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Auburn High School quarterback Troy Churney and other football players frequently worked out on the school’s turf field during the summer. One day, the school’s girl’s soccer team was practicing at the same time. While working out, Churney looked to the other side of the field and noticed the team’s star player — his longtime friend and midfielder Amelia Bartolotta.

Bartolotta, now a senior, had been on the varsity soccer team since freshman year. She’d earned several accolades for her play and was committed to play soccer at Mercyhurst University this fall. Churney knew the football team was going to be good this year — they had made the state playoffs last year and were returning key players — but they desperately needed a kicker.

Churney walked over to Bartolotta and asked if she’d ever try kicking football. At the time, she thought he was joking. But when Bartolotta’s practice ended, she was taking kicks on the field. Churney held each kick for her and immediately noticed she was a natural. He took videos and sent them to Auburn’s head coach, Dave Moskov. As soon as Moskov saw the videos, he asked her to join the team.

Bartolotta became one of Auburn’s go-to kickers, kicking nearly every extra point throughout the season. Moskov sees Bartolotta as a major part of the team’s undefeated 2021 season, which finished last Wednesday. But more importantly, Moskov said, she made history as the first female player in Auburn football’s 130-year history.

“I knew it was something she’d want to encounter because she’s an outgoing girl and her mom’s a strong woman,” said Churney. “Toughness kind of runs through them.”

At first, Bartolotta was nervous about how the other players would react to a girl joining the team. But once she got on the field for practice, her worries went away.

“Putting my pads on for the first time and walking down and practicing, it wasn’t weird. It just felt different,” Bartolotta said. “But my team was so supportive and included me with everything. I didn’t feel like I wasn’t the only girl out there.”

Before ever kicking in a game, Bartolotta had to learn the slight differences of kicking a football versus a soccer ball. She worked with coaches on learning a new follow through, what steps to take before kicking and foot placement. Moskov slowly incorporated the offensive line, a simulated rush and finally, a full defense. He said since Bartolotta is a tremendous athlete and took coaching very well, she was ready to kick when the season started.

In Auburn’s first game of the season, it didn’t kick extra points because they were playing from behind and needed to go for two, Moskov said. But Bartolotta got her chance during the team’s first road game at Jamesville-DeWitt. She was anxious leading up to the game, but didn’t miss a single kick in warmups. Bartolotta said the mental aspect of kicking is what surprised her the most.

“In soccer, you don’t really think about it because it’s not like you have to bring it through two uprights with people coming at you,” said Bartolotta. “I wasn’t really ready for that.”

Bartolotta missed her first three extra points of the season in that game. Opponents started trash-talking her, so her teammates went over and encouraged her. Churney, who holds kicks for her, spoke to Bartolotta right before her next attempt later in the game. He told her to forget the other kicks, stay focused, and it would go through. Bartolotta proceeded to split the uprights for her first make of the season. After that game, she changed her mental approach.

“Now, my biggest thing is not thinking about it as much and just doing it — doing what I know and getting it done.” Bartolotta said.

Bartolotta knew she had to perform in the next game — homecoming against Central Square. Even though this wasn’t her first game, seeing the student section with all her friends who had never seen her kick before made her nervous. But when Moskov called her number, Bartolotta went a perfect six-for-six in front of her hometown crowd.

Bartolotta said she never had any issues as part of the team, and all of her teammates were respectful and treated her as any other teammate regardless of gender. She believes the fact she joined the team, navigated adversity and became a huge contributor can inspire girls going forward.

“Between me and more females being in the sport, I feel like it opens the eye to younger females who maybe wanted to but were afraid,” Bartolotta said. “It’s kind of someone to look up to.”

Published on April 25, 2021 at 11:07 pm

Contact Matthew: mahassan@syr.edu