NORTH PALM BEACH, Fla. — Lily White is now putting on shoulder pads and suiting up for the Benjamin School football team.
White led the Benjamin girls' soccer team in goals and assists a year ago. Now she's looking to get the job done on extra points for the Buccaneers.
"Definitely, I was a little scared, a little nervous, but I'm getting used to it," she said. "And I'm still a little nervous, but I really enjoy it."
From her first day lining up with her new team, the coaches were impressed.
"I wish I had her leg strength," head coach Fred German said. "It's unbelievable. I mean, she's just a natural. She came out, first day, she was kicking 30-yarders. Now she's up to 40-, 42-yarders. It's just all-natural for her."
She took the field for a regular-season game for the first time Thursday night and came through with her first career extra point. The word is starting to spread around campus about this multisport athlete.
"It's just starting to become common knowledge, but everyone I've talked to has been so supportive," White said. "They really can't believe it, if I'm honest. Everyone has been so nice about it. People are saying, 'Oh, I'm definitely going to come to football games now.' So, yeah, the support has just been unreal."
White's schedule is jam-packed, but she is impacting her teams on and off the field.
German said he was impressed by her energy.
"I mean, she wants to be here," he said. "I mean, she's going from here to soccer practice. But she's out here. She was out working with me in the summer when she decided she wanted to do this. She was out here with me during the summer, getting extra reps in."
The fall version of football is going to be helping her once she represents the Bucs again on a soccer field.
"The pressure I feel in the football game is unreal because it's not my sport," White said. "And I feel like it's really helping me calm down my nerves, get used to those high-pressure situations and it's really changing my mental side of the game."
