Eagle Scout

It's a hot afternoon as the sun beats down on the borderland. The sun is getting ready to go down, but it will show no mercy until it slips behind the mountains. There is a slight breeze, which makes the heat slightly more bearable. The man selling ice cream walks around with his cooler, ringing his bell to attract attention.

The sports complex is separated into two areas by a two lane road. In the fall, the north side of the complex belongs to the youth football league. The north side of the complex is where youth soccer is played. In the spring, both sides of the complex are used for soccer. 

I find a field with a conveniently placed tree on the sideline. Trees at the soccer fields are always at a premium while it is still hot. Often, there will be groups of people huddled in tree shadows or under umbrellas, while the areas in the sun will be barren. Today is one of those days. 

A man sits close to the halfway line with two notebooks. He doesn't appear to be associated with either team. I'm guessing he is a scout from a bigger club or perhaps an academy. If he is not a scout, he could be a coach from another team in the league, here to gather notes and observations. In a competitive league like this, I wouldn't be incredibly surprised about either. For the sake of the entry, we'll simply call him "Scout." 

The game starts, and Scout watches intently. He writes in his notebooks with his head up, not wanting to miss a second of game action. A couple players on each team really grab his attention. When these players touch the ball, Scout stops writing to concentrate on what the player is doing with his feet. When they are successful, Scout looks pleased with himself, apparently slightly egotistical about his ability to recognize talent. When these players are unsuccessful or under perform, he looks visibly upset. 

Something peculiar I noticed about Scout is his pen habit. Even though he knows he will be writing something down every few seconds, he clicks his pen in between writing. I don't think this is particularly significant, but it seems awfully inefficient. It truly bugs me. 

While Scout is clearly invested in the success of certain players, he never applauds team successes like goals. He is careful to maintain his neutrality when it comes to the two teams. When the game concludes, Scout immediately leaves back to the parking lot. I expected him to stick around to talk to players and coaches. Maybe he has decided that he needs another look at these players before he makes any offers. Perhaps he is just the coach of another team and was only here to collect intel.