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Tuesday, December 9, 1997

Female player finds a spot on defense

By ROY HESS The (McAllen) Monitor

PHARR, Texas - Stephanie Garcia has a drive to succeed in everything she does and that includes football.

The 13-year-old girl played on the Pharr Memorial Junior High seventh-grade football team this season. She's also a repeat regional qualifier in the Pass, Punt and Kick competition.

Stephanie was one of a select group of competitors on hand at Monday night's Dallas Cowboys-Carolina Panthers game at Texas Stadium, vying for the opportunity to advance to the national PP&K event. Stephanie was scheduled to compete against four other girls in the 12-13 age division.

"I feel excited," Stephanie said before leaving for the competition. "It's going to be fun up there."

She traveled to the Houston Astrodome last year for the PP&K competition.

"I've always liked football," Stephanie said. "I used to play with my cousins and at (elementary) school."

Her fondness for the sport led her to try out for the seventh-grade football team back in August.

"I figured that nobody really believed that I was going to join the football team, so I thought why not just try out," said Stephanie, 5-foot-3-1/2, 135 pounds. "You never know. And I made the 'A' team.

"They (boys) tried to discourage me, but it didn't work," she added. "In the beginning they were like, 'No, you can't do it.' Then towards the end they started respecting me more."

Stephanie, an honor student with a 96 average, also played volleyball. She split practice time between the two sports.

Memorial football coach Victor Perez said Stephanie played quarterback and running back before eventually finding a spot in the defensive secondary.

"She did great,' Perez said. "She's a very dedicated athlete. She took some hits, but she gave some, too.

"She's the first girl at Memorial (to play football)," he added. "We kind of kept it quiet, but she deserves recognition for what she's done."

Stephanie's parents didn't try to discourage her from football.

"We didn't want to break her spirit," said Joe Garcia, Stephanie's father. "If this was something she really wanted to do, who are we to say don't. Everybody needs the opportunity to try something. It turned out well for her.

"Actually, it turned out better than we expected," he added. "It got to the point where we were out there cheering and yelling for her to hit the guys."

Two of the biggest adjustments were getting used to the hitting and wearing football equipment.

"In the beginning the boys were reluctant to hit her," said Vivian Garcia, Stephanie's mother. "They wouldn't, and I had to tell them, 'You need to or she's going to get hurt in a game if you don't.' They started to, and sure enough, she took down one of the guys that no one could take down. From that point on, they treated her just like anybody else. She earned it."

"She had to get some (hits) in order to give some back," Joe Garcia said. "That's what it took."

Memorial's seventh-grade football team went 6-2 this season in Perez's first year as head coach.

Initially, Perez said, the coaches and players were a little uneasy about having a girl on the team.

'At first it was a little like, 'There's a girl out here?' But after a while they respected her and treated her just like any other player," Perez said. "They missed her when she wasn't there."

Stephanie knows at some point she may have to choose between football and volleyball.

"I'll probably end up choosing one, which one I don't know," she said.

"Everyone can do it (play football) if they just try," she added. "If they have the will to do it, they can do it. I did it because it's something I like to do. I wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't something I liked."

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