We've kicked off the high school football season in North Texas. For many, the Friday night game is a major event. In a small town in Denton County, one athlete is shaking up the usual way of sports.
The small town of Ponder has a population of just more than two thousand people.
Like many Texas towns, high school football is king, but at Ponder High School, it's a different story. When the Ponder High School football team steps onto the field, they have their queen.
Kylie Watt is a female long snapper and member of the boys' football team.
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“I’m excited for the season,” Watt said. “We have a pretty good chance of making playoffs and I’m excited to see where it goes.”
Watt is a senior but started playing football back in junior high.
High School Sports
Covering high school sports in North Texas.
“This is my fifth year playing,” Watt said. “I started in 7th grade. I had the head coach as my P.E. teacher, and he was always talking to me about it. I think it was a joke at first and then I actually considered it. I asked my parents, and they said, 'Sure let’s go join.'”
Ever since joining, she has fit right in, feeling as if she belonged just as much as anyone else.
“I don’t think it’s any different from being a guy,” Watt said. “I’m like I’m a part of the team. I never felt like different than everybody else. Pretty much all equal so I never felt like estranged or different from anybody else.”
And apparently, the opposition doesn't see her differently either.
“Back in eighth grade I got a pretty nasty concussion,” Watt said. “I got dropped on my head. I was playing running back.”
Having a girl playing on the boys' team is not a new trick play for Ponder head football coach Marcus Schulz.
“I was head football coach at Humble High and we had a female athlete that was on our football program,” Schulz said. “There as well having that opportunity with Rocket down in Houston I was used to it and obviously open arms to it.”
He likes what Watt brings to the team.
“She’s not fearful of it,” Schulz said. “She’s ready for it and we’re blessed that she is out here with us.”
Watt knows a lot of eyes are on her, but she’s not here to prove a point.
“I love it,” Watt said. “I definitely have a passion for it. It’s probably my favorite out of the three I play.”
She knows not everyone approves of her playing on the boys' team. But she doesn’t focus on the negative.
“Don’t care what other people think,” Watt said. “Do what you want to do. Especially with what’s best for you just throw other people’s opinions out the window and do it for you. Don’t care what other people are telling you.”
With the same passion as the rest of the team, having the heart and fight off a lion, Watt hopes to inspire other young girls.
“She also understands that she’s got a lot of people looking at her,” Schulz said. “So, she’s got a lot of younger girls that may be looking up to her. She understands and knows her role.”
“I like being inspirational and trying to guide people in the right direction,” Watt said. “So it’s pretty cool to have people looking up to me and watching what I’m doing. It also holds me accountable so I can do the right things.”
Watt said she would consider sports in college too including football. She wants to become a radiologist.
