Three Cordell Junior High girls- Olivia Neeley, Baylor Moore, and Zandalin Dudgeon- are making an impact one play at a time as part of the junior high football team. Their dedication, hard work, and love for their team reaches far beyond the stadium lights. Without a shadow of a doubt, these female athletes are paving the way for those who look up to them.
Along with their parents, they each took time from their busy schedules to answer a few questions with The Beacon.
What interested you in playing football and what has been your favorite part about it?
Zandalin: “They asked me to play because of my soccer background. I’m the only kicker on the team. My favorite part is how everyone welcomed us.”
Baylor: “My dad actually convinced me to play. My favorite part is getting to hit people because it’s funny when they get up and realize I’m a girl.”
Olivia: “There is a kid on the high school team that I want to be able to play alongside with next year since I will be a freshman. My favorite part is probably hitting people or my team; I just really love my team.”
With American football so enshrined at the center of our culture, seeing these girls join and thrive in a traditionally male-dominated sport is worthy of recognition.
“This has been a first for coaching girls. It has been a good experience. The girls don’t complain or try to get out of drills; they are treated like all of the other football players,” said Cordell Head Football Coach Cody Gilmore. “I think they have brought a different dynamic and it has definitely gave us a security blanket in the kicking department. I feel like the boys have responded well. They just treat them like part of the team.”
Each girl carries the weight of her position on the team. Each practice and game they strive to be better than they were yesterday, to kick just a little further, to tackle just one more down.
“Talk to my daughter. She has a few words to say about boys’ sports. She’s not afraid of them; she doesn’t think there should be any difference. If she’s willing to play that sport because girls don’t have it, then go for it,” expressed Leigh Campbell, Baylor Moore’s mom.
For many moons the phrase ‘play like a girl’ was deemed as an insult. In reality, especially in this case, it means that you are unapologetically competitive, mentally and physically resilient; you are meant to break barriers.
What does the saying ‘play like a girl’ mean to you?
Zandalin: “Play like a boy. Girls can do what boys can do.”
Baylor: “It means that they think you’re weak. So if someone says that to me I’m just like okay, watch me!”
Olivia: “Girls have to work harder, especially at football; even basketball. I feel like ‘play like a girl’ should be a very inspiring thing. Play like a girl is written on my homecoming mum.”
Surrounded by support, theses athletes are inspired to reach the height of their potential in all aspects of their life. With competitive sports comes the understanding that there are going to be bad days, games and practices. Learning how to navigate through mistakes and strive to get better is crucial to their motivation and development as an athlete.
As their parents, what is it like watching your daughter on the football field?
Candace Dudgeon: “It actually worries me a little more than watching her play soccer. We’ve watched her play soccer since she was probably four. But it’s fun and she needs to try it out and see what happens with it. To me she’s proven that football is not just a boys sport, it can be a girls sport if you put your mind to it then you’re bound to succeed in everything you do.”
Jason Dudgeon: “I love seeing her out there doing this and watching her with the self-confidence knowing she can do something like that. She likes it and the coach keeps challenging her, she’s very competitive about it. She puts in a lot of extra work to be able to be better. She sets goals for herself to achieve during the season. I love it.”
Leigh Campbell: “Nerve-racking. I mean that’s my baby girl out there and some of those boys are way bigger than her. But I know her strength and I know her determination because she has a goal before every game of what she wants to do and she strives to reach that goal. It is really hard to watch her do those things, but knowing that she loves to do it is a little relieving. I know that she is fully protected. I’ve seen and watched them smack each other in the head with their helmets and it doesn’t bother them one bit. I know she’s a strong girl, she’s healthy and she should be just fine.”
Michael Moore: “It makes me extremely happy. Just like wrestling, I knew she’d be good at it. She’s aggressive and she loves doing it. As a father, whether she’s a boy or a girl, makes me extremely proud but because she is a girl competing against boys, even more so. She’s a strong willed child and she takes care of herself and earns the respect of whoever she’s going against; whether that be a boy or a girl.”
Amy Neeley: “At first it was really hard. I worried that the boys wouldn’t be supportive, that the coaches wouldn’t be supportive. It was definitely difficult, now it’s really fun to watch her. The boys don’t treat them any differently, maybe protect them a little. They hype the girls up the same way the coaches are excited for them. Olivia is still very much earning her spot on the team. To see her continue and to be inspired by a coach, which she hasn’t been in a long time, is a good thing. The way these coaches inspire these kids, talk to them and teach them is way better than I ever could have thought. I went from worrying to super grateful that she’s playing because it’s really good for her.”
What’s your advice to the little girls that look up to you and are thinking about playing football?
Zandalin: “Go for it, it’s really fun. I wish more people knew that it’s not just a boy sport. Don’t listen to those people because that’s like saying pink is just a girl’s color.”
Baylor: “You can do any sport you want to do. It doesn’t matter if you’re a boy or a girl. If you want to do it, do it. It’s not as hard as it seems like. Playing it makes more sense than just watching it. If you’re determined to do something then you can do it. I encourage them to play whatever sport they can and do as much as they can at that age because it’s going to help them out. If people say negative things to you, use it as motivation to do better and prove them wrong.”
Olivia: “I would tell them to. Don’t listen to anybody that says you can’t. I would tell them to go for it and that they can do anything a boy can do. There’s always going to be someone who looks at you and doesn’t like what you’re doing. Just gotta keep on living.”
Support the entire Blue Devil Junior High football team by attending their next game on Monday, October 10, in Mangum at 7 p.m.