Girls soccer star kicks for football team

Orlando's University High School has a secret weapon this football season: a female kicker.

Kiersten Nevergold has been playing soccer since the age of 3.  She is a forward, meaning her job is to kick the ball into the opposing team's net.  It's that skill that got the attention from her high school's football coach.

"Coach handed me a tee and the ball and just said, 'Kick it,' and I just kicked," says the 16-year-old junior.

She made the team instantly, and although her mother had some concerns about safety, she was ready to take the sport head-on.

"I'm not scared of getting tackled.  It's a contact sport," Nevergold says.

Her position in both sports is similar, she says, but there was a bit of a learning curve.

"The ball's a different shape, and you hit a completely different part of it," she explains.  "Iin football, you want the ball to go up more, whereas in soccer, you want to keep the ball lower usually."

Nevergold says she feels pretty confident kicking from the 30-yard line and is getting better at kicking from farther back. She has played two games so far, after joining the team later in the season.  As far as the treatment she receives from the guys on her team, she says it's not a problem.

"It's kind of just like another family, like me having a bunch of brothers, instead of sisters."