Dunbar High female football player kicks down barriers

Bulldog sophomore Skylar Vaught becomes school's second female kicker

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – Skylar Vaught always dreamed of playing football.

“I wanted to play when I was younger, but my dad told me no,” Dunbar kicker Skylar Vaught said.

Instead of hitting the gridiron, she played soccer, but the desire to play football never left.

“We were at practice and they were like ‘Oh yeah they need a kicker on the football team’. I was like, ‘Oh that would be super cool. I’ve always loved the game so I might as well,’” Vaught said.

Skylar tried out and made the team. Now, the Dunbar High School sophomore uses her leg to give the back to back region champs a leg up on the competition. Another girl before her did the same. In 2020, Bethel Green kicked her way into bulldog lore as the school’s first female kicker. Head Coach Wes Johnson says Green’s success helped set the stage.

“Bethel, she scored a lot of points for us. She was extremely accurate as Skylar is. I don’t think she missed an extra point all year,” Coach Johnson said.

“I thought back to it and was like, ‘Ah yeah! Bethel did it’ Then I was like `oh she can do it, I can do it,” Vaught said.

“She lined up a 30 yard field goal right down the middle of the uprights. I said “Ok I think we have something here,’” Johnson said.

The next thing you know that something proved to be true. In just three years, Dunbar High has produced not one but two female kickers. Skylar’s message for the next girl looking to be the third is simple.

“It was tough seeing other people kick further and know you’re not getting as much play time and be like, ‘Oh it’s cause I’m just a girl on the team’, but if you put a lot of work in you can easily move past that. I put an entire offseason in and look where I’m at now. I’m kicking a 40 yard field goal consistently and working my butt off for 45,” Vaught said.