April Goss: Making History in the Rustbelt

While the storylines of the 2015/16 college football season have been dominated with tumultuous disciplinary crises at Rutgers, athletic directors in the lonestar state removed from their posts and an unfolding, off-field mess at Ole Miss, college football nevertheless rarely fails to provide an antidote of good news stories, a beacon of light, humanity and hope.

Kent, Ohio was the setting, where in the heart of Dix Stadium in front of 15,901, history was being made during the second quarter of an unremarkable fixture in the rust belt against Delaware State. A certain senior, April Goss, stepped onto the Golden Flashes’ hallowed turf to become only the second woman and first for 12 years, to kick an extra point in a football bowl subdivision fixture.

Cue the great, comaradic scene with Goss held aloft upon the shoulders by her fellow Golden Flash teammates, an experience she recalls as ‘just a blur’. That blur had finally been enjoyed for a second time in over a decade since the first, Katie Hnidi of New Mexico, first broke the glass ceiling back in 2003 against Texas State.

The fifth year senior from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania while representing something of a newcomer nationally had already established herself as a highly respected, academic high achiever in the classroom. In fact, Goss had already announced her arrival on the college football stage, having converted a game winning extra point in Kent State’s spring game a year hence, having entered the program as a walk on in 2012. Since arriving on campus and embedding herself within the school’s athletic programs, she has always just been ‘one of the guys’ in the eyes of her teammates. April’s determination, drive and enthusiasm, which had led to her place kicking in high school, earnt her the place on the football program she had craved, her relentlessness in achieve her dream earning the instant respect of coaches and players alike.

Saturday, September 12th was the reward for her tenacity, iron will and unfaltering patience. In fact moments before, with Kent State lining up for a point after attempt, a time out was called and regular kicker Shane Hynes was recalled to the sideline. It was the moment she had worked so hard and strived for so long. She was not about to let the moment pass her by. Her coach, Paul Haynes knew she could do it.

The sport she loved and worked tirelessly to become a part of allowed her to foster a strong friendship with Hnidi, two female athletes who have trail blazed a way forward for other women to gain access to what has always been a male dominated amateur sport. The door has been left ajar.

With a career in mental health consultation ahead of her, the great ambassador that is April Goss will forever hold a place in Kent State folklore.