Outcasts United

by

Warren St. John

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Outcasts United: Chapter 28 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Luma leads an intense week of practice that culminates in a match between the Under Thirteens and the Under Fifteens. When the game begins, the Thirteens show that they have “come to play.” They fight for the ball and make crisp passes, but they have a harder time making their shots. In the end, the Fifteens win 3-1, but the Thirteens have played a respectable game. Luma concludes, “it was an okay scrimmage.” The Fugees know that this is high praise.
St. John provides some insight into Luma’s leadership style here: the boys are so eager to do well for her that they pick up on any positive phrase. Just as Luma had been with Coach Brown, they don’t want to disappoint her.
Themes
Leadership and Respect Theme Icon
On Sunday morning, the Thirteens arrive for the first of two games, against Blue Springs. When the game begins, the Thirteens play like they did against the Fifteens: they control the ball but are unable to score. They start to lose confidence, and Blue Springs scores. The Fugees are losing 1-0. At halftime, Luma is livid. She is angry that they talked a big game, but Blue Springs is outhustling them. She says that she’s been waiting to see them play their best and she hasn’t seen it yet.
Luma is constantly asking her players to play their absolute best. When she believes that they are not fulfilling this expectation, she has harsh words for them. St. John shows how Luma feels that intense effort is always rewarded. If they aren’t winning, it means they haven’t tried hard enough.
Themes
Leadership and Respect Theme Icon
Discipline, Dedication, and Success Theme Icon
The Fugees return to the field, more focused and determined to prove Luma wrong. They go on the attack several times, until Josiah is able to score. They continue to fire shots, but none of them go into the net. Qendrim tells the rest of the team to move farther up the field to keep the pressure on.
Even though Luma’s words are severe, they do spur the boys to focus and play better. They don’t want to disappoint her, and amp up the effort accordingly.
Themes
Leadership and Respect Theme Icon
Discipline, Dedication, and Success Theme Icon
Bien takes a corner kick and the Fugees work together to and cross it to Idwar, who is able to kick the ball into the goal. The Fugees are ahead 2-1. A few minutes later, Jeremiah takes a cannon shot from fifteen yards out, scoring a beautiful goal. Luma tells them that their first half “sucked so bad,” but that she almost had a heart attack to see them come back. The boys applaud their victory, but the game has come at a cost: Qendrim is limping from a twisted ankle, and the rest of the Fugees are tired.
The boys ultimately prove to Luma how her methods work. When she is tough on them, it only inspires them to put in more effort, and their effort is directly rewarded with goals and wins. Although this doesn’t always happen, it happens enough that the boys buy into Luma’s system, and they know that giving her respect and working hard are the keys to that system.
Themes
Leadership and Respect Theme Icon
Discipline, Dedication, and Success Theme Icon
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The boys play another game less than an hour afterward, but they are exhausted. The game ends 2-1 with the Fugees losing. The next day, the Fugees are playing another team called the Concorde Fire. Luma learns that if they win the game, they’d go to the finals. Luma tells the Fugees to “play to the whistle,” warning them that if they lose or tie the game, they will be going home.
The effort that the Fugees had given in their previous game is evident in the fact that they are exhausted when they play their second game—they have nothing left to give. It is notable that during that game, St. John doesn’t give any anecdotes about Luma’s frustration or anger that they are losing—perhaps because she knows how much effort they have already given.
Themes
Discipline, Dedication, and Success Theme Icon
Just before the game starts, the Fugees see “a strange sight” on the sideline. Some older Fugees players have come out to cheer them on, as well as Josiah’s teacher and several volunteers from resettlement agencies. They have fans for the first time.
After St. John has given so many instances of the Fugees having no support on the sidelines, this becomes a touching representation of the kind of community support that Luma has been able to build around the Fugees.
Themes
Community and Teamwork vs. Division Theme Icon
The Fugees come out shooting, going after every ball. With eight minutes left in the half, Jeremiah carves through the Fire defense and scores. Luma gathers them at halftime and tells them about the adjustments she wants. She reminds them of the stakes and tells them to get two more goals.
Luma’s reminder ensures that the Under Thirteens don’t get lazy in the second half, and maintain the discipline that they had been showing in the first half.
Themes
Discipline, Dedication, and Success Theme Icon
In the second half, the Fugees continue to fire shots on goal, but they miss each time. The Fire, meanwhile, is able to get past the Fugees and score on Eldin. The Fugees aren’t finished, however; with fifteen minutes left in the game, Josiah controls a loose ball and shoots it just over the goalie’s head. The score is 2-1, Fugees.
Despite Luma’s reminders and warnings, they boys don’t play as accurately—this is what makes Luma so frustrated when they ultimately end up losing the game, particularly when they had obtained a lead.
Themes
Discipline, Dedication, and Success Theme Icon
The final minutes of the game are “thrilling,” and other teams come out to watch. They start to learn the names of the players and cheer them on. The Fire can’t find an opening, until the their star player gets free of the Fugees’ defense and sends the ball sailing over Eldin’s fingertips with only a few moments left. Luma is angry—she tells the boys that they had the other team at 2-1 but couldn’t finish the game. “You deserved to lose,” she says. “You didn’t play your best.” The boys gather their equipment sadly, their eyes dropping.
One of the difficult aspects of sports is that there are clear losers and winners. Effort often, but not always, translates to success. But while the boys are disappointed, they had also had an amazing season, and became so successful in the process that they inspired other people to support them. For a team that often receives little outside support, this also constitutes a win.
Themes
Community and Teamwork vs. Division Theme Icon
Discipline, Dedication, and Success Theme Icon
The holidays approach rapidly. Luma tells the Under Thirteens and Under Fifteens that she will enter the boys in a big tournament if they can raise the $1000 necessary to go. They organize car washes, but the boys come up $130 short. She tells them that they cannot asks their parents for money, and that they need to ask themselves what they would do for their team. Jeremiah takes up this request: he and other boys rake leaves to make up the extra money and tell Luma that they’ve made the $130.
Even after the devastating losses of both of her teams, Luma keeps their spirits up with the promise of future games. And on top of that, she continues to inspire their dedication, as they learn important life skills on how to work hard to support their team, just as she had done.
Themes
Leadership and Respect Theme Icon
Discipline, Dedication, and Success Theme Icon
Luma spends Christmas visiting her players’ families and delivering boxes of food. The day after Christmas, Luma receives a letter from the Town of Clarkston, informing her that she can no longer use Armistead field because the city is reactivating its youth recreation program. Luma is stunned.
While Luma continues her acts of selflessness for the boys and their families, she is hit with hard news: once again, the Fugees are being treated exceptionally poorly, and have been kicked off of the field that they called home.
Themes
Refugees, Discrimination, and Resilience Theme Icon
Leadership and Respect Theme Icon
Luma calls Mayor Swaney, but he won’t take her call. Later, Luma discovers that the letter was authorized by Swaney, who has no authority to go against the city council’s vote. Additionally, the reasoning behind the letter is a lie—there is no recreation program planned. Later, Mayor Swaney changes his story entirely, explaining that he had seen adult refugees playing soccer in the park, assumed they were affiliated with the Fugees, and kicked the team out for breaking their agreement. But the Fugees have no affiliation with any adult soccer players.
Just as Mayor Swaney had the ability to sway the entire city council to let the Fugees play on Armistead field, he now seemingly has the power to cut off their use of the field. Any reason he comes up with appears either arbitrary or discriminatory, and this will backfire on him when St. John breaks the Fugees’ story in The New York Times.
Themes
Refugees, Discrimination, and Resilience Theme Icon
In the meantime, Luma has to find a place to practice. She logs onto Google Earth to try and find another field. She zooms further and further back from Clarkston, trying to find a place to play. Atlanta has a lot of open space, but those fields are out of reach for the Fugees. She pulls back further and further, as the rest of America comes into view, then other countries and continents. Someday, St. John writes, “the Fugees would find a home.”
Luma’s search through Google Earth reminds readers of the variety of countries and continents that the boys arrived from. But in spite of being able to immigrate to America and escape war and violence, they are still unable to find a field that they can truly call home.
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Refugees, Discrimination, and Resilience Theme Icon
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