Photo by Sarah Finnegan.
Homewood High School sophomore Katie Crim (83) kicks an extra point during a game against Vestavia Hills at Waldrop Stadium. Crim is handling kicking duties for the Patriots football team this fall.
Katie Crim ran off the field in a game against Pelham on Sept. 6 with her head held high, but not because she hit two field goals. Instead, it was because of the support from the Homewood High School crowd and student section.
Crim hit a 28-yard and a 29-yard field goal in the Homewood win, scoring 10 points in all counting the four extra points she made during the contest.
Crim said it was one of her best games yet.
“The Pelham game was a really big game for me,” she said. “When I ran off the field after my field goals, the student section was chanting my name. It was overall a great night.”
Crim is still one of the relatively few female football players in the country, but that did not stop her from winning the Homewood kicker job as a sophomore. She was perfect on extrapoint attempts through Oct. 4 and made three of her first four field goals.
Homewood head coach Ben Berguson said the team believes in her abilities.
“She is very accurate and consistent,” he said. “The team trusts her.”
Crim said there will always be naysayers, but the support from the Homewood community means the world to her.
“There have been some people saying that girls shouldn’t play football, but most everyone has been super supportive and encouraging,” she said. “Everyone on the team has been accepting. We’re all one big family, and we just keep getting closer. They’re a great group of guys.”
Crim said she has been a fan of the University of Alabama football program since she was 5 years old, even though her parents were not big football fans, and she said she always loved playing football on the playground with the boys in elementary school.
Crim, who also plays soccer at Homewood, said it took some time to become the football team’s starting kicker.
“It has definitely taken a lot of work to get to where I am now,” Crim said. “I worked with former kickers in middle school who taught me all of the main fundamental things. From then on, it was making sure I got a lot of reps in and making sure I got all of the little things right.”
Crim has played football since seventh grade, but this is her first year on the varsity football team. With all the support and encouragement she has garnered from the Homewood community, she said she is lucky to be able to suit up as a Patriot.
“There’s no way I would have been able to get where I am without the team,” Crim said. “I’m so thankful I get to be a part of such a great program with amazing coaches and players.”
