![Callie John Calvert waved to her parents in the stands while playing her first football game at Miami ISD in early September.](/special-projects/2022/10/road-trip-america/static/74927e0515fef8cee1cbd3a0ad7f7bb3/a04d0/CGK3JZOS7O5VUV7NBOCGZ3DFFQ.jpg)
Los Angeles team
Oct. 30, 2022
Meet 8-year-old Callie John, the only girl on her Texas football team
MIAMI, Texas — Callie John Calvert, 8, doesn’t feel the need to introduce herself to strangers. She might saunter into an adult conversation holding a pickle-flavored snow cone and begin to hold court about whatever is on her mind — gymnastics, geocaching, unicorns.
Callie John has the distinction of being the only girl on a tackle football team in her Texas Panhandle town. Her mother, Erica, was initially hesitant — “Callie John is a girl. Most girls don’t want to play.” — but at the first game of the season, Callie John was a crowd favorite, eliciting cheers every time she trotted onto the field. Even her mom seemed persuaded. “Hit somebody!” she shouted from the bleachers, several times.
![Callie John Calvert screamed her rallying cry with her teammates at her first game for Miami independent school district in Miami, Texas.](/special-projects/2022/10/road-trip-america/static/30c0f36340b27649f07baf56574d6528/8dbcc/TQDNI5HAXTSVEEHXQBJI252234.jpg)
![The 8-year-old attempted to fend off a tackle.](/special-projects/2022/10/road-trip-america/static/1f173e7a806a1f8bad52ef15647a5143/8dbcc/Z3JWOSPVXIOD7YBGD7FGPMAWOQ.jpg)
![A quick helmet adjustment for Callie John Calvert during her first game for Miami independent school district.](/special-projects/2022/10/road-trip-america/static/9bb01b3d67220d474c111d0b5c5d3a04/8dbcc/QRINCJMPP7RDWT2TX73LDJ2S4E.jpg)
![After the game, she high-fived players from the opposing team.](/special-projects/2022/10/road-trip-america/static/bc770231857fa4433e1fed2f62de754d/8dbcc/U22RH3KWPYDYSELQNTYECENJII.jpg)
![Callie John Calvert walked off the field after the game.](/special-projects/2022/10/road-trip-america/static/907e299f5d59c8fc34e6914f1295f334/8dbcc/EOJ3Z7SZCAGJ72B3KVQNDZUIEA.jpg)
![The community watched the 5th grade football game in Miami, Texas.](/special-projects/2022/10/road-trip-america/static/e16e34a066ff30dc01af26794a972f0f/8dbcc/IMGFDMDTRZ4S5TR6ZFR3GZZYGQ.jpg)
![Callie John Calvert was congratulated by her friend Susan Bowers after the game.](/special-projects/2022/10/road-trip-america/static/09f9c702e85e97f3aaf8c43de1f70224/8dbcc/ISAFR4BBLUE7MBSPUIW5U73T3E.jpg)
Callie John Calvert screamed her rallying cry with her teammates at her first game for Miami independent school district in Miami, Texas. (Erin Clark/Globe Staff)
Football wasn’t initially Callie John’s plan (she also cheerleads and plays basketball). But as the teacher was passing out sign-up forms the boy next to her said, “‘You’re probably not going to play.’ So I turned around and said, ‘Can you put one in my cubby?’”
Tackling is daunting, but Callie John has a trick for mustering courage. When a rival player approaches, she plays a game with herself: “I’m thinking that they are demons trying to eat my unicorn.”
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Credits
- Reporters: Julian Benbow, Diti Kohli, Hanna Krueger, Emma Platoff, Annalisa Quinn, Jenna Russell, Mark Shanahan, Lissandra Villa Huerta
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