After asking for years, Gracie Smith becomes first girl to play Asheville High football
ASHEVILLE - Gracie Smith has been pestering the Asheville High football coaches since she was a freshman.
"Let me kick!" she'd say. "It'll be fun!"
But with the Cougars' kicker position settled, and Smith's workload for the soccer and basketball teams to consider, coach Cort Radford declined.
That changed two weeks ago, when an injury left Asheville without a kicker for the next several games. Shortly after, the coaches got in touch with Smith.
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Last Friday against Reynolds, Smith made history as the first girl to play football for Asheville High, converting an extra point in a debut she hopes inspires other young girls not to limit themselves or their aspirations.
"The whole week I was stressed, I was like: 'What if I don't do well? What if I missed the winning field goal?'" Smith said. "But once I was on the field and padded up and everything I was like: I got this. There's no need to stress, there's no expectations."
It helped that Smith had spent the prior eight days working to make sure she would be up to the task.
Primarily a soccer player, who was second on the team with 29 points last year, Smith had occasionally kicked a football while playing around with friends, but never taken it too seriously.
That changed once she was practicing with the team. The senior watched videos to learn about the footwork and timing of placekicking and sought advice from coaches about any of the finer details that come with being a kicker.
"It's not my 'real' sport, but being serious about it feels more natural," Smith said. "When it's more serious, it's more fun."
Rather than rush Smith into action after just a day or two of practice, the Cougars set last week's game at Reynolds as her debut date.
With the Rockets kicking off to start the game, and the Cougars not scoring a point before halftime, Smith didn't take the field, instead getting used to the new perspective of Friday night lights.
"You really understand what the players are going through," Smith said. "Everything's so different and real."
Smith began her football career with a successful, uneventful kickoff to open the second half. The pressure came came midway through the third quarter, when it was time for her first extra point.
After some words of encouragement from holder TJ Williams, Smith calmly booted the ball through the uprights, and almost immediately, Williams and other teammates were jumping on her as she made her way back to the sideline.
"It was such a big relief," Smith said. "Everybody was jumping up and down … saying good job, I'm so proud of you. It meant so much."
Smith wanted to play football for the same reason as most everyone else, just thinking it looked fun and hoping to get a chance to participate. But as she continued receiving congratulations the following day at school, she was reminded of why her presence on the field meant something different.
"People were saying, 'You're such a role model,'" Smith said. "It meant a lot to me, to have young females looking up at me saying, there's no limit to what they can or cannot do."
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville High football: Kicker Gracie Smith makes history
