The four of them head over with the other parents to the park’s pavilion. Brittany, spotting Ron and Raven with her mom, jogs over and hugs them both, happy they are there. The Reds, Brittany’s team, win the first game of the tournament, and then they break for lunch. The crowd yells for the black and white ball to make it into the net as if nothing could matter more.

When she sees her opening, Brittany makes a strong, sure kick and sends the ball to her teammate, who takes off for the goal. Her brown ponytail bopping behind her, she keeps her cleats close to the ball, switch- backing across the field to try to keep it away from the other side until she’s got a clear path to pass it to her fellow players. He is cheering on Jennifer’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Brittany, who plays center-midfield, the link between offense and defense. 'What? Am I embarrassing you?' She nods, which only makes Ron yell louder. 'C’mon! Don’t let ’em take that ball!' he shouts, clapping his hands.īeside him, Raven, his nine- year- old daughter in neat braids he helped do that morning, shoots him a look. The sun catches the sterling medallion he always wears around his neck: an eagle in flight. He’s got to lean waay down to hug Jennifer, a tiny blonde with bobbed hair. 'You’d think I would’ve spotted you!' Wearing a blue baseball hat, Ron at six foot four towers over her. 'It’s so good to see you,' she says, laughing and moving close to embrace him. Then he reaches out and touches Jennifer’s arm, causing her to turn and jump. 'I’m right here,' Ron says, enjoying the joke. 'Where are you?' she says into her cell phone, unable to find him. All of the fields at Northeast Park in Gibsonville, North Carolina, are occupied on this bright autumn afternoon: It’s tournament day, with a parking lot crammed full of yellow school buses, SUVs, and station wagons to prove it.

Ronald Cotton stands a few rows behind Jennifer Thompson-Cannino, watching as she cranes her head through the crowd, looking for him among the faces of the parents who have come out to watch their children play soccer.

Picking cotton jennifer