1 ON 1 with Eastern Wayne's Brennan Dove

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on September 18, 2015 1:48 PM

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Eastern Wayne junior Brennan Dove is the third of three sisters to come through the Warriors' athletic program during the past few years. Both of her older sisters -- Cameron and McKenna -- currently attend Division I universities.  With nearly two years left in high school, Brennan has decided to follow in one sister's footsteps as a place-kicker for the Warriors.

The News-Argus conducted a short Q&A session with Dove between her singles and doubles match against C.B. Aycock earlier this week.

Why did you decide to play football?

Well my sister did it. I thought if my sister did it, I could do it, too. She was proud of me, I guess. She said 'oh, you have to copy me.' I said 'no.' I just like doing it and she said 'OK.'

Did she give you any advice?

I kind of knew what she did, so I try to do the same thing as her.

What did Coach (Phil) Gray and Coach (Craig) Hassell say when you told them that you wanted to play football?

Coach Hassell said as long as you're playing tennis, I don't have a problem with it. Coach Gray said 'yeah you can play tennis.' They were both very supportive. If I have to go to tennis practice, Coach Gray is understanding.

You're on a team with nothing but boys. How do you get treated by them?

They're really nice to me. If someone hits me in a game, they'll go after them ... protect me I guess. It's really nice. They kind of look at me. It's fun, especially scoring the extra points. They're used to it now, so they don't think much of it. They always compare me to Cameron. They call me "Little Cam" sometimes, but they're always like Cameron can do this. I just say I'm not Cameron. (holder is Zeke)

What is a typical practice day?

Most of the time, I go to football after school from 3:10 to 3:40ish, then I go to tennis until 5 and then I leave for soccer in Greenville (PGSA Stars) and that goes until 7:30. Then I go home. It's really hard, but I have to make sure that I always try to find time for my homework. That always comes first.

What is Brennan like outside of school?

Well, I like to hang out with my friends ... just go out and have fun. We like to go turtle hunting, but we never catch any. I live by a lake (Lake Wackena at Walnut Creek). We ride our bikes down to the lake, we bring a net, wait for the turtles to come and we try to catch them.

What do you think about when you're about to kick a PAT?

I try to forget about what I'm actually trying to do. I'll kick it and think it's going to go in, even though it might go in all the time. Just try to think positive. The hardest thing for me when I put the ball on the tee, you're supposed to step in the same spot, but I don't do that and just go. Now I know how important that is to do.

How would you describe the season so far?

I think we have a lot of potential, we're really good. We just have to piece together all the plays, score more touchdowns. I don't really watch football, so I don't know much about it.