DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) – Olivia Samuelson feels at home on the football field.
“Me and my family have always been a football family” said Samuelson.
“We’ve always watched football growing up and we went to games like NFL games growing up.”
“It’s why Samuleson decided to join Rock Island’s football team.
“My brother played last year so he was like you should just try kicking.”
As an outstanding soccer player, kicking a football came naturally.
“She’s insanely competitive and she works hard” said Rock Island head coach Fritz Dieudonne.
“Especially since I have two older brothers I’ve always like went against them and they’ve always been hard on me” said Samuelson.
Olivia earned the respect of her teammates from the very first practice.
“Whatever we were doing as a football team she did right if it was the summer weights. Last year our facility was being renovated so we lifted at Augie early in the morning, she made it to workouts, you know if we’re running hills or running conditioning, she’s running” said Dieudonne.
This season Olivia made history becoming the first female to ever score for the Rocks.
“It was just really fun because the community all congratulated me together.”
Her name will forever be in the record book.
“She is fully award that what she did and what she was accomplishing was a big deal but she also didn’t go out of her way to try to point the spotlight on her as an individual” said Dieudonne.
For Olivia being part of a team is what means the most, and that team helped Olivia in ways that go far beyond the field.
“When I came into high school I was like very shy and if it was freshman me coming into this I would have been like 10 times more scared. My social skills have really like branched out.”
“If you’re thinking about doing something you should just do it and shouldn’t not do it because you’re scared of something.”
Olivia Samuleson leaves the Rock Island jersey in a better place
“I can’t say enough about how great of a person she is as an individual and a pleasure it’s been to have her on the team.”
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