Stereotypes Get the Boot at Chaminade : Amy Cook Wins Praise as Junior Varsity Kicker

What is a nice girl like Amy Cook doing on the Chaminade High football field, buried inside a helmet and shoulder pads on a hot afternoon?

Quite simply, teammate Mark Wiltshire is centering the football, holder Joe Costa is supporting it with his finger and Cook is splitting the uprights from the 25-yard-line.

Then from the 30.

The 35.

When it comes to the 40, Cook’s kicks are about 50-50. Which is still better than any of the boys on the Chaminade junior varsity. Which also is why she’s the team’s kicker.

“I watched her kick at least 30 of them,” Chaminade JV Coach George Moraida said. “Every one from the 30 on in went through. She’s consistent.”

Cook, a sophomore transfer from Agoura, is not a novelty act, not a publicity stunt.

“I was afraid of everybody thinking that,” Cook said. “That I was just doing this to attract attention.”

Well, she has. Friends, coaches and teammates all are getting a kick out of Cook.

“I didn’t expect anything like this,” Costa said. “When we first heard about it, we thought it was just a joke.”

Said Wiltshire: “At first we didn’t believe it. But we’ve seen her do 40--and make it by a lot.”

The soft-spoken Cook says that there are still a few points she needs to learn about kicking extra points.

“I’ve never kicked a football before,” she said. “But I’ve always wanted to be a kicker.”

Which is why Harry Cook--admittedly in jest--asked varsity Coach Rich Lawson to give his daughter a tryout. He didn’t count on Lawson complying. And Lawson probably didn’t count on Cook arriving at practice wearing cleats.

“I was walking off the field after practice,” Lawson said, “and she came trotting up and said, ‘OK, coach, I’m here.’ I said, ‘OK, let’s see you kick’ and she proceeded to put six right through the end zone from 25 yards out.”

Said Harry Cook: “And that night she came home with a football uniform.”

Cook’s locker will also contain a volleyball uniform. A member of the tennis and soccer teams at Agoura, Cook plans to do it all at Chaminade, including, perhaps, joining the cross-country team.

“She’s a competitor,” Harry Cook said. “And she’s tenacious.”

As Cook’s teammates and coaches will attest.

“She came out for hell week and she did everything the boys did, all the conditioning,” Moraida said. “Certain drills, we kept her out of--her main purpose being a kicker. The kids really took a liking to her.”

Said Cook: “The guys have been really good. At first I didn’t think they thought it was such a good idea. But they treat me better than I expected.”

Cook does not expect to join the varsity next season, although Lawson said he would not discourage her. “I’m just doing it to strengthen my leg for soccer,” she said.

Moraida, however, expects to call on Cook. “If the ball is on the 20,” he said, “We’re gonna make it.”

And if Cook fails in the clutch?

“That’s the only thing that bothers me,” she said with a nervous smile. “I don’t want to lose a game for us. But I’ll just keep practicing and get my confidence up.”