Dublin High Female Kicker Paves The Way For More Young Women

DUBLIN, CA — At 16, Dublin High School junior Grace Toney has a growing list of athletic accomplishments.

She ran track, swam, played basketball and volleyball and dreams of playing soccer professionally. This month, Toney hung up her helmet after spending a season on the male-dominated junior varsity Gaels football team.

She's only the second young woman in Dublin High history to play on the team, but she was inspired by the first: her sister, former Gaels offensive lineman Makenna Toney.

"All the coaches remembered my sister," she said. "They were kind of excited for me to start playing."

Grace Toney knows that a future generation of could-be female footballers were watching her hit the field with the boys. She's already inspired one girl to start practicing in hopes of playing next year.

"I was, like, 'Oh, my God, I did that. She got the idea because I did it,'" Toney said. "It was ... like a proud little mom moment."

Toney wasn't the first girl to join the team, but the journey wasn't always a smooth one.
Toney said she never experienced blatant sexism and received less pushback than did her sister.

But at times she felt that she wasn't taken as seriously as she might have been if she were a boy. She wondered if the same comments would have been made to a male player.

Still, the fans warmed to her. By the end of the season, they shouted her name when she stepped onto the field to kick.

Toney has a message for any girls wondering whether they have what it takes to give football a shot: "Go with your gut feeling." If you think you're capable, you're "definitely more than capable," she said.

"If you get any backlash from any guys trying to tell you, 'You can't do that,' don't listen to them," she said. "It's 100 percent their ego talking. ... Use your power, and take it."

Gaels fans can still root for Toney at varsity soccer games. She hopes to play soccer in college — and for as long as she can.