A wall of bodies crashed on me. Then I found myself in the air, carried by the others like I was a war hero. Our fans were going nuts at the sideline, chanting Darci! Darci! Darci!

"Oh yes! We did it!" cheered Felik. "I knew you were gonna make us proud!"

I blushed and giggled. After my teammates put me down, I saw my mom go up to Grigor.

"Excuse me," she said shyly to the big man. "I'm Darci's mom. I just wanted..."

Grigor surprised her by grabbing her hand in his and shook it firmly with gratitude. Felik joined him.

"Did you see your daughter out there?" he...