It was freshman year in 2022 when a teacher asked a class if girls should be allowed to play on a high school football team, which related to the book Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock about a female football player. The students’ responses were not in support, yet in that class for the very first time that question was asked, there was a female football player.  West’s first and maybe last: Giana Olds.   

What sports did you play in high school? 

In high school I played tackle football and wrestled.   

What are your plans after you graduate? 

Next year I will be wrestling in college at JJC.   I picked it specifically because it’s close and I like the colors, not to mention they have good programs there so I can get my degree. 

How was your experience as the first and only female on the West football team so far?  

My experience with being the first and only female to play tackle football at West was as good as it could have been.  Honestly, it got off to kind of a bumpy start because they didn’t really accept me at first, which I tried my best to understand.  It couldn’t have been easy for them with it being so new for everyone.  But the second they did accept me was the best thing I could have ever experienced. The bonds you build during a sport as close as football will be those you will always remember, and I love my brothers (teammates) with my whole heart and am beyond grateful for everything they did for me.  

What do you think about the new Girls Flag Football team?   

I think it’s amazing that they are getting a Girls Flag Football team.  I just wish I had gotten that opportunity, but I think it’s going to be really fun for the girls that get to compete with flag football being a very fast-growing sport. I also think it will be good for the community to see and understand that women are so much stronger and more capable than some make them out to be.