I felt a personal connection to the article “Kick Like a Girl” by Sumona Gupta. The writer describes the experience of female football player and high schooler Savannah. Savannah’s coach “treats her the same” as the boys on the team. As a senior and experienced athlete, Savannah is a role model for many girls. For this I admire her.

Savannah’s story inspired me. From my experience, girls are often judged for playing sports. In elementary school, for example, I would play soccer at recess with the boys simply because I enjoyed it. Then, the summer before sixth grade, I discovered a love for football. However, my parents didn’t want me to play with boys for fear I would get injured because, they said, I was a girl (and small too). Hence my dreams of being the first woman in the NFL were crushed, and I was limited to only playing at sleep-away camp.

My whole life I have adored sports, but often I have been the only girl in a game, and more often I have felt socially obliged not to play. Savannah is breaking down barriers that should have been broken long ago, and I applaud her for it.