"3 sports, no problem for Bartlett High School's Dani VanOrd"
I found this article from www.newseum.org. After browsing the many front pages from all over the nation, this article caught my eye.
Twice a week, Dani VanOrd participates in three sports.
Every Tuesday and Thursday, the Bartlett High
School senior first hits the field for flag football practice.
Next, she dons football pads and puts a helmet
over her blond ponytail for practice with the Golden Bears varsity football
team.
Then, she's off to practice with Crossfire
Alaska for her first love — soccer.
It makes for a tiresome schedule, but VanOrd
wouldn't have it any other way.
"I'm glad I'm playing as many sports as I
can my senior year," she said.
"I feel like I'll regret it down the road
if I don't do it."
VanOrd — a lifelong soccer
player and a three-year varsity flag football player — joined
the tackle football team as a kicker this season after taking weightlifting
classes from football co-coach Daniel Esparza and talking with former soccer
teammate Kasila Carey, who kicked for the Golden Bears last season.
"I heard the boys talking about how they
needed another girl kicker," VanOrd said. "Then Kasila talked to me
about it. She brought me out for a tryout and they said 'OK.' "
Bartlett football coach John Jessen said
VanOrd was nervous kicking early in the season, but it hasn't shown up in her
stats.
She has made 23 of 27 extra-point attempts.
"We're notoriously bad at kicking, so
we've had to reach into the female population and she has done a great
job," Jessen said.
"As far as kicking through the uprights —
she's the best kicker we've had here in almost 20 years. She's good."
In her best showing, VanOrd nailed seven
straight extra points in a lopsided 49-7 win over North Pole on Aug. 27.
"I kind of just try to clear my head and
not think of anything other than the ball and the (posts)," she said.
VanOrd hasn't attempted a field goal yet, but
Jessen said she'll be ready if called upon.
Her longest in practice is 40 yards.
VanOrd and the Golden Bears are the only
undefeated team in Cook Inlet Conference play at 4-0, and they hold the No. 1
spot in the large-school football poll.
In flag football, VanOrd has more
responsibilities.
The 5-foot-4 senior plays running back, wide
receiver, backup quarterback, cornerback and safety.
It's not out of the ordinary for her to play
all of those positions in the same game.
"There's nothing really she can't do when
she puts her mind to it," said flag football coach Clarence Smith Jr.
"A few weeks ago against Eagle River, she had 90-plus yards rushing, six
flag pulls, an interception and 200-something yards receiving, and she threw a
pass in the game, so there's nothing she can't do."
VanOrd was the only returning senior
skill-position player for the Golden Bears this season, and she has helped
mentor freshman quarterback Aiyanna Lauofo.
"If I'm open, Aiyanna just sees it,"
VanOrd said. "She's a really good quarterback being a freshman. It kind of
sucks 'cause I'm a senior and won't be here next year to play with her
again."
Smith, who is also Bartlett's girls basketball
coach, said VanOrd has helped him in his first season as the flag football
coach.
"She knows some of the teams that we're
playing against and their tendencies, so her and I talk about game-planning
before the game," Smith said. "She's like a coach on the field."
Twice this fall, VanOrd has had flag football
and football games on the same day, but because they were at different times,
she was able to play in both.
She missed a couple of flag practices early in
the season because of a soccer conflict, but has otherwise avoided having
to choose between her three sports thanks in part to flexible and
understanding coaches.
"My thing is I would never limit a child
and say you can only confine yourself to one sport," Smith said. "If
she can do three, by all means I'm going to support her to do three to the best
of my ability."
If there is a conflict, soccer comes
first.
The high school season is in the spring but
she's currently training with her club team, Alaska Crossfire, which is headed
to a tournament Outside next month.
VanOrd said soccer is her No. 1 sport and she
hopes to play it in college.
"This past March, we were in Las Vegas
and I ended up getting three or four goals in one game," VanOrd said.
"There was a college coach that was watching me and he'd seen me in a game
before.
"… I thought it was super cool."
Whether she's wearing soccer cleats or
football cleats, flags or football pads, VanOrd enjoys being on the field, and
her teams enjoy having her.
"I'm pleased with her attitude and
pleased with her tenacity," Jessen said. "… She's just a girl who
likes to play sports."
Profile Evaluation
Right
away, the lead told me what this article was going to be about.
It
immediately drew my interest in right away.
How
could one girl juggle so many sports at one time?
“Next,
she dons football pads and puts a helmet over her blond ponytail for practice
with the Golden Bears varsity football team.”
I like
how they describe in this quote the finesse of being a girl pairing with the
ruggedness of the boyish sport such as football.
It
gives me the perfect image of her daintiness but also that she can get just as
rough as the boys.
"We're
notoriously bad at kicking, so we've had to reach into the female population
and she has done a great job," Jessen said.
This
quote struck me as kind of odd.
Why would
it be presumed that a female would be a better kicker?
I’m not
sure if I found this to be a sexist comment but rather very interesting.
It was nice
to see that the coach wasn’t strictly narrow-minded for only men to play
football, but it was done in weird way to me.
In this article, I found that there wasn’t much description but more information.
In this
quote that I mentioned earlier, ““Next, she dons football pads and puts a
helmet over her blond ponytail for practice with the Golden Bears varsity
football team.”, seemed to be the only description that I came across.
“Whether
she's wearing soccer cleats or football cleats, flags or football pads, VanOrd
enjoys being on the field, and her teams enjoy having her.”
This
quote gave a visual of all the sports equipment she struggles with, but it also
gave me information of her enjoyment involved with all the them as well.
“Then,
she's off to practice with Crossfire Alaska for her first love — soccer.”
Despite
all of the sports she does, it’s very clear that her number one sport is
soccer.
The
author even mentions it again in another quote, “If there is a conflict, soccer
comes first.”, of how she loves soccer the most.
“’I
feel like I'll regret it down the road if I don't do it."
VanOrd
— a lifelong soccer player and a three-year varsity flag football
player — joined the tackle football team as a kicker this season after
taking weightlifting classes from football co-coach Daniel Esparza and talking
with former soccer teammate Kasila Carey, who kicked for the Golden Bears last
season.”
This
quote gave quite a lot of information.
It gave
me information of how she started doing all three sports at one time.
