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Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham has been in the WNBA for seven seasons. She might not have a lot of individual accolades to her name, but if the W ever had an award to recognize the most athletic player in the league, Cunningham would be at the leaderboard.
Sophie Cunningham played just about every sport growing up
It's normal for kids to delve into different sports growing up to find one they're most comfortable with. Cunningham was one of them, and then some. Before committing to basketball, Cunningham was heavily invested in three other sports.
By the age of six, she earned a black belt in taekwondo. For most of high school, she was a two-sport athlete, splitting time between basketball and volleyball.
We used ‘most of' in the previous sentence since for a brief time during her senior year, Cunningham also served as the kicker of Rock Bridge's high school football team, even making history as the first female of her school to score for the varsity football team.
Why was Cunningham named the team's emergency kicker despite never playing soccer in high school?
Cunningham's cannon for a leg was first discovered when she participated in a halftime challenge and made a 45-yard field goal with ease, according to a story published by the Columbia Missourian in 2014.
Once the team's main kicker, senior Matt Troyer, suffered a season-ending ACL injury a few weeks later, coach A.J. Ofodile had only one person in mind capable of making PATs. Cunningham agreed and got the biggest ovation from the team when she checked in the game.
Cunningham was to serve as the team's kicker for as long as the team stayed alive in the Missouri State High School Activities Association Class 6 playoffs. However, the team was eliminated in her debut.
She'd finish her football debut making two out of four PATs.
“We talked to the coaches, and they said her job is just to kick and get out of the way,” Sophie Cunningham's mom said. “I'm still not sure it's the best idea we've ever had. But she liked doing it and she has friends on the team that she's known forever.”
Cunningham admitted that after the game, kicking was one of the more nerve-racking experiences she's ever had to face.
“I was so nervous I've never played football before in all my life,” Cunningham said. “Right when I got the ball for kickoff I couldn't hear anything. I just put the ball down and kicked it.”
Toughness is in Sophie Cunningham’s DNA. If anyone tries to mess with her or anyone on the Indiana Fever, you can guarantee the outcome won't be close to what they expected.
