Kenley Parks first female kicker for East Bladen JV football team

Kenley Parks jokingly asked East Bladen head football coach Robby Priest about kicking for the football team. After all, no girl had kicked for the Eagles.

A few weeks later, the 15-year-old sophomore now is a member of the junior varsity team. Last Thursday, she kicked two extra points in East Bladen’s 22-21 win against South Columbus.

“I was joking around with the coach, kind of like, let me kick for the football team,” Parks said. “He gave me a bag of balls and I practiced. Now, I’m doing it.”

The culmination of the past few weeks of practice came with those two extra-point kicks.

“It was really cool,” Parks said. “I wasn’t nervous. I just didn’t want to miss.”

When Parks’ kicks went through the uprights against South Columbus the East Bladen sideline erupted with players jumping, coaches raising their arms in celebration and Eagles fans in the stands hollering.

“I was very proud,” said Traci Parks, Kenley’s mother and a teacher at East Bladen now in her 21st year. “I was nervous. I wanted it to go well. She had been practicing a lot on her own as well as with the team.”

Kenley Parks practices with the JV team daily, taking part in the stretching and working with special teams on her extra-point kicking before spending time on her own working on her kicks.

“She’s adapted pretty well,” East Bladen JV football coach Teffrey McKoy said. “The excitement she brings when she makes the kicks is very, very, very good for us. She brings good energy to the team and she’s a likable person.”

Parks also is a midfielder for the East Bladen girls’ soccer team. Last year, as a freshman, she scored a goal in the Eagle’s 4-0 win against Southern Wake Academy in the second round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A playoffs.

“She was instrumental in our midfield,” East Bladen soccer coach Jay Raynor said. “She played as a holding midfielder and did an incredible job helping us control that part of the field. It’s rare to have a freshman come in with the confidence she has on the field as well as her toughness.”

It was that toughness and aggressiveness that gave Traci Parks confidence in her daughter’s ability to kick for the football team.

“She has been playing soccer since she was six and has always been known for her strong kick,” Traci Parks said. “When she came to me waiting to play football it really wasn’t much of a stretch.

“I wasn’t worried (about football) because I’ve seen her play soccer. She’s one of our most aggressive girls on the varsity girls’ team.”

The East Bladen JV football team has five games remaining on its schedule, including home games Oct. 2 against North Duplin and Oct. 23 against Union.

Kenley Parks will spend the next five weeks practicing her kicks and waiting for her teammates to give her a chance to kick extra points after East Bladen touchdowns.

What began as a bit of a joke has turned into reality.

“It’s a little shocking,” Parks said.

Last week, through her hard work and desire, along with support from the coaching staff and players, Parks booted her first two of what she hopes will be many kicks through the uprights.