Melissa Mayton

mmayton@dawsonadvertiser.com

When the combined Middle School won the football championship earlier this month, its secret weapon came in the package of a female kicker seventh grader Frankie Muldoon.

MVP, MVP, Middle School Combined Football Coach Thomy Edwards said. We really enjoyed having Frankie.

Edwards said he tries to avoid having females on the football team, but Frankie proved she belonged.

Im not big on having females play football because it scares me, he said. It really scares me because I dont like them to get hurt. But when Frankie came to me and said she wanted to kick, I said, OK, come on.

Then Edwards said it was an easy decision to bring Frankie on the team. I get a lot of people who say they can kick, but Frankie, I saw her kick and said, Most definitely, youre on the team.

Frankie said her older brother, Max, kicker for the Dawson County High School football team, inspired her to want to kick. My brother is the kicker for the high school, so that kind of helped, she said. Ive been practicing and I always wanted to, so I thought Id try it.

And try she did. Frankies kicking helped win the Clear Creek game 7-6 by scoring the winning extra point. She also scored four extra points for the team in its championship game.

Frankie said her longest kick came from the 20-yard line a kick of 30 yards.

Frankies mother, Michelle Muldoon, said she never felt uneasy about letting her daughter play on the otherwise all-boys team.

You know I really wasnt (uneasy), Michelle said. Because Frankie has brothers and she just lives for it. She really does. And kicker is a pretty safe position. And I tell you one thing that impressed me: These boys were all so nice to her, I knew theyd never let anything happen to her. And all the coaches were receptive to the whole thing.

Having Frankie on the middle school squad brought a new interest in football for other mothers in the stands, Michelle said. When she would go to kick, you could hear in the stands Lets go, Frankie! and it was all the moms cheering, she said. It was girl power with all the moms.

Frankie said shes looking forward to playing on the team again in eighth grade and then possibly pursuing the kicking position on the high school squad. Thats what Ive been thinking about. I think itd be pretty cool, she said.

When practicing with the team, Frankie warmed up with the squad and then would spend the rest of the practice time kicking. Even when the coaches told her she didnt have to come to practice every day, she still showed up. I just felt bad if I didnt go and I didnt have anything else to do, Frankie said.

Frankie is an all-round athlete at Dawson County Middle School. She also plays basketball and soccer. She said she wants to pursue athletics as long as she can.

Since she was very little, her goal was to be a professional soccer player, Michelle said.

When shes not kicking, playing basketball or soccer, Frankie enjoys spending time with her family. She also enjoys following football on television especially University of Georgia football.