Hendrix College kicker makes history, hopes to inspire female athletes

CONWAY, Ark. — From a six-year-old playing soccer in Phoenix, Arizona, to a freshman kicker at Hendrix College, Emily Vaiasicca never imagined her moment would come on a college football field.

Vaiasicca grew up with two older siblings, but it was her older brother, Austin, who played football and inspired her to try out for the varsity team in her sophomore year of high school.

After earning a starting spot, she began the college recruiting process, which she described as challenging. When she found her home at Hendrix, she said the moment was surreal.

“Coach Philips actually was the one who reached out to me,” Vaiasicca said. “…It didn’t matter to him that I was a girl; he just saw me as everyone else.”

This opportunity led to her becoming the first woman in Hendrix College and Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference history to play on the field and score. She did it on an extra point in their 60-21 win over Austin College.

She said she remembers Hendrix College head football coach Buck Buchanan calling her name as the “next player up,” and she decided to just focus on the task at hand.

“It hit me after, like, that was my first play on varsity. I don’t think a girl has kicked in the SCAC before,” Vaiasicca said.

“It was like, ‘Oh, Emily is about to go do this,’ and then after the fact, it was like, ‘Oh, this just happened,’” Coach Buchanan added.

For Vaiasicca, she hopes her story sends a message to girls with big dreams and even bigger goals in athletics — that they can do anything they set their mind to. She also hopes the advice she would give her younger self spreads to other girls.

“I would probably tell my younger self that everything is going to be ok, and everything is going to work out,” Vaiasicca said.

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