Vic Has a Phenomenal Thing! Jolly Phonics · Step 3, Unit 1: ph as in phone

Coach Vic stands on the porch with hands on hips and a grin as wide as can be. 'I have a phenomenal thing to show the gang!' he calls down. 'Come inside!' We race up the path. Dog flops flat in the grass. A phenomenal thing? Dog will think so when he sees it.

Vic bends down by a big old trunk. Behind him, the shelf is packed with trophies and prizes. 'Are all the trophies his?' a kid asks. Vic just smiles and dips a hand deep into the trunk. Dog presses in to peek.

Vic pulls out a big ball and hoists it up high. 'This,' he says, 'is a ball for a new game. It was my sport when I was a lad. Now I am going to teach the gang to play!' We all gaze up. Hands go up. We all ask to tap that phenomenal ball.

Vic sets out a little model. It has a little net, little players, and a little ball, just a dot. 'Two teams,' says Vic. 'Hit the ball back over the net. Win, and you are the champ!' He says 'champ' like it is the best phrase there is. We all bend in to look.

Vic holds up photographs. In one, a player leaps up high with the ball. In one, a player crouches low to scoop it up. In one, a player smashes it over the net. 'Aim well and you win the point,' says Vic. 'But here is the trick. No feet!' 'No feet?' we all ask. 'No feet.'

Vic holds up a map. An arrow on it arcs to a gap where no player stands. 'See that gap?' Vic taps it with emphasis. 'Aim there. Hit it where they are not. That is how a champ wins!' He tucks the map away. The game feels hard. But Vic makes it feel like the best fun there is.

Dog spots the photographs and flips them over one by one. The top one shows a player diving on a sandy spot to get a ball. Dog's tail thumps fast. A sandy spot! A ball up high! Players diving and chasing! What an epiphany! This is not just a sport for kids. This is a dog sport too. Dog can tell.

Vic lays out a big map on the ground. 'A grand spot is not a must,' he says. 'Just a net and a flat, grassy spot!' Dog flops onto the map, twisting, tail thumping. A kid grins at him. Dog is no cartographer. But Dog has a flat, grassy spot now!

Tim looks up at Vic with a shy smile. 'What if I am no good?' asks Tim. Vic bends down and pats him kindly. 'No kid has to be the best. Just get out there and try. That is what all champs do.' 'Phew!' says Tim with a grin. Dog presses into Tim's side, tail thumping, nose tapping his hand. 'Dog is keen to try too!' says Tim. 'But Dog,' says Vic, 'has no hands at all.'

Coach Vic marches out to the yard, and we trot behind him in a long line. Dog trots at the back. Vic shows us how to hit. How to pass. How to send it over the net. Then he tosses the ball up and smashes it with oomph! It sails past us all. 'Now,' says Vic, 'we train!'

We line up by the net. One kid tosses the ball up. One kid leaps and sends it over. 'Yes! Just like that!' yells Vic, hands on his hips. Dog crouches low in the grass, still as a phantom, gazing at that ball. No kid sees him. But Vic does. 'Dog,' he says. 'Stop. Do not do it.'

But Dog is quick. Dog grabs the ball from the air and hugs it tight with both paws, nose pressing into it like it is a grand trophy. The ball is as big as Dog. He will not give it back. 'Paws off the ball!' we all yell. Dog just thumps his tail. No feet? Fine. Dog has paws, and paws are not feet.