Paschal girl set to make Fort Worth football history
A Paschal High School girls soccer player is expected to make Fort Worth history Saturday.
Reilly Fox, an all-district soccer performer, will suit out as a place-kicker for the Panthers’ football game against Dallas Molina at 7 p.m. Saturday at Farrington Field. Fox, a junior, will become the first female on a roster of a Fort Worth school district varsity football team, said Dean Pritchett, an assistant athletic director with the district.
“From everything it sounds like, Paschal has added a good player who could potentially be a weapon,” Pritchett said. “Hitting a long field goal could be the difference between winning and losing a game. We’re very proud of her.”
Trent Anderson is expected to be the team’s front-line kicker and is the only one left of the team’s three original kickers. Two decided to devote all of their extracurricular time to club soccer.
“Reilly is a student-athlete who is a football player who is part of a football team” just like everybody else on the team, said Fort Worth schools athletic director Kevin Greene. “What a great opportunity for her, and a great opportunity for the rest of the team to have her be part of it and experience the season together as teammates.”
Paschal coach Matt Miracle asked his players to put out the word among classmates that the team was in search of another kicker, Pritchett said. Offensive lineman Ethan Wiley suggested that Miracle give Fox a look-see.
Kicker Theresa Dion of Immaculate High School in Key West, Fla., is thought to be the first female to play on a varsity football team, in 1972. Since then, thousands of girls throughout the country have participated in football programs.
Last year, more than 1,500 girls played football in high school, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations, out of slightly more than 1 million total participants nationwide.
After a mini-tryout, Miracle told Fox if she wanted to be on the team, “we’ve got a spot for you.”
“She had kind of been thinking about it for several years,” Pritchett said. “Coach Miracle said she consistently hits field goals anywhere from 40 to 45 yards out.”
Reilly’s dad, Eric Fox, said Friday night that his daughter spent the evening before her big day with friends at a movie and had pizza afterward.
“She’s really been overwhelmed,” Eric Fox said. “It’s been overwhelmingly positive. She likes the challenge. And she’s ready to see if she can compete.
“She’s picking one of the hardest positions. You’re either a hero or a goat every week. It takes an extreme amount of concentration and mental preparedness and add on top of that the uniqueness. Kicking the ball is easy. She does that extremely well. God has blessed her with a thunderbolt for a left foot.”
This story was originally published September 18, 2015 at 7:47 PM with the headline "Paschal girl set to make Fort Worth football history."