GRETNA, Va. (AP) - Five years ago Hazeray Wyche stood on a field here, soaking in the sights and sounds of youth league drills.
Actually, she did quite a lot of standing around, because the fundamentals of football were foreign to her.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Wyche told herself at the time.
Her mindset has changed with the years.
Now, as a junior at Gretna High and a member of the varsity football team, she knows exactly what she’s doing.
Case in point: The Hawks first game of the season against visiting Brunswick High in the heat of late August. Her team was on its way to a blowout victory and Wyche got a chance to show the opposition what she could do.
She headed out on the field, a female in a male-dominated sport.
She stepped between the lines, out to prove she could not only clash with the mostly older, more experienced boys, but stand her ground and maybe even deliver a crushing blow to help her Hawks.
She was, for the first time at the varsity level, a female lineman - that position normally reserved for the most physically imposing of athletes - toiling in the trenches with young men who wanted nothing more than to flatten her, disrupting her play.
But she was no longer a child. Now the girl who goes by the nickname YaYa (pronounced “Yay-Yay”) was a confident teenager.
“I’m ready to hit somebody,” she thought as she strode on the field.
Then she collided with Brunswick players, the same way she did against Chatham and in a victory over William Campbell.
A faint grin crept across Wyche’s face when she recalled that first foray during practice.
Then she burst out in a full-fledged smile.
“I was happy I went out there,” she said.
More than 2,200 girls played traditional 11-person high school football across the U.S. in 2017, according to data from the National Federation of State High School Associations. Collectively, they made up just 0.21 percent of the football population.
The number of females participating dipped to around 800 in 2008-2009, but has been on a steady rise every year since.
There are increasing avenues of participation: flag football leagues, 8-person and some six-person teams in high school, and countless children recreation leagues.
But football is also in a state of decline, hampered by scientific studies in recent years that have connected the sport to brain injuries.
High school participation in the sport dropped 2 percent in 2017, according to the NFSHSA.
In Virginia, three high schools - Park View, Charles City and Manassas Park - canceled their 2018 seasons because of lack of available or interested athletes.
At many schools, though, football is thriving. At Gretna, located in the second-smallest class in the Virginia High School League’s six-class system, the varsity squad is comprised of 38 players. At larger schools, like Class 4 Jefferson Forest, the roster boasts 83 players, some of whom are JV players who dress on the varsity sidelines on Fridays.
But of all the varsity football players in Lynchburg and surrounding counties, Wyche is the only female. In its 2017-2018 participation survey, the NFSHSA reported that 48 females played high school football in Virginia.
Many of them are kickers; so as a lineman, Wyche is even more of an anomaly.
Wyche, a Hurt native who made appearances on Gretna’s extra-point team against William Campbell, doesn’t necessarily want to be known as the only female on her team. Instead, she considers herself “just someone who hits hard and does their work.”
She has other passions, like fashion and mathematics.
But football holds sway over her.
“I want other females to play, so I can show girls how to play football,” she said.
It’s a love that began roughly five years ago in that youth league here. Wyche then went on to play on Gretna’s JV squad in 8th grade and as a freshman and sophomore.
She started playing at the same time as her younger brother, Jayvion (JayJay), now a freshman and a member of Gretna’s JV team who also suits up for varsity games.
“We wanted to try something new,” Jayvion said of their initial football interest.
JayJay has been impressed with YaYa’s continued devotion to the game. He isn’t surprised she’s stuck with the sport over the years, though.
“She’s always been strong, even when we were kids,” he said. Then he chuckled. “She always beat me up. I think she’s dedicated because she loves the sport so much.”
To stay tough on the gridiron, YaYa reaches way down and remembers the times she’s been mistreated.
“If somebody makes me mad, I use that for hitting people. Some (opposing players) don’t know I’m a girl. They be calling me a boy. And then a couple minutes later, they’ll find out,” she said, referring to the hard-hitting blows she tries to inflict when Gretna coach Cole Simpson motions for her to enter the game.
Kenaz Moon, an experienced 6-foot-1, 225-pound senior lineman who was named The Danville Register & Bee’s All-Metro Defender of the Year last season, went through line drills here with other players.
He encouraged Wyche when she went head to head with 6-foot sophomore Eli Bond, practicing the process of wrestling and finishing on blocks.
“Let’s go YaYa!” Moon yelled a few times, clapping and smiling.
Moon and Wyche played one season of JV football together before reuniting on varsity in 2018.
“She’s cool,” Moon said. “She don’t give up. She’ll take a hit, get right back up and get ready for the next play. She’s out here playing with us, taking the best hits from everybody.”
After grappling with YaYa, the 245-pound Bond walked across the field to another drill, sweat dripping from his face.
“I’m surprised she’s still out here, honestly,” he said.
Gretna quarterback Tabron Mabins, whose passing abilities are one reason Gretna is off to a 6-1 start this season, backed up Moon’s statement.
“She works just as hard as everybody else does,” Mabins said. “She puts in as much work as everybody else, if not more. She’s a huge part of this team.”
Still, playing time has been difficult for Wyche to come by. She trotted on the field sparingly in blowout victories over Brunswick and Chatham. Simpson said her appearance on the extra-point team was a new addition.
Gretna, by the way, converted six of its seven extra-point attempts against the Generals.
“She comes (to practice) every day,” Simpson said.” She’s stuck with it. It’s impressive.”
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Information from: The News & Advance, http://www.newsadvance.com/
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