August is the time Michelle Chadwick, ranked one of the top goalies in the state of Florida, trains for the upcoming girls’ soccer season. But this August, Chadwick is trading in her cleats for a pair of pads.

The 5-foot-6-inch, 126 pound junior is playing football this season, making her the first girl ever to play for the Lightning football team.

“I have always liked [playing football]. It’s fun, just like all my other sports,” Chadwick said. Her coach Rick DiVita declined an interview.

Chadwick plays safety under the auspice of Title IX enacted in 1972. The law states that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

The law also states that “males and females are expected to receive fair and equal treatment in all arenas of public schooling: recruitment, admissions, educational programs and activities…and athletics.”

In other words, Chadwick can play even if she is a girl.

“I have to [let her be on the team]; it’s the law. It’s not whether I agree or disagree,” Athletic Director Lori Nelson said about Chadwick.

There have been other girls that have been brave enough, like Chadwick, to step onto the gridiron. Darby Lentz, a 17-year-old kicker for her high school team in Charleston, W.Va. made 14 of 16 extra point attempts last season. Kristina Leeman, a kicker and two-way tackle, played for her Georgetown High football team in 2004.

There have been girls that have challenged other sports as well. Christina Yannetsos, class of 2001, was on the Lightning wrestling team and dominated. She was eventually named Florida’s Most Outstanding Senior for wrestling and eventually made her way to competing in the Judo Championships in the 2004 Greek Olympics.

Before Title IX was enacted, only one in 27 females played high school sports, and there were few athletic scholarships offered to women. Since the law, the number of women participating in high school athletics has increased from 294,015 in 1971-72 to 2,784,154 in 2000-01.