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Seventh Grade Girl makes the ‘B’ team for Football

Kaila Hatcher is breaking the mold by playing for the Day football team, a traditionally male dominated sport. The team is all male except for Hatcher, but this does not bother her. Football is the real “American” sport.

Hatcher enjoys the sport of football. She has been playing for around five years, but not on any organized teams. Her passion for the sport inspired her to try out for the team. Although none of the positions speak to her heart, she loves when she scores a touchdown. Hatcher is playing for the “B” team.

To Hatcher, it doesn’t really matter whether she is playing with boys or girls, but for other girls it might make a difference. Some girls like Mackenzie Dreese, would try out but are intimidated by the co-ed aspect of it. Many people don’t actually know that football at Day is a multi gender enterprise.

According to Couch Killilea, there have been 5 or 6 girls to play football at Day in his 30 odd years of teaching here at Day. That number suggests that it is not a huge event that a girl tries out, but it is still somewhat uncommon.

Until recently, female sports in school were quite different. In 1972 a law called “Title IX” was passed. The law makes it so that there are equal rights of boys and girls in all educational programs that run off of federal funding. According to Title IX, only 1 out of every 27 girls in high school participated in sports in school. A very small amount of federal funding went towards female athletes in college.

F.A. Day is affected by this law because Title IX allows girls like Kaila Hatcher to try out for football. It may seem insignificant because there is only one girl playing on the football team about every five years, but that one girl is much more than no girl.

The big league of woman’s football is the Independent Women’s Football League (IWFL). Starting in 2000 they have provided women’s full tackle football in a safe supportive environment. However, their male counterpart, the National Football League (NFL), gets all the play time on television. Many people do not even realize the IWFL.

Whether Kaila Hatcher pursues football through to leagues like the IWFL or not she has made her mark in history. Hatcher is part of a growing movement to integrate girls into male-dominated activities like football. The same movement has happened with women in the workplace, and women in other sports like basketball. As women gain equality in America, more football opportunities will open themselves up for Kaila Hatcher.

© 2009 The Daytime.