When people discuss the great American sport of football, what does everyone picture? A bunch of muscular men wearing the same uniform, running around a field with a ball. Well, at Patchogue-Medford High School, there is a different story. Hannah Martin, a junior here at the high school, is the Raiders’ Varsity Football kicker.
It all started in ninth grade during physical education when Hannah picked up a football and realized this was something she would come to love. Last year, as a sophomore, Hannah was on the Jr. Varsity football team and shocked everyone the moment she stepped onto the field. “I never imagined any of this. I always saw myself as being a runner, all I did was run, and nothing else.” Martin was on the high school track team from seventh to ninth grade, and dominated almost every race she ran.
Being on the Varsity Football team comes as a great challenge to anyone; yet, Hannah hasn’t let being a female change any of that. “In the beginning, my parents thought I was joking when I told them that I wanted to play football. However, my dad really saw how much I cared about it and told me that I could do anything I wanted as long as I put 100 percent effort into what I did.” As soon as Martin joined the team, the boys all accepted her, in fact they loved her and treated her the same as any other teammate. “The most interesting thing about playing with all guys is at the end of a game when we shake hands with the opposing team and they all realize I’m a girl. Some of them like it, and others don’t. It doesn’t really bother me, I’m just doing what I love.” Hannah has never let anything stop her, in both life and on the field, she truly is an amazing girl who is changing what we know about “traditional” gender roles without even realizing it.
“I don’t want people to see me as just a girl on the football field, I want them to see me as a player contributing my all to the team and I’ll do just that.” Over the past two years, Martin has made Pat-Med history both on and off the football field. For the remainder of her high school years, Martin hopes to improve more and more and maybe take kicking past high school. “If I ever had to stop kicking, I honestly think I’d go crazy, because I’m nothing without my team.” I think it’s safe to say that they’re nothing without you, too.