ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) - Katelyn Jones stands alone in the girls’ locker room on Friday night, adjusting her shoulder pads and tucking in an oversized black and gold Murphy football jersey, a uniform usually reserved for the opposite sex.
Nearly 100 miles away, Rosman’s Madison Fischer observes a similar ritual, suiting up alone - her long blonde hair flowing out from her helmet down to her lower back - before meeting the team for pregame speeches and warm-ups.
“I enjoy the solitude,” Jones said. “It allows me to get ready for the game in my own way. I know some people don’t think I can play with the boys, so it’s nice to have a moment to think about that before I go out there.”
Jones, a senior kicker, and Fischer, a junior linebacker, represent a growing number of girls who have gravitated toward a sport traditionally dominated by male athletes. Both are the first females to play varsity football at their schools.
“It’s not an easy thing to do and it has been a lot of hard work,” Fischer said. “But I believe, if you’re determined, you can do anything you want.”
’I just kicked it like a soccer ball’
Football isn’t the first sport Jones has played with the boys.
As a freshman at Murphy, Jones tried out and made the boys’ varsity soccer team and played with an all-male select travel team out of Franklin.
“There are just not a lot of opportunities athletically for girls in ninth grade around here,” said Jones’ mother, Kelli Jones. “She had to make her own.”
It was during a powderpuff game - a flag football charity event - her sophomore year when football coaches began to take note of her ability. Jones hit a 30-yard field goal to win the game.
“I just kicked it like a soccer ball,” Jones said.
Jones said she wasn’t initially interested in playing but drew inspiration from a female cousin, who kicked for four years at her high school in Indiana. Her cousin - Melanie McHenry - went on to earn a volleyball scholarship at the University of Louisville, where she plays as an outside hitter.
Jones also watched other female kickers grab the national spotlight, including Brianna Amat, who made the game-winning field goal the same night she was elected homecoming queen at Pinckney (Mich.).
“I think when she saw that she realized being a football player didn’t mean having to give up being a girl,” Kelli Jones said. “But I think one of the best parts about this is that when girls succeed, it gives other girls the confidence to try.”
The number of girls playing high school football has risen to 1,565 - an increase of 17.5 percent over the past seven years - according to the most recent participation numbers from the National Federation of State High School Associations.
Jones tried out for the football team in the fall as a senior, beating out the competition to become the starting field goal kicker.
“I think it’s been nothing but a good experience for the team and this community,” Murphy coach David Gentry said. “For me, I just want to win, she helps us do that.”
Jones hit her first extra point in a Week 2 game against Franklin, pushing Murphy’s lead to 21-14 in the third quarter.
It was the moment, she said, when she finally felt part of the team.
“I was jumping around like I was a little kid, everyone was slapping my back,” Jones said. “I felt like I belonged.”
Skylar Dockery, a long blonde-haired junior defensive lineman for Murphy, put his arm on Jones’ shoulder while they listened to Gentry talk after a Week 3 practice. The two have gotten close since Jones made the team. He calls her “Short Stack” she calls him “Thor.”
“For her to come out here and play like she does, it’s pretty cool,” Dockery said. “She’s pretty brave to try something like this. I’ve never met many girls like her.”
Tackling negativity
While more female high school athletes have joined their high school football teams, few have planted themselves in the middle of the defense like Rosman’s Fischer.
But Fischer has never shied away from contact.
Her ability as a wrestler is well-known throughout the high school. She even won a state championship with her wrestling club team last year.
“She came to me and told me she was interested in joining and she started coming to workouts over the summer,” Rosman coach Matt Stack said. “She’s not scared of anything, she attacks everything.”
Fischer said while she felt support from her team and the coach, negativity from outside voices pushed her to compete even harder.
“Some guy told me he thought I was stupid for playing football, that it was stupid that girls could play football,” Fischer said. “All that did was make me angry.”
Most of the comments, however, take a more positive tone. During a weekday practice, a man on his bicycle rides past practice. He yells “you go, girl” as he watches Fischer work on tackling drills.
The words of encouragement are meaningful for Fischer, who off the field is shy and reserved. Keeping things positive has been tough lately for her and her twin sister, Shaylan.
Because of troubles in their home, they were taken in two months ago by a school employee. Football has acted as a necessary distraction - a salvation from a tumultuous childhood.
“It’s a way to cope with things,” Fischer said. “It’s a time to feel normal for a while. Things were really bad for a while, but now they’re getting better.”
The next generation
Fischer’s efforts on the football field have caught the attention of Nadia Revis - a freshman female wide receiver at Rosman with dyed blue hair that stains the padding in her helmet.
They share a similar attitude when it comes to the separation of gender in sports.
“I wanted to play since I was 8 years old,” Revis said. “I was a cheerleader for my brother’s team, and I did not like that. I was bored. I wanted to be out there with the boys. I thought I could do it better than them.”
The two have formed a close bond. They dress for practice together in the weight room, joking around like their male counterparts next door in the locker room.
“It’s nice not to feel alone in this,” Revis said. “To have her here, it just shows me what I can do in the future. Guys don’t own football anymore.”
At Murphy’s practice, Jones watches as younger girls play soccer on the other side of the football field while she lines up to kick field goals on the other end. After their practice, they come over to watch Jones, chasing footballs as she sends kicks through the uprights. Eventually, one musters up the courage to ask if they can have a turn.
“I realize being the first girl in this program means a lot to the girls of the future. If they want to do this, I say, more power to them” Jones said. “But to make an impact I can’t just be on the team; my focus is to be great. That’s how this, a girl being on the team, will become more normal.”
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Information from: The Asheville Citizen-Times, https://www.citizen-times.com
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