Rams’ solution at kicker no hack

In a world where females are breaking down barriers in countless ways, some areas have remained primarily the domain of males. Football is typically one – but not for this year’s Maricopa Rams.

The Rams’ starting placekicker is standout girls soccer player McKinley Hacker.

MHS kicking coach Stephan Nelson spent years recruiting Hacker, a senior who will attend Alabama State University on a soccer scholarship.

“Coach Nelson always talked about it for the previous three years,” Hacker said. “He knows my family and me, and he has been trying to get my sister and me to do it, and in the last year I finally decided to go out and try it. So, I went out and tried it, and I really enjoy it.”
Despite it being her first time playing organized football, Hacker is off to a great start. She has made all three of her point-after-touchdown kicks in the team’s first two games for the Rams, who are 2-0 after downing Mesa Skyline 7-5 Friday. She has yet to attempt a field goal.

“I honestly think it’s more fun than I thought it was going to be,” she said. “All the guys are really nice, so that’s great. I was kind of scared and nervous they weren’t going to like me.”
Hacker is more than a novelty. According to special teams coach Andres Zelaya, she has been the answer to an ongoing problem.

“When I first heard about her coming out and trying football, I was excited,” Zelaya said.

“Last year’s situation with the kickers and the extra points was hard. It was a very tough situation with kicking the extra points. I had seen video of her kicking, and thought compared to last year, this could be a big improvement. So, we had her come out and now we have a kicker who can make one from about 40 yards out. She was the best candidate for field goals, plain and simple.”

Head coach Rick Skinner, in his first season at MHS, said the decision to have Hacker on the squad was simple because he didn’t really take into consideration the fact she is a girl.

“She’s just fit in as one of the players on the team from the beginning,” Skinner said. “I very rarely think of her as a female on the football team – she’s just a football player. I’ve always said I want the 11 players on the field that give us the best chance to win; when we’re kicking, she’s one of those 11.”

While not accustomed to playing alongside a girl, Hacker’s teammates are taking it in stride.

“I was surprised because we don’t usually have girls on the team, it’s not really a girls sport,” running back/linebacker Chris Hayes said. “But she’s good; that’s all that matters. We treat her as just another player on the team. She’s just one of our teammates.”

Defensive end Victorious Martin supported the move.

“I thought it was a good idea,” he said. “She’s a soccer player, so I know she has athletic ability. We basically felt excited and happy she got the job. We also thought she was the best candidate for it.”

Just because Hacker won the starting job didn’t mean she was immune from nerves. She said she was much more nervous for her first live action in the team’s Red & Black intrasquad scrimmage than she was for last week’s season opener. But once the opening game against Tucson Magnet started, she said brushed off the nerves, telling herself to embrace the moment. But after the kick went through, the emotions flowed.

“After my first kick I didn’t know what to do,” she said. “I was all excited and was throwing my arms up in the air, and I saw on the video some of the guys were doing it too, so it’s cool. It’s nice to be a part of the team.”

Skinner said he saw signs of the adrenaline flowing on that first kick. “That first one would have been good from about 45 yards,” he said.

Hacker said the pressure was different from what she feels on the soccer pitch, where she has been playing since age 4.

“It’s just different because I’ve been playing soccer for so long,” she said. “Here, you’re on the field with a bunch of massive dudes running at you in pads and stuff. And kicking with a whole outfit on is different, and with this big helmet on, because its heavy, and it’s all just different.”

Everyone seems in agreement that she earned the starting nod, and no one is making an issue of her gender. But how do her teammates treat her?

“They treat me like a girl,” Hacker said, “which I guess is nicer than being treated like a guy, because they are kind of weird.”