Tired of the Sidelines: Girl Joins Flyers Football

Theresa Scruton, a senior, managed the boys’ football team for two years. Then she decided she’d rather be out on the field herself.

“I got tired of standing on the sidelines. I wanted to play,” Theresa said.

She now plays wide receiver and is the only girl on the team. She uses a separate locker room but, otherwise, said being female isn’t an issue with her male counterparts.

“They don’t take it easy on me. They treat me as one of the guys,” she said.

In the summer, Theresa attended the football team’s morning workouts from 7 to 9 a.m. Monday through Thursday.

Now, that school has started, the 17-year-old has a full schedule, staying after school with teachers to do homework every afternoon, followed by football practice until 6 p.m. most days, then home and more homework. Theresa also works part-time at .

Theresa has lots of friends both on and off the football team, and they all support her by coming to games. Her family also attends games, including her parents, younger sister, aunt and uncle, and two cousins. Her older brother is away at college, but her 11-year-old sister sits in the stands wearing Theresa’s letter jacket.

Theresa’s football coach, Athletic Director Gary Doherty, can’t say enough good things about Theresa.

“She’s a great kid. We’re happy to have her on the team,” Doherty said. “She was fantastic as a manager and she is as a player as well.”

Doherty said Theresa is reliable, punctual, and works hard. On a team with academic requirements but no tryouts, there are sometimes kids who don’t put in very much effort. Theresa’s not like that.

“She’s not just wearing a uniform and standing around. She’s over there competing,” Doherty said.

Theresa is the only girl Doherty can recall playing on the football team, though he sees some crossover in boys playing on girls’ teams, especially in field hockey. There have also been girls playing on the boys’ golf team.

Doherty said he would like to see a girls’ spring football league in Framingham at some point. He thinks it could happen, but it would require commitment from other towns, as well.

In the meantime, Theresa is perfectly happy being the only girl on the football team. She played both JV and varsity in the first week of games and caught her first pass in the JV game last Monday.

“All the kids were happy. All the coaches were happy. She had a big smile on her face,” Doherty said. As a coach, “it’s a proud moment. I want her to have all the success she deserves.”

It also makes Doherty think of his own three daughters. Perhaps, one day, it won’t be so uncommon to see a girl out on the football field.