The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

She doesn't want extra attention and would probably have preferred if this story weren't even written. She just wants to play football and if she's a girl, well, so what? Invariably, though, players look past the bars on the helmet and notice that No. 2 on the White Oaks Wildcats junior football team is different. "There's' nothing I want to prove,“ she said after the Wildcats' 29-7 loss to Oakville Trafalgar last week. "This is just some- thing I wanted to do." It is tradition following a high school football game to shake hands with the opposing team. Players on each side pass each other single file, offering a cursory nod or friendly "good game." _ This is the part Michell Melhuis hates the most. She will leave her helmet on, the better that no one notices her flowing blond hair. She seldom says any- thing and will often look away. VMichcllMelhuis is findeed a girl. Fifteen years-old Grade 10 and the first female to play high school foot- ball in Oakville. But to teammates and coach Al Tanner she's just a second- string defensive back, which is just the way Melhuis likes it. An equal. "You éan see the shock on their face," Melhuis says. "They're thinking, 'She's a girl." She didn't play in the game, just as she didn't play in the team's season open- er, a 23-14 win a week earlier over Milton. Michell Melhuis is the first girl to play high sch00l football in Oakville By JIM WILSON Beaver sports editor This is fine, too, she says. She just wants to learn as much as she can and be ready for when her turn comes, either this year or nexL "I Still have so much to learn," she says. "It's hard, real- ly hard... (but) I'm really enjoying it." Dismayed that there was no foot- MICHELL MELHUIS ball for girls ("I hope somebody starts a league"), Melhuis had planned on trying out for the team as early as last year and spent much of the summer train- ing on her own. True to her word, she joined close to 60 others at practice at the start of school last month. Recalled Tanner, "Michell came in and said she had always wanted to play. There was nothing in the rules saying she couldn't, so I said yes. But I told her she would have to do everything the boys did, drill etc." That left Melhuis on the 40-person roster. She is only 5-foot-5 and slim but is a good athlete (she's played rep soccer and competed in figures skating swimming), possessing above average speed. "She's worked really hard," said Tanner, noting size isn't all-important at the junior level. "I was scéred at first but I did it," she said. "I just gave it my best shot." She was joined by two others girls. One lasted the first practice, the other was a late cut. CRUISE SALE IS COMING "She definitely deserved to make it. There was no prefer- ential treatment at all." Tanner concedes he was surprised when the girls showed up (although several girls had suc- cessfully tired out for the school wrestling team last winter). He is also surprised at the reception Melhuis has received from the boys on the team. "They're amazing- ly good about it," he said. Melhuis, as well, has kind words for her teammates. Instead of resentment, "they have been very supportive," she said. The same, howev- er, wasn't true of her parents. It took a little more persuasion to get their approval, she admits. They will be pleased to learn that their daughter has no intention of trying out for the school's senior team. Melhuis dresses in a separate change room before joining the rest of the team on the field--or the bus. She has missed only one practice, although she cut short a couple of others because of a Charley horse. ‘Don’t book your Cruise until you check with us’ Saturday, October 16 with Roxalii Caribbean. mm 1360! Some 1me Caribbean (.bmitgé." OT. 1 0 l 33 34 0 LOY. l 0 l 30 60 0 ND. 1 0 l 32 55 0 LBP. l 0 l 41 49 0 Weekly Results â€" SM. 60 LOX 30; TAB, 49 LBP. 41; NEL. 55 ND. 32; Q.E. 34 0.7“. 33: RR. 55 ECD. 29; MMR. 48 ASM. 39; MIL 63 GEO. 31. JUNIOR GIRLS BASKETBALL P W L PF PA TP JUNIOR FOOTBALL P W L T PF PATP STA. 2 2 0 0 27 1 4 LOY. 2 2 0 0 30 22 4 O.T. 2 1 0 1 56 34 3 QB. 2 l 0 l 47 33 3 W0. 2 l l 0 30 43 2 GEO. 2 0 2 O 9 17 0 MIL. 2 0 2 0 20 43 0 TAB. 2 0 2 0 14 40 0 Weekly Rcsultsâ€" QUE 20 MIL. 6; OT 29 W0 7; LOY. 20 TAB. l4; STA. 7 GEO. l. SENIOR GIRLS BASKETBALL VOLPE DIVISION SENIOR FOOTBALL VOLPE DIVISION Q15. 3 3 0 0 76 24 6 MIL. 3 2 l 0 53 48 4 WC. 3 2 1 0 65 21 4 OT. 3 2 l 0 37 50 4 STA. 3 2 1 0 51 34 4 LOY. 3 l 2 0 18 51 2 GEO. 3 0 3 0 22 52 0 TAB. 3 0 3 0 23 6S 0 Weekly Results- Q. E. 26 MIL 15, 0.T16TAB. 7; W0. 22LOY.I, STA. 23 GEO. 0. Weekly Results â€" 0.71 53 QB. 26; LOY. 48 STA. 30: TAB. 36 LBP. 35: GP W L T PF PA '1‘? W0. 34APP. 24;N.D. 35 NEL 31. SENIOR BOYS VOLLEYBALL VOLPE DIVISION P W L TP TAB. 3 3 0 6 QB. 3 2 l 4 OT. 3 2 1 4 NEL. 2 2 0 4 W0. 2 1 l 2 N. D. 2 l l 2 STA 3 I 7 ’2 OUR ONE DAY Q.T. 2000 4654 2333 514 332 PF PATP oAKVILu: nu; my - oumm: PLACE (905) 842-4192 W0. 6 1 5 0 1 l3 2 TAB. 6 l 5 0 1 l9 2 OT. 6 0 5 l 2 12 0 Weekly Results â€" STA. I 0.71 1; QB 3 TAB. 0; APP. I LOY. 0; LE. 2 W0. 0; QB. 5 0.71 1: LOY. 0 LE. 0; APP. 2 0.7? 0; QB. 4 STA. 0. Q.E. 3 0 3 0 Weekly Results â€" W0. 2 [3R 0; 0.73 2 L02 0; STA. 2 ND. 1; MB. 2 Q.E. 1; W0. 2 TAB. 0; NHL. 2 LOX 0; STA. 2 QB. 0; 0.71 2 LBP. 0, LOX 2 STA. 0; 0.73 2 QB 0; LBP. 2 TAB. 0; NEL. 2 MD. 0. Weekly Results - W0. 2 LBP. I; 0.7? 2 LOY. 0: ND. 2 SM 0; TAB. 2 Q.E. I; NEL 2 L02 1; TAB. 2 W.0. 0; Q.E. 2 STA. I; 0.72 2 LBP 0; STA. 2 LOY. 0; QE. 2 0.12 I; TAB. 2 LBP 0; MEL 2 ND. 1. STA. Q.E. STA. STA. JUNIOR BOYS VOLLEYBALL SENIOR FIELD HOCKEY P W L T GF GA '1? ’P. 6 6 0 0 14 0 12 E. 6 6 0 0 20 l 12 )Y. 6 3 2 1 10 2 7