Changing the Game: A Spotlight on Peyton Porter

photo by leyla dumke

As a female football player, Peyton Porter, 10, continues to demolish the stereotype that football is only for boys. Peyton originally signed up for football in eighth and ninth grade, but didn't get the chance to play because she was also involved in club soccer and school volleyball. 

“I've wanted to join football since the eighth grade. I have always been the girl that tries things that no one would expect, as some of my close friends and family would say. I remember going up and putting my name down on the sign up list and everyone thought I was crazy,” Peyton said of her beginning in the sport. This year, she is pursuing her lifelong dream of playing high school football. 

She plans to continue playing through high school. “I hope me joining the football team encourages [more] girls to just step up and go for it,” she explained. Besides being involved in soccer and football, Peyton enjoys hanging out with her family and friends. “Can’t forget shopping,” Peyton added, laughing. 

Despite being the only girl on the freshman team, coaches Ian Brown and Logan Jones, along with her teammates, make sure she feels welcomed. “The boys have been amazing; they are brothers that any girl would dream about having. They are always supporting me, and pushing me to my full potential,” she said of them.

Peyton has made so many great memories with her teammates, and the season is just getting started. “My favorite memory so far this year is coming home on the bus late at night after beating Portage Northern. We all sang “Let It Go'' on the way home, and then got off the bus and ran as fast as we could to ring the bell and celebrate our well deserved win,” she reminisced.