,’ said CJ, breaking into a sprint. ‘Peekaboo.’

  ‘This is our last chance, dude,’ said Benji. ‘Forget that goal you missed in the first half!’

  Thanks, Benji, thought CJ. Aren’t you meant to be my best mate? Not an ideal time to remind me I stuffed up a super simple shot.

  Lexi had the ball. She was lining up for a corner kick in the Jets’ attack. She squinted into the wind. Her hair was even wilder than CJ’s and – given she always liked to look her best – she was hating these conditions more than anyone. She’d even snapped at the Dewberry school photographer at half-time, ‘No photos, PUH-LEASE!’

  ‘Peekaboo!’ yelled the Jets’ keeper, the Paulveriser, from the top of his goal box. ‘Move it, CJ! What’s your problem?’

  Sprinting to keep up, CJ’s Dugong opponent narrowed his eyes. Peekaboo wasn’t a term that was used all that often on a football pitch. It was certainly not a term that seemed natural coming from the Paulveriser either. (For the record, even ooga booga would’ve seemed too advanced for the Paulveriser). But Peekaboo was a Jets set play. Something Charlotte had them working on at practice. It was inspired by her baby sister, Sofia.

  CJ thundered towards his position. If the set play was to work, CJ needed to get himself downfield to the top of the goal box. FAST.

  Lexi covered her eyes. She did an actual peekaboo. This would’ve been a clever secret signal if almost every Jet hadn’t already shouted out the term ‘peekaboo’ the moment Lexi had been awarded the corner.

  Tingling all over, CJ arrived beside Saanvi, Charlotte and Benji at the top of the box.

  ‘Nice of you to make it,’ said Saanvi, sarcastically. The four of them jostled for position with the Dugong defenders. The eight players were all bunched up.

  Charlotte glanced from Lexi to the defenders and back. She checked her angle on goal, then she prodded the grass, testing the surface. Charlotte was in the zone – she stared into the wind, weighing everything up. As CJ marvelled at Charlotte’s focus, a drop of sweat trailed down his forehead. She probably noticed that too.

  Lexi ran in for the kick.

  ‘Now!’ cried Charlotte.

  PEEKABOO WAS ON!

  The Jets scrambled into position. Benji bolted for the back post, making a nuisance of himself with defenders on the far side. (Nuisance? Perfect prankster-Benji mission). Saanvi stood tall where she was, right in the way of the nearest Dugongs. This allowed Charlotte and CJ to curve around the group at the top of the box and surge towards the nearest post.

  In other words, CJ and Charlotte were popping out from the group of players to say PEEKABOO! to the ball.

  Lexi placed the ball perfectly. Assisted by the wind, it was rocketing towards the area just in front of the near post.

  Charlotte sidestepped closer to the centre of the goals. The Dugong goalie noticed. He arched back in her direction to stop her possible shot on goal. But CJ was right there, and with the goalie worried about Charlotte, there was now a gap for CJ to score. He leapt into the sky, and at full stretch he slammed his foot into the ball.

  The back of the net wouldn’t know what hit it!

  Peeka-BOO-YEAH!

  But the ball came off the side of CJ’s foot.

  It felt wrong IMMEDIATELY. The force of Lexi’s kick meant the ball skewed upwards, high into the wind.

  ‘No,’ muttered CJ. ‘No, no, no!’

  CJ noticed Saanvi and Fahad’s instant looks of disappointment.

  The ball sailed on a gust, up into the sky, then towards the garden beside the Dewberry clubrooms. There was a gardener-type guy in overalls watering the flowers. And the ball was headed straight for him.

  ‘Heads up!’ warned CJ.

  THONK!

  Too late. The ball hit the gardener, smack on his noggin. He lost his balance and sprayed his hose. UP! Right over the top of the clubrooms. The water curved in the air and plummeted down onto the Dewberry parents huddled together on the other side.

  ‘This won’t end well,’ said Charlotte.

  The parents went wide-eyed as the water drenched the crowd. Everything happened all at once. Their mouths dropped. They tried to fling the water away. They stepped back, sideways, into each other. And a tall dad at the front squealed. To avoid the water, he backed into the group. With FORCE. The parents were all caught up in a bunch and they fell.

  Almost all of them.

  SPLOOSH!

  Like lemmings.

  SPLOOSH! SPLOOOOOSH!

  Right off the rocky bank and into the fr
eezing cold river.

  SPLOOSH! SPLOOOOOSH! SPLOOOOOOOOSH!

  ‘Oh, how awful,’ said Lexi. ‘So many expensive outfits ruined.’

  FWWWWWEEEEEEEET!

  The ref blew her whistle. GAME OVER.

  CJ let out a long breath. He caught Charlotte’s eye, then stared at the ground.

  ‘Best unintentional prank ever, dude,’ laughed Benji, slapping CJ on the back. ‘They look like drowned rats. Classic!’

  ‘Thanks,’ said CJ, as the parents started helping each other out of the water.

  The Jets and the Dugongs shook hands. The Jets were heading to the clubrooms when Charlotte demanded them all into the centre of the field.

  ‘Guys, what was that?’ said Charlotte, fuming, as they gathered around. ‘We’re better than this.’

  CJ couldn’t look at her.

  ‘We started with a 2–2 draw this season. Okay. Fine. We barely knew each other plus it was against Lenny and the Hammerheads,’ said Charlotte. ‘But then we backed it up with a 0–0 draw. And after that, a 1–0 loss. And today, another 0–0 draw. And we had two huge chances to score.’

  Two huge chances that I stuffed up, thought CJ, feeling Charlotte’s eyes on him. But it wasn’t just her glaring at CJ. Almost ALL his teammates’ eyes darted over at him, before looking away. They were all thinking the same thing. HE’D LET THEM DOWN.

  ‘Look, we just need to work harder, okay?’ said Charlotte. Then she sighed. ‘Come on. Let’s get out of this tornado.’

  Charlotte caught up to CJ as they headed for the visitors’ clubrooms. ‘Maybe some extra goal shooting practice for you this week? We need to be able to trust our star striker!’

  ‘Sure,’ said CJ. But he knew that wouldn’t help. His miss-kicks weren’t just bad luck or poor prep. It was more than that.

  CJ had a BIG PROBLEM that no-one knew about. And he had no idea how to fix it.

  It was PRANK TIME.

  Otherwise known as Sunday, 10.13 am.

  The Jets were finishing up an EMERGENCY training session that Charlotte had called as everyone was leaving yesterday’s match. CJ thought an EMERGENCY training session sounded like too much hard work so he’d suggested it be held at Jindaberg Beach. There were NO COMPLAINTS. Except from Charlotte. But they were meant to be co-captains, so CJ was glad that she backed down on this one. Plus, at the time, everyone was super keen to agree on a plan to get off the windy pitch after the contents of a garbage bin had blown all over them.

  Fortunately, the wind had died down overnight and the morning’s football practice had been a welcome change of scenery. As the session drew to a close, Charlotte gathered all the puffing, sweaty Jets together and used a stick to draw a mini football pitch in the sand. With everyone’s eyes down, Benji gave CJ a wink and snuck away. He’d borrowed one of his father’s precious homemade costumes from the Jindaberg Drama Club and was moments away from using it. Although probably not quite in a way his dad would’ve approved.

  ‘Thanks again for coming along, everyone,’ said Charlotte. ‘Sorry we haven’t had a chance to have a swim yet, Paul.’

  ‘Hmmf,’ replied the Paulveriser – a larger lad – who’d turned up wearing bright yellow Budgy Smugglers. What was the word CJ’s mum would have used to describe it if she’d still been around? Unflattering. That’s right. The look was UTTERLY unflattering.

  Charlotte checked her watch, ‘Okay. Before we finish up, we have just enough time to go through yesterday’s missed goals.’

  Do we have to? thought CJ. I’d rather sit on an echidna … Nude.

  ‘Imagine this dead crab is Lexi.’ Charlotte plonked the crab on the sand.

  ‘Eww. I do NOT wanna be a dead crab!’ squealed Lexi, then patted her cheeks. ‘I think you’ll find this skin is anything but crab-like.’

  ‘Hey, I don’t think it’s dead!’ laughed CJ, as the crab walked sideways across the six-yard box. ‘Could’ve used him yesterday.’

  ‘Might’ve been a straighter kick,’ said Saanvi, as she shot a look at CJ.

  That shut CJ up. Especially given Saanvi probably wasn’t the only one thinking it.

  CJ took a step away from the group and glanced around, wondering if Benji was in position for the prank. CJ couldn’t see him. That was a good sign.

  Charlotte began drawing arrows on the pitch between the sea objects, ‘Okay, so this brown seaweed is CJ.’

  ‘Double eww,’ said Lexi, holding her nose. ‘I think CJ is doggie doo.’

  Seems about right, thought CJ.

  Either way, Charlotte started explaining where they’d gone wrong. Antonio, Fahad, May and all the other players listened intently. Charlotte’s thoughts tumbled out her mouth. Clearly, she’d analysed the game A HUNDRED DIFFERENT WAYS the night before, in between her many family duties and strict homework schedule.

  As Charlotte drew a long line towards the pier, CJ and the other Jets’ eyes were drawn to the water. Morning light danced on the waves lapping at the shore.

  Charlotte sighed. Only CJ noticed. The other Jets were too busy either checking out the water, soaking up the sun, or in the Paulveriser’s case, adjusting his wedgie.

  ‘Sorry, Charlotte, but maybe that’s enough for today, yeah?’ said CJ.

  ‘Okay. Fine,’ agreed Charlotte, checking her watch again. ‘I’m due back home in seven minutes to mow the lawn anyway.’

  But before that, it was time for CJ’s part of Benji’s cunning plan. Here goes …‘So, um. Why don’t we all cool off with a bit of a swim, hey?’

  ‘Yeah!’

  ‘Good call, CJ!’

  ‘Sweet!’

  ‘Out of my way! I’m cannonballing off the jetty,’ yelled the Paulveriser, stomping through the sand.

  ‘Nice!’ sniggered CJ. It was all falling into place.

  The Jets left CJ and Charlotte behind on the beach, cheering as they all chased after the Paulveriser along the pier. ‘Last one in is a rotten egg!’

  There was no mistaking the first one in …

  SPLOOOOOOSH!

  The Paulveriser crashed into the water sending gallons of spray back up onto the pier. Then the other Jets jumped in after him. There were splashes everywhere.

  ‘So, this is your contribution to our training session, is it?’ asked Charlotte, arms crossed. ‘Suggesting everyone does cannonballs –’

  Then someone screamed, ‘SHAAAARK!’

  ‘What?!’ shrieked Charlotte, yanking CJ’s arm, dragging him to the edge of the water for a closer look.

  ‘SHAAAAAARK!’ cried Antonio, as he and the other Jets splashed around furiously beside the pier. White water flew in all directions. CJ glimpsed a fin.

  Then the Paulveriser stuck his head out of the water and bawled, ‘Help! I’m like a human happy meal, here!’

  The Jets swam for the shore. Their arms and legs CRASHING through the water.

  As CJ waited on the beach, Charlotte bolted into the water. She desperately helped her teammates onto the sand, dragging them to safety. In seconds, most were on the beach.

  Then the Paulveriser called out from behind the waves! ‘I’m stuck! Help!’

  The fin popped in and out of the water nearby. ‘Whoa, that looks super spooky,’ said CJ.

  ‘Paul’s beached himself, we’ve got to do something!’ said Charlotte, grabbing the football and BOOTING it hard in the direction of the shark.

  WHACK!

  The ball smacked into the grey shape. But Charlotte was too busy rolling the Paulveriser away from danger to check what she’d hit.

  A wave pushed the shape closer to shore.

  It emerged from the waves. Unsteady. Water cascaded down its sides.

  ‘A walking shark!’ gasped Lexi. ‘This’ll go viral. Let me get my iPad!’

  As the falling water became just a trickle, all that was revealed underneath was a scrawny kid wearing a sopping wet grey onesie. A shark costume onesie. And a very lame one at that.

  CJ burst out laughing.

  Benji poked his head out of the cos
tume. ‘Gotcha!’

  The Jets, who were catching their breath on the beach, quickly pieced it all together. A few laughed. Others rolled their eyes. The Paulveriser looked keen to take a shark bite out of Benji himself, but was puffing too hard to move.

  ‘What is wrong with you two?’ yelled Charlotte.

  ‘Just a prank, dude,’ said Benji, shaking water off like a dog.

  ‘The un-funniest prank I’ve EVER seen,’ snapped Charlotte, ripping Benji’s shark head off and slamming it into the sand.

  ‘Come on, we were just mucking around,’ said CJ. ‘You’re only cracking it cos we gotcha good! It was hilarious!’

  ‘Classic!’ laughed Benji.

  ‘Yeah, real funny. I thought my friends were in danger!’ Charlotte sighed, then something occurred to her. ‘No wonder neither of you were focused during training.’

  ‘Come on, don’t get your knickers in a pot,’ said CJ.

  ‘You mean KNOT!’ yelled Charlotte. ‘I’m sick of this. And I’m not alone. Highpants is freaking out too! So, start taking football seriously or we’ll never shake this losing streak. That goes for EVERYONE!’

  The other Jets didn’t dare meet Charlotte’s eyes, but a few looked at CJ. They were miffed at the prank and seemed to blame him for being the one who sent them into the water.

  Charlotte checked her watch. ‘This afternoon I’m setting aside seventeen and a half minutes to rethink our whole approach. And make no mistake … things are going to change. BIG TIME.’

  Charlotte grabbed her bag and stormed off.

  Lexi whispered to CJ, ‘I’m more scared now than when I thought there was a shark chasing me.’

  ‘Think I’d prefer a shark,’ said CJ.

  CJ and Benji decided to walk home via school to practise some penalties. And also so that CJ could avoid Charlotte, given his neighbour’s current mood was set to NUCLEAR.