Who says girls can't play football? Not Ashley Martin! She's playing the male-dominated sport and scoring points, too!

Female Football Player Hangs With the Big Boys
By Rochelle DelGaizo Billera
November 2001

The CollegeBound Network NewsClick -- Don't let her high school prom queen title, that pretty face, or her long brown ponytail which dangles from her football helmet, fool you. Ashley Martin, a kicker for Jacksonville State University's (JSU) football team, is far from prissy when laced up in her uniform. Her mind is focused on getting the ball and scoring points -- female or not!

Ashley made history as the first-ever female kicker for the Jacksonville, AL-based university, as well as for being the first woman to ever play and score in a Division I football game.

"Ashley is truly one of a kind," assures Jack Crowe, the football team's head coach. "I asked her to play because she had a very specific skillset, being that she was a kicker on our soccer team, which was very transferable to our football team."

Although Crowe admits he doesn't believe football is a woman's sport "due to very different male/female genetic make-ups," he is very impressed with Ashley's skills and is positive she'll continue to play the game to her full potential.

"I don't think women should be taking hits from 250-pound guys," Crowe explains. On the other hand, he counters, Ashley's position is an important one, which involves depth and proper positioning of the ball -- a skill any great team needs.

Ashley agrees with some of her coach's points, but still has her own views of women playing football. She told the Associated Press, "I think football is a guy's game. [However], I'm a girl and [I want] to do this to prove something."

Ashley's specific expertise includes accuracy and quickness -- two traits necessary for her position, says Crowe. "It's not about football," says Crowe. "It's about kicking."

In addition to her strong will and sense of team play, soccer is what gave Ashley the gumption she needed to accept Crowe's proposition to join the traditionally all-male and oftentimes rough sport.

"[Ashley's] exceptional in mental strength and endurance," Crowe remarks. These, he agrees, are qualities that help her to stand out and give her the courage, self-esteem, and determination to succeed in football. It's also helped her earn the respect of her teammates. "She has the remarkable ability to 'walk the talk,'" Crowe adds.

Ashley's made such an impression on her coach, team, and the football fans, that her entire uniform will be displayed in the National College Football Hall of Fame in South Beach, IN. She was also named the special team's 'Player of the Week' at the Southland Football League.

So move over Bo Jacksonville and Kevin Greene -- Ashley's the new football buzz at JSU!