Ten girls huddle together on the sidelines of the football field. Their faces are painted with red and black markings that give the group a confident, fierce quality. Their battle cry fills the air.
“Welcome to the gun show! Tick, tick, boom!”
They range from seniors to freshmen, and together, form the intramural football team known as the Young Guns.
This year they won the Championship game—for the seventh year in a row.
So what is their secret to success?
“I would tell you, but then I’d have to kill you,” team captain and sophomore quarterback Tirzah Ashmore answered jokingly.
Abigail Ashmore ’10, older sister of Tirzah Ashmore by 6 years, decided to start her own intramural team in 2007.
They won the championship that year. It was the birth of the Young Guns.
Since then, the team has passed down through the sisters of the family: from Abagail, to Esther Ashmore ’12, and finally to Tirzah, the youngest of her family of 10 siblings.
Even alum and brother Sam Ashmore became involved with Young Guns by coaching the team his four years at Hillsdale.
“It’s like a family tradition,” Sam said. “There has basically been an Ashmore girl on the team every year.”
But for the Ashmore family, the tradition of football started before college.
As children, the Ashmore’s did not have a television, so they spent their time outside playing games with each other.
“There are so many of us that we could play against each other,” Sam said. “And when we played, we actually played real tackle football.”
That Ashmore competitive streak permeates the entire Young Guns team and coaching staff.
“I was thoroughly impressed with their effort on the field,” Assistant Coach Landon Peterson said. “They had a warrior spirit that I did not expect.”
Although the team did take home the championship trophy, senior running back Katie Malm believed that it was the memories created with her teammates that made the season special.
“I think that the [championship] win was inconsequential compared to the season as a whole,” Malm said.
The Young Guns’ goal isn’t simply to be remembered as champions. Instead they focus on demonstrating a positive attitude on the field
“We play to win,” Tirzah said. “But we also want to honor God on the field as well.”
Malm shared this idea.
“I think the whole point of the season was to get close with everybody and to grow in our faith,” Malm said.
In order to live out their goal of honoring God on the field, the team made sure to conduct themselves in a positive, sportsman-like manner. But living out their faith on the field was not an easy task.
“A lot of the teams were really competitive, so remaining positive can sometimes be a struggle,” Malm said.
They tried to show this spirit by doing small acts such as handing flags back to the other team, making sure their flags are worn on the outside of their shirts and, when involved in a collision, making sure the other person is alright. Malm said these small acts can really help keep their competitiveness in check.
“We’re not perfect,” Malm said. “We can get competitive, too. But those little gestures can make all the difference.”
With Tirzah graduating in two years, the Young Guns will lose the Ashmore touch. But to the teammates, winning isn’t what defines the legacy of the Young Guns.
“My only hope for the team in the future is that they continue to carry out that good, God-honoring attitude on the field, which I know it will,” Malm said. “I don’t think anyone’s worried.”