Michelle Cardinal, 15, is on the JV (junior varsity) football team. You’re probably wondering, “How is that possible?” To answer that, anything is possible if you believe in yourself.  It might seem unusual for a girl to be on a football team that’s predominately “run” by males, but it really isn’t unusual at all. Michelle, in all her glory, is one of the guys. She’s confident in who she is, takes pride in what she does, and most-definitely doesn’t take no for an answer. This is Michelle’s story.

Michelle started playing football when she was eight. It was said that she and her father would have to beg her mom to let her play, as she was wary about Michelle playing such a contact sport. She started off in cheerleading with her sister, and as she grew older she became fascinated with the game. She’s now in ninth grade, and as said before, on the JV team. She is a linebacker, since that position is very easy to understand for her. She has many other interests besides football, two of which included archery and basketball. Michelle is a very sweet and fun-loving girl. “Football was my childhood dream,” said the linebacker. “I started off cheering with my sister, and as I grew older I started getting interested in it.” Michelle likes many things about being on the football field during a game, but her favorite is just simply being on the field. “I love being out on the field,” Michelle said.  “I’ve always wanted to play the game.” Michelle doesn’t have many strengths or talents in the game, but she did say, “I realized from when I was younger, linebacker is a lot easier for me to understand; it’s a lot easier for me to play.” Michelle is definitely not insecure about being the only girl on the team. In fact, she is quite proud of her “only girl on the team” status. The coaches treat her the same way they treat the guys, and they were not skeptical when she tried out for football. They welcomed her and were very open to the fact that she was, and still is, a girl who wants to play football. They don’t treat her differently when a game is going on, either. “I started going to usual tryout practices.” Michelle noted about joining the team,  “The coaches weren’t skeptical; they were, I guess, open to letting me be on the team.”

Michelle also explained the daily practice routine. “A typical day’s practice is about two hours long,” She explained.  “It’s a lot of fun- the coaches like to make it fun and easy. We start off with sprints, kick team, and then we go from offense to defense.”  Michelle also has great relationships with her teammates. “They treat me the same way they treat the other guys, there’s no difference.” Cardinal stated, “I’d have to say I’m actually really close to some of them. They’re like family.” Michelle then went on to talking about gender barriers. She said she does not feel like she’s broken a gender barrier just yet. She also said, “Some girls think that they can’t play on the same team as a guy, but they really can.” You heard it directly from Michelle. Chase your dreams, ladies! Though there are not many girls on football teams worldwide, Michelle believes you can be on one. She opened up about how she feels about this particular thing with, “I think more people should join; more people should give it a try. It’s not impossible to make it on the team; you should give it your best if it’s really an interest to you.”  This is Michelle Cardinal’s story. A story about making your own choices and being confident in who you are. We at The Charles Street Times greatly appreciate Michelle and hope she continues to do wonderful things on the football team.