The new girl takes on the boys
Alyssa Ramirez, freshman and linebacker, is currently the only girl on the frosh-soph football team, and has to play the defensive role.
Ramirez decided to join the football team at Future Panther Night, after seeing that it was co-ed, but she had been fond of the game from a young age. “Since I was little, my mom has always watched football, and then I started getting into it and then I wanted to start to play,” Ramirez said.
Alyssa’s brother, Robert Ramirez, senior, has supported Alyssa and her journey on the football team. “Everyone loves the fact that she is doing this, (and) a portion of that is because it is football but most of it is simply because we love her and would support her with any sport she may have chosen,” Robert said.
At first, the Ramirez family was worried about the possible injury that may fall upon her, but their family wants to support her in her games.
“As her older brother, I worry a tad about injury, but otherwise, I am very excited. I’m always really happy whenever I get to see her play, and honestly, it’s one of the best things ever,” Robert said.
At practices, Alyssa has to go through a series of drills with her team. “For my position, we do stuff for handoffs and we’ll do this one thing and they are called cheeseburgers and we get held back and we have to run and we do cutbacks and stuff for swings,” Alyssa said.
Even though Alyssa is a running back, she is open to trying other positions on the team, too. “The only other position I would wanna play is a receiver, but I like running back better,” Alyssa said.
Trejo Kimball, freshman and starting linebacker, is on the frosh-soph team with Alyssa, and says the team treats her just like any other player. “During practice, we go to the same amount of aggressiveness to her as every other teammate. We don’t go softer or harder,” Kimball said.
Tyson Grimes, freshman and defensive back, says that Alyssa has been very helpful in all aspects of the game. “She knows the plays as well as anyone on the team, and even when she isn’t playing, she helps us to understand our schemes,” Grimes said.
Many of the players, including Alyssa, feel that the team is one big family, and are excited for the rest of the season.
“I speak for myself and my teammates when I say that we are all pretty close,” Grimes said,“There’s just a camaraderie from being on this team that you can’t really find anywhere else.”
On the field, Alyssa has been playing quite a bit. “I have been playing the second half on defense as a linebacker and a little bit of offense as a running back,” Alyssa said.