DECATUR -- When the Decatur Bulldog football team took the field at Pioneer Stadium Aug. 28, a new kind of player emerged to take center stage. For the first time in five years -- maybe for the first time ever -- a girl held the center position in the offensive line for the Dogs. But this is not any girl. This is a girl with drive and the determination to win.
Cameron Shaffer, who last season snapped the ball to quarterback Leng Lee on the Decatur junior high team, will take the field in the middle of the offensive line and play one of the most important positions in football behind (actually in front of) the quarterback, the center. Handing the ball off to senior Victor Urquidi can be a little intimidating, but there is no doubt that Shaffer will get the job done once she gets over the opening game jitters.
"It makes me a little nervous to play that position." Shaffer said. "But once I overcome the nerves, it will make me feel important."
Shaffer has been involved with sports since her days on a Pee Wee team in second grade. Since that time, she has grown into a first-class athlete, having mastered the field, the court, the diamond, the track and the range. In spite of her love for football, basketball, track and trap shooting, Shaffer's favorite sport is softball.
And that love shows in every throw she makes and every ball that bings off of her bat. Shaffer's winning spirit helps to motivate her teammates and drives them to finish on top.
"She's a great young lady," Shane Holland, Decatur football coach, said. "Since the first day Coach Unger and I started in Decatur (four years ago) Cameron has been with us."
Cameron Shaffer plans on carrying her high school sports participation to graduation in 2017. She is not sure if she will continue to play into college, at least not football.
There are few, if any, college teams that allow female players. But just maybe Shaffer will become the first female center to play on the Arkansas Razorbacks. We'll have to wait and see!
Sports on 09/03/2014