HANOVER, Pa. — Lacing up and strapping on the pads looks a little different for the Hanover Area Hawks’ kicker.
This year, the team needed some help filling out their roster, so special teams coordinator Woodly Augustin says they got creative with filling it in.
“Going into the season, we didn’t have (many) kickers; we were looking for kickers. And here comes McKenzie,” said Augustin.
McKenzie Bannon stepping up to fill that spot. The junior at Hanover Area High School is a force to be reckoned with on the soccer field, but instead of hitting the back of the net, this year, she’s kicking through the uprights.
“Honestly, I was more nervous about the kick. I didn’t notice the big man running at me until after the big kick was over,” said Bannon.
She got recruited by Hanover’s athletic director to be the Hawks' backup kicker. McKenzie’s mom, Desiree, has two daughters and says she never expected to be a football mom.
“Having never touched a football before, we worked a little in the backyard before she came, and she tried it out. And they were willing to work around her soccer schedule so,” said her mom.
The rest is history, Hanover Area history. McKenzie is the first girl in the district to ever suit up on the sidelines.
“Compared to everyone else, I’m really short, so it’s kind of hard to see on the sidelines,” the high school junior joked.
But as she’s breaking barriers under the Friday night lights, this isn’t the first time she’s competed against the guys. She’s competed against men for years in karate, earning her black belt in 2021.
“Quite often, she’s been the only girl in the room, and all the boys are bigger than her, so the boys don’t scare her,” explained Desiree.
However, fitting in on the football field wasn’t exactly in her plans. She decided to take on yet another new sport and add it to her arsenal of sports, which includes everything from track and field to karate.
“Not ever something I thought I’d be doing. I haven’t really thought about it as breaking barriers. I just thought about it as I’m doing another sport,” McKenzie said.
But she’s been solidifying that spot with every kick between the goalposts.
The Hanover Area Hawkeyes take on the Tunkhannock Tigers in Wyoming County on Friday night.
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