Sports like football and baseball are traditionally seen as “boy sports,” but these high school athletes are proving that girls can do anything that boys can do. Here are five high school girls who defied gender norms in sports.
Madison Martin – Football
Madison Martin grew up loving the game of football and didn’t see a reason why she couldn’t play the game she loves. In middle school, she asked the football coach if she could be on the team. She started out as a kicker and two years later shifted to cornerback and wide receiver.
After her ninth-grade year, she took a break from football to focus on soccer, but she couldn’t help but think about what it would be like to take the field again.
In 2018, when Martin was a senior at Carroll High School (Southlake, Texas), she tried out for the football team. As to be expected, the boys on the team were hesitant at first. But Martin’s talents were undeniable, and she quickly earned their respect. Martin was the first girl to play on the South Lake Carroll varsity football team.
Martin is currently in her junior year at Texas Tech University, where she is a goalkeeper on the women’s soccer team.
Aja Acala – Baseball
Most little girls grow up playing with barbies, but Aja Acala grew up playing baseball. Baseball is typically known as a boy’s sport, and softball is typically known as a girl’s sport.
Acala started out playing for the Pirates, a 12u team for the Murray Hill Athletic Association. She advanced to the Lakeshore Middle School baseball team and also got a chance to be on the Yankees 5u T-ball team.
When Acala was just 15 years old, she became the first girl to play baseball for Mandarin High School when she joined the school’s junior varsity fall baseball team in 2019.
Acala recently signed her letter of intent to play college softball for Edward Waters University.
Brynna Nixon – Football
Growing up playing flag football, Brynna Nixon knew she wanted to play tackle football.
According to q13fox.com, Nixon said, “My mom tells me that I used to ask Santa for football gear every year. I started seeing flag football from Fife in second grade, and then in third grade, I started tackle football.”
In the eighth grade, she got her chance to play quarterback, and she instantly fell in love.
She tried out for the varsity football team at Fife High School (Washington) and got a chance to play backup quarterback. She was the first girl in her school’s history to throw a touchdown pass in a varsity game.
After that, she also won a punt, pass, and kick national championship and had the chance to attend a Seattle Seahawks practice, where she met Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll and quarterback Russell Wilson.
Proud to host Fife High School quarterback Brynna Nixon at practice!
Brynna recently became the first female QB to throw a touchdown pass during a varsity game in her school’s history. ? pic.twitter.com/fnxxUPv8vM
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) November 10, 2019
She was promoted to the starting QB spot during her senior year of high school.
Nixon is currently a freshman at Marquette University, where she is a goalie for the women’s lacrosse team.
Sam Gordon – Football
Ever since Sam Gordon was a little girl, she knew she wanted to play football. At age 9, Gordon went viral after she was seen outrunning a boys youth league. Growing up, she knew that playing tackle football with the boys wasn’t practical forever.
In 2015, when Gordon was 12, she and her family established an independent all-girls tackle football “club’’ league in Salt Lake City called Utah Girls Tackle Football so that girls like her could enjoy the game of football.
According to the Washington Post, “They rented a high school field for $450 an hour, hired a public address announcer, brought a musician to sing the national anthem and packed the stands with hundreds of fans.”
Gordon was so passionate about girls being able to play tackle football that in 2017 she filed a lawsuit to sanction girls football as a high school sport in Utah, but was ultimately denied.
Listen to why I believe we need to finish what Title IX started by offering girls football teams. https://t.co/gyKKZfvDLx
— Sam Gordon (@Sam_Gordon6) February 4, 2018
In 2018, she won the inaugural Game Changer Award at the NFL Honors.
In March 2022, Under Armour announced a partnership with Gordon in their efforts to “break down barriers for those who strive for more by creating more opportunities for youth to engage in sports,” according to Under Armour’s website. That partnership includes Under Armour becoming an official sponsor of the Utah Girls Tackle Football league.
Gordon is currently a freshman at Columbia University, where she plays for the women’s soccer team.
Raven Cox – Soccer & Football
Raven Cox took girls breaking gender barriers in sports to a whole new level. She was a dual-sport athlete for two varsity teams at the same time at Purcall Marian High School (Cincinnati, Ohio). When Cox found out her school no longer had a girl’s soccer team, she didn’t let that stop her and decided to try out for the boy’s team instead. She was the kicker for the varsity football team and also the only girl on the boys’ soccer team.
Although this dual-sport athlete is making strides, her journey wasn’t so easy. According to WCPO Channel 9 News, Cox tried to be on the football team her freshman year, but the coach didn’t believe her. It wasn’t until her sophomore year that they started to believe her and she got her shot.
These are just some of the many young women in high school breaking gender norms in sports and inspiring little girls around the world today.
