Brooklyn Harker is going super viral on social media this week because she is on the varsity football team at Chapel Hill High School.
Not only that, the 16-year-old is the starting safety on the team.
Last week, she helped the Chapel Hill Tigers win its first home game, 55-6.
“I like being aggressive, and I have a highly competitive side,” says Brooklyn, via Yahoo.
“She’s always been really rough and tumble,” says mom Jennifer Harker. “She really can hold her own out there with the boys, and she’s played so many different positions. That’s the big ‘wow’ factor.”
Brooklyn’s dad tweeted a postgame follow-up to her first game, saying, “She played great. She even got a few plays on offense as well. She has a good team around her!”
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral Football stories via Google! Follow Us
Thanks to Title IX, a bunch of female athletes are now allowed to try out for male teams when no other option exists. You can see many of them on TikTok.
@madspamz07 Had my first football game as a highschooler a couple day ago #draft #girlfootballplayer #jv #highschoolfootball #freshman
@morganpachter Game day!!!??
@lafamosa.arii Yess I’m a girl ? #fyp #CurameChoreo #fypシ #footballgirl #football #senioryear
@itsriannicole My lightings so bad? #fyp #trendingsound #fypシ #foryoupage #femalefootballplayer #girlpower #genderequality #viral #challenge #footballtiktok
Brooklyn’s coach Isaac Marsh had never before had a girl on his team in his 24 years of coaching.
“Brooklyn is my first female athlete,” Marsh tells Yahoo Life. “To be honest with you, it hasn’t changed anything — the dynamics, coaching the game. She’s a student of the game and she knows football. She just happens to be a girl.” Besides having to use the girls’ locker room all alone, she is a total team player, he adds. “Each day she works to get better, she pushes her teammates, and her teammates push her to be the best version of a player she can be.” And he notes, “She doesn’t miss any balls.”
