When Romeo High School coaches Jason Couch and Curt Reinas brought Couch’s niece, Ashley Finn in to try out for back up kicker on the Michigan high school’s football team they thought of it as a joke. Finn had been going to Couch’s football camp with her brother for years, and she is one of the school’s star soccer players, but no one expected her to beat her competition for the spot by a mile.
“As a joke, we asked her to come out to kick three weeks ago,” Reinas told the Detroit Free Press. “But then she beat out the kid who was going to fill in.”
Finn has since done advocates of female sports equality proud – she completed every kick she made during the night, and scored game winning points.
Finn says she was nervous, but once she got out on the field the experience was more exciting than nerve wracking. Her parents, on the other hand, were on the edge of their seats.
“My mom was so nervous, she said she couldn’t watch when I went out to kick,” she said. “My dad was excited. He knew I could do it.”
Finn was supposed to go back to her volleyball team after the game was over, but with the regular kicker’s ankle sprained, she’s still practicing with the football team. And, she seems to be having the time of her life doing it:
“It meant a lot to get the chance to do it,” she told the Free Press. “It was pretty cool. That was probably the most exciting thing I’ve done. But I’ve always wanted to actually play, not just kick.”
When asked what position she’d like to play, she mused, ”I’m not sure maybe receiver, but not quarterback. Oh, definitely not quarterback.”
