Out of 126 football players at Placer High School, Ashley Moore is especially unique. The freshman is the only female player at any level in the Hillmen football program.

There are three teams. Freshman, JV and Varsity. There is rarely a girl in any of these groups. Moore always goes hard and tries to be as successful as possible. Though she doesn’t start, Ashley has seen the field in games at Sutter and Casa Roble in which the Placer freshman team lost.

Some boys will quit due to the difficulty of football, but Ashley has remained strong and never given up. Although she has never played football before, Moore decided to give it a try because she had nothing better to do, wanted to stay out of trouble, and enjoyed the thought of the challenge of playing a sport as physical as football. She has handled football just as well as anyone else on the team though she nearly quit. Then, she changed her mind, deciding to stay with the team. She goes through everything the rest of the players do. Moore feels she never receives any special treatment because she is a girl, except for the fact that she has to change before and after practice in the girls locker room, separate from the team. The only time she goes into the normal football locker room where the rest of the team is before and after each practice and game is in the before the game after the entire team has changed.When she was asked whether she thought people’s opinion of her had changed because she played football, Moore responded, “Yes. It’s like guys look at me now like I’m an unattractive beast just because I play football.” She may be “just a girl” off the field, but on the field, she’s just another one of the guys. Moore gets hit just as hard as any of the other players and never acts any different then anyone else.“I never even notice the difference. Then she takes her helmet and stuff off and I’m like ‘oh that’s right!’” Said fellow freshman player Grayson Hoffman.  Having a female player on the team hasn’t really made a huge difference to the freshman group this season as they are already used to playing with her throughout the preseason. However, many people in the community view her playing as an impressive feat. Everyone the team agrees that playing football is hard for anyone and many girls wouldn’t even try to play football. Ashley is an inspiration to many football players and athletes in general, whether they are guys or girls.