Center of attention Decatur's Shaffer proves girls can play a male-dominated sport

DECATUR -- Cameron Shaffer snapped the chinstrap on the blue helmet, bent over the ball and looked back at the quarterback in shotgun formation.

On a beautiful fall afternoon, Decatur was preparing to take on Johnson County Westside in a 2A-4 Conference game one day later. The timing of the snaps had to be perfect, and Shaffer repeated the drill without a mistake, every snap on the money.

When the drill ended, Decatur coach Shane Holland blew his whistle to end practice and called the players together to go over final instructions.

As the Bulldogs made their way off the field and headed toward the locker room in the gymnasium, Shaffer didn't join the rest of the team, instead walking a few doors down to another door that led into a separate dressing area, this one for female athletes.

Shaffer, a 5-foot-7, 210-pound junior, is the center on Decatur's football team. Shaffer is also a girl, and one of just a handful of female football players in Arkansas. Savana Melton is a kicker at Class 7A North Little Rock.

Holland, who is in his fifth season at Decatur, admits to a being a little skeptical when he was first approached about having a girl in the program who would be a position player and not just a kicker.

"My initial reaction was, 'Oh my, oh my,'" Holland said. "I had a girl when I was at Jay (Okla.), an exchange student from Australia that was a kicker. But Cameron showed up and she's not just a kicker. So you don't know about that right at the first."

Shaffer, who also has a twin brother, Ryan, on the Decatur team, said their parents supported her decision to play a game dominated by males. She was first introduced to football when she and Ryan were elementary school age, attending one of Ryan's early practices.

"I just thought it was really cool," she said. "How they all got to hit. I wanted to do it."

From the first pad-to-pad contact when she was in the second grade, Shaffer said she was hooked on the game, and her parents continue to support her decision to play.

"Just last week, my mom told me 'If you tried to join when you were in the ninth grade, I probably wouldn't have let you. But since you joined early, I'm more comfortable with it.'"

Having a girl play center has meant some adjustments in the Decatur offensive scheme, Holland said. For example, the team operates primarily in shotgun formation with the quarterback standing several yards behind the center, rather than a conventional center-quarterback exchange with the quarterback's hands directly under the center.

Holland tried several other players at center, but none of them worked out. That's when he broached the idea to Shaffer, who had played both offensive guard and tackle previously. Holland said Shaffer has been one of the team's best offensive linemen and often calls for adjustments and moves her teammates into the right formation.

"She's very intelligent," Holland said. "And she's a good lineman."

Shaffer admits there have been times in games where opponents have tried to intimidate her. She mentions a game where the opposing coach was berating his players, "for getting whipped by a girl."

"I loved that," she said.

Ryan said he never had an issue with his sister wanting to play football, and always encouraged her to do whatever she wanted to do.

"My whole family supports us in everything we do," he said.

Shaffer is not just a one-sport athlete. During football season, she also plays on the volleyball team and will move into basketball when football season ends in a few weeks. She will compete in track and softball in the spring. She said softball is her favorite sport and is hopeful to get a chance to play college softball.

Her career goal is to become a teacher and coach, she said.

And what if one day a female student, or perhaps a daughter of her own, expresses an interest in football? Shaffer said she'd support that decision.

"I'd say go ahead and do it, but don't expect to get treated any differently," she said. "Go out there and play like a boy and be expected to be treated like a guy.

"Don't think you're going to get hit gently."

According to her brother, that goes both ways.

"She can hold her own," he said. "She can definitely hang with the boys."

Sports on 10/09/2015