Female kicker makes good on challenge at Fort Worth Paschal

No one who knows Paschal High School junior Reilly Fox is the least bit surprised that she is the first female since 1999 to suit up for a Fort Worth ISD varsity football team.

“Everyone knows I’m a tomboy and that I can kick the ball really far,” said Fox, who connected on three extra points and kicked off twice during the Panthers’ 76-8 Saturday night blowout of Dallas Molina. “Out of all of us, no one is surprised that I would be the one to go out and do this.”

In fact, the biggest challenge Paschal’s new kicker faced in her varsity debut at Farrington Field was figuring out how to get the shoulder pads on — over her helmet. “Yeah, that was kind of embarrassing,” said Fox, who immediately got the assistance of several teammates during the incident. “This is all new to me. I was trying not to look stupid, but I don’t think I succeeded.”

“Reilly doesn’t really care what other people think,” said Paige Bachand, Fox’s teammate on the Paschal girls soccer team. “She’s confident, competitive and she likes a challenge.”

Fox’s journey to the Panthers’ football squad began a couple of weeks ago when Trent Anderson, a member of the Paschal football and soccer teams, pointed her out to coach Matt Miracle in the training room.

“We were down to just Trent as our kicker, and he said I should see this young lady kick,” Miracle said. “I didn’t take it too seriously, but a couple of hours later, she sent me an email and asked if I would give her an opportunity.”

Fox came out to a team practice on a Saturday and, afterward, asked Miracle if he “would let me do this?” “I said, ... I want to let you do this if you really want to,” the coach recalled. “She got real excited.”

Fox had more than her share of supporters at her first varsity game Saturday night. She waved to friends in the crowd, a big smile across her face. Members of her extended family cheered her on from midfield.

“We’re always trying to get our students to do their best in as many activities as they can, and Reilly is the epitome of that,” said Fort Worth school board member Norman Robbins, who missed a TCU football game just to witness history. “Reilly has terrific ability in a lot of areas, and we applaud her.”

Said Fox’s father, Eric: “As parents, we want to give our children opportunities to try different things. I think I’m more nervous than she is.”

At 6:28 in the first quarter, Fox sent an extra-point kick right through the uprights on her first varsity attempt. “I’m relieved,” her father said. “That first one’s under the belt.”

This story was originally published September 19, 2015 at 10:34 PM with the headline "Female kicker makes good on challenge at Fort Worth Paschal."