In the Pilot Episode, twelve year-old Devin Burke moves from her hometown of Milford, Connecticut to Kentville, California. She's excited to join her new school soccer team, The Kicks, but her excitement is drained when she finds out they aren't as good as she thought.
Tropes
- Always Someone Better: Before Devin showed up, Mirabelle was unquestionably the best player on The Kicks. She's visibly enraged when Devin outplays her during a practice drill, despite her attempts to act like she doesn't care.
- Blatant Lies: Devin says that she didn't take the shot because Mirabelle had a better angle on it. Cody isn't buying it.
- Broken Win/Loss Streak: Mirabelle's goal against Pinewood breaks an established two-year streak of no one scoring on them.
- Confession Cam: The Pilot Season version of the episode featured several of these. They were cut when it went to full series.
- Creator Cameo: Alex Morgan puts in as an appearance as a celebrity alumni from Pinewood.
- Establishing Character Moment:
- Devin is introduced waking up early to go running, reflecting her Passionate Sports Girl nature.
- Mirabelle's would be showing up late to practice, demonstrating her awesome soccer skills, then bailing on practice to take a phone call after Devin steals from her. That, plus the dirty look on her face after said steal, perfectly captures her laziness, her natural talent, her Phoneaholic Teenager tendencies, and her hatred of being shown up by other players.
- Fish out of Water: Devin has a lot of trouble adjusting to her new school, especially when she's attempting to ingratiate herself with The Kicks.
- Meaningful Echo: Devin's dad tells her that she shouldn't waste her natural talent when things get hard. Devin uses the same words to talk Mirabelle into joining the game against Pinewood.
- Team Hand-Stack: The Kicks try to do one, but none of them are really into it.
