Werblin silences skeptics

BARRY FAULKNER

Distance, Amy Werblin said, has never been her problem. The distance

from the crossbar, that is.

But, as a female kicker on the Sage Hill School football team, she

had never completely escaped the range of the whispers, the muffled

mockery from opponents, spectators, even teammates, eager to

disparage her role on the squad, no matter how specialized.

But with one strong, swift swipe of her right leg Friday

afternoon, Werblin, perhaps forever, made the whispers disappear. For

by converting a 38-yard field goal as time expired in the Lightning’s

22-9 nonleague loss to visiting Sherman Indian, the 5-foot-9,

140-pounder submerged the whispers beneath a cacophony of celebratory

cheers, the likes of which Sage Hill Coach Tom Monarch had never seen

for a losing team.

“It’s funny,” Monarch said of the reaction to Werblin’s momentous

boot, a school record no less. “The clock ran out and it looked like

both teams won. I’ve never, ever experienced that in coaching. If you

watch the film of the last play, you have no idea which team won,

because both teams were celebrating.”

Werblin, whose strong leg has already produced first-team

All-Academy League recognition in girls soccer, stirred little good

feeling when she announced her plan to give football a try last

summer.

Her father, Rick, mortified she would subject herself to physical

harm, tried to talk her out of it. When that didn’t work, Amy said,

he enlisted his friends to bombard her with horror stories of their

own high school football experiences.

Monarch, too, was not without skepticism, though he quickly became

an advocate after seeing her kick the football.

“The ball just explodes off her foot,” Monarch said.

Having never kicked a football before, Werblin worked tirelessly,

beginning in the summer, on her kicking technique. Her determination

continued into the fall, impressing her teammates and coaches.

“She just works so hard,” Monarch said. “Everyone wants to see her

do well, because she puts so much into it, every day at practice. But

like anything else, it’s performance that commands respect.”

Werblin, who kicked a 31-yard field goal in the season opener,

said she has made a 50-yard field goal in practice. But, she has

struggled with her limited conversion attempts.

“I just get so nervous,” she said. “My heart is pounding through

my chest because I want to kick it between the poles. Sometimes, I’m

so intent on kicking it hard, like I would on the soccer field, I

lose some accuracy. Really, from such a short [PAT] distance, I just

barely have to touch it.”

Werblin said she tries to focus on the ball, but has been

distracted by onrushing defenders.

“I had a PAT blocked Friday and that shook me up a little bit,”

she said. “When I got to the sideline, one of my teammates said ‘I

thought you were going to get pummelled.’ I said ‘Don’t tell me

that.’ ”

Werblin said she was gratified by her teammates’ reaction Friday,

as well as a day full of kudos from her classmates and teachers

Monday, many of whom she had never even met.

“I think the crowd cheers more when Amy goes out to kick an extra

point than it did for the touchdown that preceded it,” Monarch said.

“She definitely has her own fan club.”

Werblin, however, is unwilling to bask in her shining moment.

“Now, I have to live up to that standard,” she said. “I always

felt I was able to do it, but now that I’ve kicked a somewhat long

field goal, I’ll take a lot more confidence onto the field.”

She also figures to take a lot less guff, especially the variety

mumbled under one’s breath.