A league of her own
Whitefish soccer star Haley Nicholson doubles as kicker on gridiron
It’s an old expression in athletic competition—you play ball like a girl—and it’s been kicked to the curb by the foot of Whitefish sophomore Haley Nicholson.
Nicholson has been dominating the pitch for the Bulldogs’ soccer team, and when the Friday night lights turn on, she puts a helmet over her pigtails and launches footballs through the uprights for Whitefish on the gridiron.
It’s not a gimmick; Nicholson isn’t on the field to break down gender barriers or to gain publicity—she’s a great kicker who earned her spot on the team after nailing an audition for football coach Chad Ross.
“In the summer (Coach Ross) came to me and said ‘Do you want to go out and give it a try?’ I said, ‘Yeah, sure, why not?’ I went out there and kicked some balls around, and afterwards he said, ‘You definitely need to come kick for us.’”
“I’ve seen her play soccer; I knew she could strike it,” Ross said
“I was a little surprised with her distance, and her accuracy was great. She’s good from anywhere on the field 30 yards and in. I have 100 percent confidence in her.”
It was the right move for everyone involved.
The underclassmen hit her first field goal of the season in a 52-15 victory over Livingston, connecting on a 23-yarder after going a perfect 7-7 on PATs.
Her success on the gridiron has been well received by the rest of the Bulldogs football team which shouldn’t come as a surprise. They were the ones who originally asked Nicholson to consider the tryout.
“I don’t think its a gender thing,” Ross said.
“If you can play and kick we look past it.
We embrace it.”
“It was really relieving because I wasn’t sure if they were going to accept me or not,” Nicholson said.
“They were and they still are. I like it. It’s fun.”
The demand of two sports in the same season has yet to wear on the sophomore. In addition to her powerful PAT percentage, Nicholson is the leading point scorer in all of Class A soccer. She has netted 20 goals this season, five more than the state’s second leading scorer, and will guide the Bulldogs into their first round-playoff game at Hamilton on Saturday.
“She’s such a natural goal scorer,” Bulldogs girls soccer coach Wendy Farrens said.
“It’s just so natural for her to be up there. She has a goal scoring mentality.”
Farrens, originally caught off guard by Nicholson’s decision to play on Friday night, supports Nicholson’s football career, working with Coach Ross when it comes to scheduling practices, ensuring the young star soccer was her primary sport.
“It’s nothing you really expect. She’s a good soccer player and her comment to me was ‘I just want to kick balls’ and obviously she does that pretty well,” Farrens said.
“Soccer is her priority. If there’s a conflict soccer wins without question. It’s good coordination between Coach Ross and myself and Haley. We’re able successfully juggle both of them.”
While Nicholson said her goal is to continue both sports throughout her prep career, she is well aware of the potential the young soccer squad has showed this season.
“Our team is playing awesome,” Nicholson said.
“We’re young. This is a great learning process. When we lose, we pick our heads up and we move forward. We can’t do much about it except for be stronger in the future.”
Nicholson continues to transcend the career of a prep athlete. On the brink of playoff appearance in both soccer and football, the sophomore star isn’t as concerned with wins and losses as she is with her new bond amongst the boys.
“The guys that are in front of me are very protective of me; It’s awesome,” Nicholson said.
“They’re amazing. I was expecting something different, but they treat me like I’m one of them. They’re like a bunch of big brothers to me.”