Thirteen-year-old Javier Moreno has just transferred to Howard Middle School, but his skill as a striker is already well known and the Bisons are expecting that he will turn their season around; but soon the fame goes to his head, and he starts hogging the ball and showing off--and it is up to his friend Aimee to remind him that soccer is a team sport.

Eighth-grader Somali American Nimo Mohamed is the youngest runner on the varsity cross-country team, but she is determined to keep up with the older girls, so she has set herself a grueling training schedule; too grueling because her body is exhausted, her grades at school are slipping, and her father, who is still very much in her life despite the divorce, is starting the pressure her to quit the team.