Murphy – Bulldogs junior Catalina Barreiro didn’t always have the itch to kick.
As a soccer player, she has a strong leg, and her dad tried pushing her onto the football field. But it wasn’t until the summer after her sophomore year that Barreiro decided to give it a try.
With last year’s kicker, Annie Kate Dalton, moving on to play softball at the University of North Carolina, girls soccer coach Kim Brownlee encouraged Barreiro to take her place. The connection was instant.
“I tried it and literally fell in love immediately,” Barreiro said. “It’s so fun.”
Barreiro splits time at the position with sophomore Will Joyner, and before recently suffering a knee injury was mainly doing kickoffs and occasionally kicking extra points. As a center-back on the pitch, she’s used to having to boot the ball far, with her kicks usually landing in the opponent’s half of the field. That leg strength stood out to Bulldogs head coach Joseph Watson in comparison to previous female kickers.
While Sarah Fuller broke barriers as the first female college kicker for Vanderbilt University last year, Katelyn Jones became the Bulldogs’ first female kicker in 2017. Kaitlynn Wheaton and Dalton took up the mantle a year later, with Dalton returning last season after a year off.
Just that thump you hear in the ball when she kicks it,” Watson said. “It’s just different.”
Barreiro knew she had the leg strength, but had to adjust from kicking a soccer ball to kicking a football. In soccer, she would just boot the ball downfield. For football, she had to make sure she was getting enough height in the ball, and for kickoffs put it in a spot optimal to stop the opposing team’s kickoff returner.
During the summer, she practiced two hours a day, three times a week with kicking coach Cliff Owl. At first, Owl told her to kick it in a way that felt comfortable. Then they focused on kicking on a certain part of the foot, and what she wanted to hear to know it was a good kick.
After kicking extra points in Murphy’s scrimmage against Erwin on Aug. 13, Barreiro lined up for a kickoff against Franklin on Aug. 20. It was nearly a disaster.
“I almost gave them a penalty because I wasn’t ready, and I couldn’t hear the whistle because I was so stressed out that I was going to mess up or something,” Barrerio said. “At first I was nervous, like that first kickoff I was nervous, but now it’s so fun and they just come naturally to me.”
Though Barreiro has not kicked since Sept. 10 against Rabun County, Ga., because of a knee injury, she still has found a way to inspire the next generation. Junior varsity coach Hunter Wood told his daughter, Sadie, about Barreiro, and she desperately wanted to meet her. When they finally met, Barreiro said Sadie was ”in awe” of her.
Those interactions are why Brownlee is encouraging soccer players like Barreiro to be kickers. She knows it takes a special athlete, but also knows the impact it can make to young girls who are watching.
“I believe in them,” Brownlee said. “I believe that we have a voice and we have the physical capability, and it doesn’t matter if we’re females. We can be amazing athletes, and we encourage it.”