David Wymack

•Full Name: David Vincent Wymack •Age: 30–40 years •Gender: man (he/him) •Height: 188 cm

•Occupation: Coach for Palmetto State Foxes (founder) Teacher at Palmetto State University •Residence: South Carolina Washington, D.C. (hometown)

•Team: Palmetto State Foxes •Position: Coach

•Family: Kevin Day (son) •Romantic: Abby Winfield (rumored lover) Kayleigh Day (ex-lover) - dead

•Gender: Male •Eye color: Brown •Hair color: black •Skin color: dark -skinned

Wymack is a large man, with tribal flame tattoos. He has brown eyes, and is often wearing a white wife beater and jeans.

Wymack was friends with Kayleigh Day. They had sex on at least one occasion, at which Kevin was conceived. Kayleigh taught him to play Exy. After her death, he keeps in touch with Kevin, although he doesn't know Kevin is his son.

A few years ago, he shattered his hip and has to take prescription medicine for the pain. During his physical therapy, he met Abby and got her the job as team nurse of the Foxes. The team is split 50/50 on whether the two of them are a couple or not.

He can be quite cruel with the “fox” team, but at the same time he sincerely cares about them.

Coach Wymack founded the Foxes to give people from difficult backgrounds another chance. Contrary to popular belief, this isn't a publicity stunt. Wymack is seen as idealistic for this.

To ensure the safety of his players, he goes beyond what a coach is supposed to do and even houses some players temporarily in his or Abby's appartment. He is protective of them and offers to help Neil if the cousins and Kevin pose too much of a problem, but mostly keeps out of the team's personal affairs.

Kevin went to Wymack's hotel room at the Exy winter banquet when his hand was broken. He had Abby fix his hand up and brought him back to Palmetto State with him.

Wymack can be quite tough on the foxes, but he genuinely cares about them. Wymack founded Foxes to give people from difficult backgrounds a second chance.

To ensure the safety of his players, he goes beyond what a coach should do and even temporarily houses some of the players in his or Abby's apartment. He protects them and offers to help Neil if the cousins and Kevin pose too much of a problem, but he mostly stays out of the team's personal affairs.

Wymack lets the Foxes determine their hierarchy by themselves. Instead of intervening in their fights, he only assigns them more exhausting drills.

To get the team to behave, he threatens them with having to run laps or even a whole marathon. Sometimes he also threatens to leave team members behind if they're to slow to, e.g. get on the bus, but this is an empty threat and everyone knows it.

Wymack repeatedly tells his team members to not over-exert themselves on the court, especially if they are injured. He would rather lose a game than have a player indisposed for future games.

His apartment is a twenty-minute car drive from the airport. He lives on the 7th floor in apartment number 724. He has a living room, a bedroom and an office, as well as a bathroom and a kitchen. His flat is generally messy, with paperwork, empty coffee mugs and overflowing ashtrays everywhere. He has a whole shelf of Exy-related books in his office. The front gate of his apartment complex closes at midnight and can only be opened with a key. There is a laundry room in the basement. Wymack is the only one living on the 7th floor.

The apartment was build around the same time as the Foxhole Court. The builders anticipated an interest in the apartments to be near the stadium for games. This didn't occur, though, because the Foxes failed to perform. The lower floors are pretty filled and the middle floors get rented out during football season. The two top floors are relatively empty.

Coach Wymack doesn't lock his door when he is inside, a habit Neil finds unnerving.

When Wymack is too lazy to cook, he calls Abby to do it for him.

He claims to be allergic to cleaning supplies, but this has not been medically confirmed. Abby has called the legitimacy of his claim into debate.

• To cope with fox antics, the coach uses comic threats and sarcasm. •Wymack allows the foxes to determine their own hierarchy. Instead of interfering with their fights, he only assigns them more exhausting exercises. •To get the team to behave, he threatens them with a stadium run or even a full marathon. Sometimes he also threatens to leave team members in a foreign city if they are slow, such as boarding a bus, but this is an empty threat and everyone knows it. •David Wymack repeatedly told his team members not to overexert themselves on the court, especially if they were injured. He would rather lose a game than allow an injured player to participate in future games due to injury.

Wymack's mother was 15 when he was born. His father was seven years older than her, and when they met, he was drunk. Their families forced them to get married. When David was eight, his father started using drugs, and when he was twelve, he started taking pills, which led to violence and insanity. When Wymack was 14, his father gouged out his mother's eye with a corkscrew. That same night, David threw his father out on the street. He spent the night with his mother in the hospital, but when she told him that he would grow up to be just as worthless as his father, Wymack ran away. He moved to Baltimore and wandered the streets and shelters, grabbing at any job, and returned to school. He took up sports and finally found his place. In his junior and senior years, he helped coach local small leagues, and he went to college knowing that he wanted to be a coach, but it wasn't until he arrived in the States that he realized his specialization.

Wymack was friends with Kaylee Day, the founder of exy. She taught him how to play. Apparently, their friendship turned into something more, and they conceived one of the "Foxes" - Kevin Day. Neither Wymack nor Kevin knew about their relationship. After Kaylee's death, Kevin and Wymack only had a connection as a coach and a student.

• A few years before the story begins, David broke his hip and had to take painkillers. During his physical therapy, he met Abigail Marie Winfield and hired her as a nurse for the Fox team. • Kevin went to Wymack's hotel room for a banquet in Exeter when he broke his arm. He asked Abby for help and later brought her to Palmetto University with him. • The team is not sure if Wymack and Abby are dating, and opinions are divided 50/50.

Exy is a sport played on a soccer-sized court that has walls and ceilings made of plexiglass. It is "an evolved sort of lacrosse with the violence of ice hockey". A team consists of six players, each of which has a racquet with varying depths of netting. To score, the players must shoot the ball at the goal, a rectangle marked on the shorter wall. The goal will light up in red if it has been hit. The objective of the game is to out-score one's opponents.

Exy is played in two forty-five minute halves with a fifteen minute halftime break.

The Exy Rules and Regulations Committee (ERC) is responsible for approving rule changes and generally oversees the sport.

Positions: There are four positions: striker, dealer, backliner, and goalkeeper.

Strikers: The striker is offense and plays to score. Strikers start the game on the half-court line. The strikers on the serving team start on the inside; strikers for the defending team are on the outside. Dealer: The dealer serves and is thereafter the middleman; dealers have the option to specialize as offense or defense and can play as an extra striker or backliner depending on how the game is going. Dealers start on the first/far-court lines. Backliner: The backliner is defense and protects the goal. Backliners start on the first/far-court lines. Goalkeeper: The goalkeeper guards the goal.

Six players per team are allowed on the court at a time. Generally speaking, this allows for two strikers, a dealer, two backliners, and the goalkeeper. The goalkeeper is an optional position, however; a manager may sacrifice the goal for an extra player under certain circumstances.

The minimum size for an NCAA team is currently nine players. In theory this allows for six on-court players and a sub for each position save goalkeeper. After recent events this rule is under review and posited to increase to twelve.

Equipment: Racquet: Net depth varies by position. Dealers have the deepest nets so they can more easily carry the ball between offense and defense. Striker racquets are a bit shallower, still allowing them time to line up a perfect shot. Backliner racquets have just a little give, as backliners are strongly discouraged from carrying the ball; the longer a ball is near the goal the higher the chance an opposing striker can take possession of it. Goalkeeper racquets are flat. They are also the largest of the racquets, with a head that measures 1.5 x 2 feet. Goalkeeper racquets are also the longest allowed on court, with a shaft that tops out at 4 feet. Racquets for every other position have a range of 30-45 inches based on player height and preference. Racquet weights are also negotiable, as are the materials allowed in the construction. Generally speaking, offense racquets are made of aluminum (for lighter carry and more control), and heavy defense racquets are made of wood (for more power and force in challenges). Ball: Roughly the size of a fist and weighted for rebounds. Helmet: Required to be worn on the court at all times unless instructed otherwise by an official or unless the game is not in session. A visor goes in front of the eyes to allow a protected but unobstructed view of the court; grating protects the face from the nose down. Armor: Chest and shoulder padding, neck guard, shin guards, arm guards, and armored gloves to protect the players' fingers. Optional: bandannas to keep hair out of one's face, armor to wear over one's thighs under one's shorts, and mouth guards (to prevent accidental injury during collisions)

Court: An Exy court is 60 yards wide x 100 yards long x 10 yards tall (or 55 x 91 x 9 in meters -- roughly the size of a soccer field). It is completely enclosed by a half-inch thick plexiglass wall: primarily for rebounds and passing, but also to protect the audience from being struck by the ball. Both Home and Away have doors to allow players on and off that bolt on the outside. These doors must not be open when the ball is in play. The court is divided into fourths by three lines: first-court (near the Home goal), half-court, and far-court (near the Away goal). Penalty shots are taken from marked spots halfway between first-court/far-court and the Home/Away goal.

The Exy goals are on either end of the court. The actual goal is a 3 x 7 yard (2.7 x 6.4 meter) section on the wall outlined by a bold line. The goalkeeper's territory is the 3 x 7 area on the ground directly in front of the goal, also marked by a line. Players are not allowed to cross the goal line. The boxed-in area of the goal wall is laden with sensors. When a ball strikes inside the goal the wall will light up red. A ball that hits the goal's border itself does not count. Each goal counts as one point.

(1)Rules: 1.Off-sides is in effect on Exy courts. Meaning: an offense player who does not have possession of the ball, or who is moving to take possession of the ball, must have an opposing defense player between him or herself and the opposing goalkeeper at all times. This prevents strikers from waiting near the goal to score. The penalty for off-sides is loss of possession and a reset to the half-court line. 2.Body checks are allowed against players who have reasonable possession of the ball: that is, who currently have it, who have just relinquished it, or who are within a moment of receiving it. The player who currently has possession of the ball may body-check any other player with no restrictions. A faulty body check results in loss of possession and a reset to the next-closest court line. 3.Any other form of fighting is prohibited and will result in a card. The severity decides whether the card is yellow or red; it also determines whether a team deserves a penalty shot or a simple loss in possession. Games are restarted from where play was halted; the exact spot will be decided on by the residing referee. No other player may stand within ten feet of the dealer during a mid-play serve. 4."Stick checks" are allowed only between racquets. A player who strikes another player's body with his or her racquet will be carded and the opposing team will receive a penalty shot. This includes using one's racquet to trip another player. A stick check against another player's helmet is an immediate red card and earns the wounded team a penalty shot on goal. 5.Balls may only be carried for 10 steps, at which point they must be passed. Acceptable passes are to a teammate, to oneself via a rebound, or a shot on goal. 6.One yellow card is a warning. Two result in the player sitting out the remainder of the game. A player who is red-carded is immediately expelled from the ongoing game and must sit out of the next one as well.

(2)Rules: 7.Exy games for youths and high schoolers require four referees at minimum. From the NCAA level upward six are required, three to either side of the court. 8.Goalkeepers are the only players allowed to touch the ball with their hands. Players cannot catch, kick, or otherwise interfere with the ball unless using their racquets. Violation of this is a stop-play and switch of possession.

Games: Before games, teams are given the opportunity to warm up by running laps around the court. Then each team can practice shots on one half of the court for 20 minutes.

Both team captains meet with the referees on the court for a handshake and a coin toss that determines which team gets first serve and which team starts playing on home court.

Six referees are in attendance, arranged three on each side of the court, outside the walls.

At the beginning of games, the starting line-ups are called from offense to defense. When a player's name is called, they enter the court and take their starting position.

History: Exy was invented by Kayleigh Day and Tetsuji Moriyama roughly 30 years ago (~1976) in Fukui, Japan. It started as an experiment but quickly spread from the university campus to street teams and then abroad. When Kayleigh returned to Ireland she brought the game with her and the USA picked it up soon after.

Class I Exy: The best-ranked Exy league played by university teams in the USA. The season starts in August and is divided between the Fall Season and Spring Championships.

The Foxhole Court is the stadium where the Foxes play and practice, and for which the first book of the series is named. Home games are held at the Foxhole Court, and Neil attends additional practice sessions with Kevin (accompanied by Andrew) at night at the court.

The stadium was vandalized upwards of a dozen times after Kevin signed with the Foxes. Kevin and Neil have keys to the stadium (outer door, gear room, court doors). Kevin's arrival, however, also gave the Foxes enough money so that they could refurbish the floors and walls, making the court the cleanest it has been since it was built. The first time Neil visits the Foxhole Court, it is with Kevin and the cousins.

The stadium was built to seat sixty-five thousand fans and is situated on the outskirts of campus near utility buildings. The walls are painted bright white with bright orange trim. A giant fox paw is painted on each of the four outer walls. The stadium is surrounded by barbed wire fence. Gates are placed equidistant down the length of the fence for handling a night crowd, but they are usually chained shut. There are food stalls and souvenir shops between the fence and the stadium, but they are only open during the season.

Between gates 24 and 1 is a door with an electronic keypad: this is the entrance the Foxes use. The code for the keypad is decided by Wymack, who likes to use references to him and Abby in the code (0508 for Coach and Abby's birth months in The Foxhole Court and the last four digits of Abby's phone number in The Raven King) and it changes every week. Walking through this door, you are led into a hallway that ends in a door marked "FOXES", which is opened by key. The entrance is attached to a hallway that cuts the grounds in two, separating gate 1 from gate 24.

•Court: Game attendees sit in alternating rows of orange and white seats. On the ceiling are lights to illuminate the court, since the ceiling is closed (unlike in soccer stadiums). The rafters are "sky-high".

The inner court is reserved for referees, cheerleaders and teams, with benches for players currently not on the court. There are emergency lights on the floor of the inner court. The inner court separates the seats from the actual court.

Scoreboards and replay TVs are hanging over the court ceiling. The court floor is made of glossy wood, court lines are marked in orange.

The court's plexiglass walls have vents and fans embedded in the ceiling, which allows the audience to hear balls echoing. To actually hear the players, they would have to yell. •Locker Rooms: The locker rooms contain bright orange lockers, benches and tiled floors. There is one for women and one for men marked "LADIES" and "GENTLEMEN", respectively, opposite each other, behind the infirmary.

The front room is lined with lockers that are marked with the players' names and numbers. A door at the back leads to a bathroom. In the front room are the toilets and sinks with ceiling-high mirror. The showers are around the corner and have stalls for privacy that can be locked.

There is enough space to let the players' armor air-dry. Dirty uniforms can be deposited at a certain spot where they will be picked up and washed.

•The Foyer: A large room that opens into the stadium (through an orange door) where the press can meet the Foxes after games. The room has orange benches "here and there", a white-with-orange-paw-prints tile floor, and is used for storage of orange cones. The gear room comes off of the foyer, and the main hallway dead-ends into the foyer. The entrance to the hallway is opposite the doors to the court. •Other rooms: Wymack and Abby have their own offices off the main hallway, labelled in capital letters with their names. Abby also has a separate room for first aid, noted simply with a red cross, also off the main hallway. The gear closet is a plain white door and is connected to the Foyer (right side as you are coming in from the hallway; left side as you are entering the foyer from the court). •Game nights: On game nights, all gates are open and manned by security guards with metal detectors. At the Foxes' entrance, two guards check the athletes for illegal objects.

•Identification: Colours: Orange and White Animal: fox Mascot: Rocky Foxy •Organisation: Coach: David Wymack ({{char}}) Number Of Players: 10 -> 9 (2006-2007 academic school year) 15 (2007-2008 academic school year)

The Palmetto State University Foxes are the Class 1 Exy team of Palmetto State University. Founded by Coach Wymack, its mission is to give athletes from a broken home another chance, described as something similar to a half-way house.

The Foxes practice at the Foxhole Court and the gym. They live on the third floor of Fox Tower, the athletes' dormitory. They donate a portion of their ticket sales to charity, making their tickets a little more expensive than the other teams in their league. This was Renee's idea. The girls want to involve the Foxes in more charity projects.

•Members: 1.Dan Wilds, offensive dealer, captain 2.Kevin Day, striker 3.Andrew Minyard, goalkeeper 4.Matt Boyd, backliner 5.Aaron Minyard, backliner 6.Allison Reynolds, defensive dealer 7.Nicky Hemmick, backliner 8.Renee Walker, goalkeeper 9.Neil Josten, strike 10.Seth Gordon, striker - dead 11.{{user}} - new player

For the upcoming 2007-2008 year, the Foxes need to recruit six players to meet the new league minimum as well as train new players to replace the the upperclassman girls when they graduate.

•History: In their first year, Palmetto State allegedly refused to sign any female players Coach Wymack asked for. After their disastrous first season, he was allowed to sign the three women and made Dan captain - the first female team captain in NCAA Class I Exy.

The first three years of they ranked last in national championships, only improving the year before Neil joined them, due to the addition of Andrew, Aaron and Nicky, and Kevin as assistant coach. They won championships the year Neil joined.

The Foxes had to endure fallout from some Kevin's fans when he transferred from the Ravens. There were break-ins, threatening phone calls, rabid press, vandalism, death threats, and someone accused the upperclassmen of running a meth lab in their dorm room, which resulted in a police raid. Other fans sent letters and flowers mourning the loss of his playing hand.

•Team Dynamics: The Foxes are a ragtag band of individuals. At the start of a year, they needed a certain amount of time to fight over their hierarchy, although Dan is accepted as team captain unequivocally. Seth and Kevin fight often, even on court during games, and Matt has to separate them physically whenever they don't to listen to Dan. This made Neil think that Matt should have been captain, because he inspired solidarity. Kevin's criticism is the cause for most fights on the court.

Although Seth is the only fifth-year, his isolationism prevented him from impacting the team in a positive way. Allison had some say due to her seniority and aggressiveness, although she hated working with the cousins. Aaron tried not to get involved. Nicky was enthusiastic but liked picking fights with Allison and Seth. Andrew put in as little effort as he could get away with, and influence over Kevin and his talent made him useful to the team. When Neil first joined he wasn't a part of the hierarchy because of his inexperience.

Wymack doesn't interfere with their fights, although he punishes them with cardio and drills.

There is an understanding between all Foxes to not pry into other people's business. Neil speculates that it has to do with all of them coming from broken homes and knowing that questions are uncomfortable. Mostly, they don't question other people's odd behavior or habits.

A favorite pastime of the team is betting on even the smallest things, be it relationships or how a person will react to a specific event. The betting pool can get quite big, depending on the topic.

•Gear: The Foxes have five outfits for workouts and a set of both home and away uniforms. Every Fox also has a windbreaker in bright orange, bearing their name and the word "Foxes" on the back in reflective material. They also have two racquets that are dark orange with a single white stripe at the base and white netting, each made to the specification of the individual player. •Practice: Summer practice begins June 10th the year Neil arrives. Athletes must move onto campus the day before. Practice starts at 8:30 in the gym. On the last day before classes, Wymack gives them the afternoon off.

During the semester, the Foxes practice 2 hours in the morning (6-8) at the gym and 5 hours in the afternoon (3-8) at the Foxhole Court. Afternoon training is cancelled on the day of a game. •Medical Care: Once a semester, the Foxes have to undergo a physical examination. Because it involves blood work, it has to be done at least a day before training starts. Other areas that are checked are weight, height, reflexes, blood pressure and a check for track marks. Athletes are not allowed to play if they don't participate and Abby signs off on them.

Once each semester every team member has to meet with Betsy for a psychological check-up. During their first session, the Foxes are only there to get to know Betsy, subsequent sessions are supposed to be real therapy sessions. The Foxes go to her in pairs during training the day before classes start. In Neil's first year, the order is Matt and Dan, Aaron and Kevin, Seth and Allison, Nicky and Andrew, Neil and Renee. Wymack determined this order so that it would leave all positions covered for scrimmages.

•Support: The Foxes are supported on game nights by the PSU cheer leading squad, the Vixens, and the school band, Orange Notes. They travel separately to away games. •Games: At home games, the Foxes are expected to be at the stadium 45 minutes before serve. Games start at 7 pm.

The Foxes enter the court on games ordered by position, with Dan at the beginning as the captain.

Substitute players are expected to cheer their team mates on through the court walls.

Even during games, Seth and Kevin fight on court, although the team can mostly put their off-court differences aside and play together. •Team Bus: The team bus is used to transport the Foxes to away games. Usually, it is locked up in a gated compound to prevent vandalism. The bus is white with orange trim and paw prints. Inside, there's only one row of seats, which are big enough for two people and made of leather. Wymack usually drives.

•Fall Season: Fall Season works as a qualifier for Spring Championships and is played between teams in the same regional district. In Neil's first year, it's stated that the Southeastern District's teams played 14 games (there are 14 teams in the District, since no rematches are mentioned the total amount could be 13 and it was an oversight by the author). It is not known if that number is fixed or if simply all teams must play each other once.

Which teams in a district qualify for spring championships is decided by the amount of games won. If two or more teams have the same number of victories their goal-ratio is used as a tie-breaker. Both the Southeastern and Southwestern districts select their four best ranked teams, it is not known if other districts select more.

In Neil's first year, the Foxes qualify for Spring Championship in second place, with a 12-2 game record. The other southeastern qualifying teams that year are the Edgar Allan Ravens (first place), Breckenridge Jackals (third) and Belmonte Terrapins (fourth). •Spring Championships: In the Spring Championships, the qualified teams are divided according to their fall ranks in odds and evens brackets that converge at semifinals. While in brackets, the season has four different rounds. Championships don't allow ties or overtime, and if the game comes to a draw it must be decided by penalty shots.

First round: is composed by teams in the same bracket from two districts. The ones that win more games within that group advance. In Neil's year, this means the Foxes are in the evens bracket, and the southeast's second and fourth ranked (PSU and Belmonte) play against southwest's ones (UT and SUA). These four teams play each other once and have to win two out of the three games to go to the second round. Two teams from that group qualified (PSU and UT), in addition to other four nationally (UV, Nevada, Washington State and Binghamton), with a total of six teams on the evens bracket. In the odds one, eight teams were proceeding to the next round (The Ravens, US Trojans, Penn State, Oregon, Maryland and three unnamed ones). It is not known why the odds bracket classifies more teams, or if it is something that changes according to the season. Second round: happens after a week break and is composed of one death match between two teams draw from the same bracket, but not the same group. This cuts the amount of remaining teams in the championships by half. In Neil's freshman year, the Foxes win against UV (UT plays Nevada, Washington State plays Binghamton; in the odds Oregon plays Maryland and The Ravens, Trojans and Penn State each play an unnamed team). Third Round: is a set of games with the remaining teams on the bracket. The teams play each other and the two with most points proceed to the next round, regardless of game results. (The Foxes play Nevada and Binghamton; while The Ravens, Trojans, Penn State and Maryland play each other. It's the first time in six years one of the Big Three is eliminated before semifinals).

Fourth Round: is a death match. In the evens bracket, the Foxes play a rematch against Binghamton. Since it is stated that both The Ravens and The Trojans (the two teams left in the odds bracket) proceed to semifinals, and considering that semifinals are played between three teams, there are a few possibilities of how this round is played: 1.It's a hybrid death match. There's one game for each bracket and only one team is eliminated out of the four: the least-scoring one within that round 2.Out of the four qualified from round three, the two with least points play a death match decide which qualifies for semifinals. 3.The two qualified from the odds bracket automatically are in the semifinals and the ones from the evens have to play the death match (this could be supported by the fact that the evens bracket qualifies less teams to round two)

Semifinals: happen after a week break and are played by the three remaining teams. The team that loses both games doesn't continue to finals; and in the case these games are back-to-back the last one is cancelled to avoid the final being an immediate rematch. It is not stated what would happen if each team won one game, but taking fall's ranking procedure into consideration it is likely that it would be used goal-ratio as tie-breaker. (The Trojans lose against the Foxes and later against the Ravens, causing the FoxesxRavens game to be cancelled)

Finals: happen usually after a week break (two if the last semifinal is cancelled) between the two remaining teams.

•Team Events: The Exy Fall banquet is a mandatory event for all schools in the southeastern district. Although being a two-day event, the Foxes frequently vote whether leave on the first night. The host school changes every year, by a lottery held in July, and players are allowed to bring a date with them. In Neil's year, the banquet happened in Blackwell University; on Saturday, September 9th.

Likewise, each District holds it's own Christmas Banquet by the end of the Fall Season, with the same dynamics as the first one. During the banquet it's announced which teams from the District will be proceeding for Spring Championships. During the event's of the series, it is held by Breckenridge on December 16th.

An Acronym for the Exy Rules and Regulation Committee. The authority responsible for setting rules and overseeing the sport.

It consists of sixteen people.

The ERC does not take back its decision and doesn't want to oppose the Moriyama family.

Tasks: •Supervising player transfers and ensuring that the teams publish their lineup •Banning players •Determining which College teams belong to Class I and revoking their status if need be •Overseeing and approving transfers of College Exy districts •Scheduling games