Hi NisVinten. Thanks for taking the time to respond. Here are the answers to your questions:

1. Why is it important to Liam to play soccer?
Liam discovers that playing soccer brings keeps him occupied, brings him joy and it is also a way to honor his grandfather’s memory. When he’s playing soccer he has no time to wallow in grief.

2. What does the ball represent?
The ball is a mystical connection with this grandfather’s spirit. It popped out of his grandfather’s closet after his grandfather died. It feels to Liam that his grandfather’s spirit helped him discover the ball. When Liam speaks to the ball, it’s almost as if he’s having a conversation with his grandfather.

3. And what is at stake (if he doesn’t…. then….).
a. If he doesn’t play soccer, he does not have an easy escape from the grief that he feels for his grandfather’s death.
b. Liam forfeits an implied future career as an esteemed pro soccer player.
c. Liam never feels that he is continuing his grandfather’s legacy as a soccer player. (Liam’s father has a different career.)

The point of the story is that sometimes loving spirits come into our lives that guide us in making the best life decisions. I want to imply that the bright orange soccer ball was sent by Liam’s grandfather’s loving spirit.)

Here’s why this logline doesn’t work for me:

When a grieving soccer player starts talking to the ball he received from his dying grandpa, he discovers the only way he can win the final and overcome his grief.

1. The boy is not a soccer player at all until the ball bounces down, finds him, and the boy starts conversing with the ball. It is then that he discovers the joy of soccer–which is something which will delight his grandfather’s spirit.

2. Liam doesn’t receive the ball directly from his grandfather.

3. Winning the game is not the point–rather it is developing a passion that feels as though his grandfather’s spirit is living within him. Liam is living up to his grandfather’s dying message to him, ““Look for the sunrise. Find the joy in your life.” The sunrise is represented by the orange color of the ball and he is filled with joy as he learns to play soccer. The joy displaces his grief.”

I tried this, but it still doesn’t feel right:
When a boy starts talking to a soccer ball that belonged to his deceased grandfather he must honor his grandfather’s legacy by becoming the best soccer player he can, or wallow in grief.