Florida school shooting: Team gathers for practice for first time after losing captain Alyssa Alhadeff
The group of girls sat on the bleachers and focused on the screen of a smartphone.
They watched intently as Alyssa Alhadeff's mother spoke through the tiny screen about their good friend. Some rubbed the tears away.
Saturday morning marked the first time the Parkland Soccer Club would meet for practice without 14-year-old Alyssa, their captain of three years who lost her life when Nikolas Cruz went on a shooting rampage, killing her and 16 others, and injuring at least 14 more at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland — a city traumatized by the massacre and the unwanted media attention.
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The group met at a grieving center soon after the shooting for counseling.
"It's hard for them to be apart right now," Laurie Thomas said. Thomas is the team's coach. The travel soccer team is part of the South Florida United Youth Soccer Association.
"There's no playbook for this."
The team last played Tuesday night and won. It was, possibly, Alyssa's greatest game, Thomas said.
Practices are held at the Pines Trail Park, the same park where the community has gathered to mourn. The soccer team made their own memorial to Alyssa on the bleachers next to their field.
They've latched on to Jessie J's song "Flashlight" and have begun to sing it, embracing one another to form a circle.
"I'm stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight," they sing as they sway, side by side.
Coach Thomas said she thinks she will continue the ritual before games as a way to recognize Alyssa.
"She's still with us."
Alyssa was a smart girl, a great captain and someone who always made people laugh, Thomas said.
"She played with a lot of heart and a lot of passion," Thomas said.
Fourteen-year-old Raquel Alvarado said Alyssa was not only an excellent team leader but a great person.
"She was a hard worker," Raquel said.
Raquel's father, Alfredo Alvarado, in a searing social media post, said his daughter is what is considered one of the "lucky ones."
By sheer coincidence, after many soccer practices and school work, Raquel was tired and was picked up early Wednesday. An hour later, at home, she began to get the notifications to her phone: Her friends were in trouble.
"I think that you only experience this from afar and the focus is on the fatalities, as it should be," Alvarado said. "But, it's not just the fatalities and the victims. We are all suffering."
Maybe the term "victim" is not the right one, he said, but thousands of lives in Parkland were "traumatized by this crisis," he said.
It's moved him to try to do something to stop mass shootings. He's calling it the Parkland Project, still in its infancy, but he hopes to raise money toward the cause.
His daughter, Raquel, is a smart, talkative young girl. She said she is thankful for the comfort of the club.
To Tracy Lanson, the team's manager, it offers a "therapeutic" opportunity for release. The team kicked the ball on the field as they listened to upbeat music. It was a dramatic change of pace from their interactions on the bleachers.
On the field, they all laughed together as one of the girls stood on her hands and showed off her split in the air.
"It's been really hard and a lot of crying and sadness," Raquel said, but she added, practicing with her teammates is comforting.
The soccer community from around the world has also been supporting the team from far away places. Some players have sported signs with the hashtag "playfor8." The number 8 was Alyssa's.
"Being here for each other has made it easier," she said.
Like her father, Raquel is upset that this senseless tragedy was allowed to occur and believes Cruz could have been stopped.
"No one should ever have to be in this position," Raquel said. "I hate it and just like the sadness and anger that he wasn’t caught."
But, the community is responding well, she said.
"It's finally a time to speak up for gun violence and I think everyone is finally aware of it and it's time for a change," she said. "Everyone realizes."
The team will play its first match since the shooting on Feb. 25 in Auburndale.
