Katie McLean, age 5, lived in Raleigh, North Carolina. She liked to play different kinds of sports and dreamed about becoming a professional player. Julie and Jennifer thought Katie was a great athlete.
One day Katie saw a television commercial for a new sporting goods store.

The next day, Katie went to the store. She walked over to a pile of baseball bats. She tried to hold the bat just like the professional player in the poster.
Katie closed her eyes. Suddenly, she was actually playing in the World Series!

The baseball stadium was packed like sardines. The crowd was doing the wave and flying colorful banners in the air.
The bases were loaded. The team depended on Katie to score the winning run. She held the bat tight as the mean-looking pitcher threw a curve ball. Katie swung and hit the ball.

The ball flew up, up, up in the air! It kept on going all the way out of the ballpark!
"Holy cow, It's a grand slam!" the announcer yelled.
Katie thought, "Gee whiz, Julie and Jennifer would be proud of me!" Katie dropped the bat to run the bases and...

Katie was back in the sporting goods store. She was a little confused, so she walked across the aisle to a display of basketballs. She began to dribble a basketball. In an instant, Katie was playing in the finals.

The basketball stands were jammed with people. Julie and Jennifer sat at center court chanting, "Sink it! Sink it!"
Katie looked at the scoreboard. There were only seconds left in the game.

Katie dribbled across the court, then quickly slam dunked the ball. It zoomed straight through the basket!
The cheerleaders sang, "Hooray! Hooray for Katie!"
The team lifted Katie on their shoulders. When they put her down, she was once again at the sporting goods store.

Katie picked up a football and began to watch the Super Bowl on a big screen TV.
Suddenly, she was the quarterback on the field. There were two seconds left in the game and her team was five points behind. Three enormous lineman from the other team were heading straight for Katie.

Katie managed to Beck out of the tackle and avoid a sack. She ran twenty yards, forty yards, then fifty! Touchdown!
Katie was so happy she threw the football in the air, and did a little victory dance. Katie was given a beautiful trophy and named the MVP of the year.

Suddenly, Katie realized the store was closing.
On the way to the exit she passed a display of trophies and thought, If I practice really hard, my dreams of becoming a professional athlete really could come true. I cant wait to tell Julie and Jennifer about my wonderful sports adventure.