PONYTAIL ON A PANTHER: BOLLINGER CROSSES GENDER LINE AT M.H.

Brandi Bollinger jostled for rebounding position with a teammate and Woodland player during Tuesday's JV game.

PATTON -- Brandi Bollinger, a senior at Meadow Heights High School, didn't want to make a statement.

She's not a rebel.

She didn't expect newspapers and radio stations to contact her.

She's not seeking the spotlight.

And she didn't want to be sitting in the bleachers come game time.

She's an athlete.

Since Meadow Heights, a Class 1A school, has no girls basketball program, Bollinger did the only thing she could if she wanted to play her favorite sport -- become a member of the boys' team.

Bollinger, who spent most of her autumn playing volleyball for the Lady Panthers, said she has always wanted to play organized hoops.

"You get into the game more (than in volleyball)," said Bollinger, who was named to the all-conference volleyball team this past fall. "You have to be a better athlete.

"The coaches have been asking me to play so I showed up at the first practice. I would've started (playing organized basketball) in the fourth grade, but I didn't get to. It's the first sport I learned."

Bollinger said she would've played on the boys team as early as her freshman year, but "before, my dad wouldn't let me. This year, I didn't ask him. I just did it. Mom said if I wanted to do it, I'd better just do it."

The 5-foot-4 two-guard plays regularly on a successful junior varsity team which is 9-3 this season. She has also seen limited varsity time for the 0-16 Panthers.

At 6-foot-2, Seth Revelle towers over his female teammate. But at the same time, the post player looks up to Bollinger.

"She's got a lot of courage just to be here," Revelle said. "I know I couldn't (play) on an all-girls team. She's stuck it out through every practice and every line drill. She's really tough."

Another teammate, J.D. Brune, shared similar thoughts.

"I don't think anyone else would have the guts to play on an all-boys team," Brune said. "I was surprised that she's decent. She's better than the average girl."

Bollinger said she drew motivation to play basketball from her older brothers, although they didn't always give her positive reinforcement.

"They always made fun of me," Bollinger said. "So I practiced a lot."

That self-imposed practice is yielding dividends now as Bollinger holds her own out on the hardwood.

"She'll outplay half the guys on JV," Brune said.

"She fits right in, just like one of the boys," Meadow Heights coach Jeff Gravon said. "She's very well-conditioned and strong for a girl. She hits the weights just like the guys. If she would've started out at the junior high level, she would probably be college material.

"She wants to be a coach some day and that's one of the reasons we gave her this opportunity. She wants to learn a lot and asks a lot of questions. She's tremendously coachable."

As far as breaking the mold, there had been talk circulating the halls of Meadow Heights prior to the season that Bollinger wanted to play.

But no one seemed to think that she really would.

"I was surprised," Revelle said. "I always knew she wanted to play. I'm happy for her that she was able to fulfill a dream."

"She talked about it (playing)," Brune said. "Then on practice day, my jaw hit the ground. But everybody accepted it right off the bat and it wasn't any big deal."

Bollinger has scored just four points in junior varsity action this year. She said she strives to make a difference on defense.

"I don't shoot," she said. "In practice, I'm good at it. But in games, I just get scared I guess."

"She's unsure," Gravon said. "She's scared to miss. She's probably afraid to hurt the team. She's very team-oriented and a lot of (her timidness) comes from a lack of confidence and a lack of playing time."

So far, Bollinger hasn't experienced any grief for being the only female on the court.

Her teammates and opponents have all been kind to her, though Bollinger claims some defenders take it a little bit easier on her than they would against a point guard without a pony tail.

"The guys have accepted her," Gravon said. "A couple of coaches said things like `that's great.' It's been a positive thing for her."

In fact, the only people making a fuss over Bollinger have been members of the local media.

"I didn't expect any of that," she said. "I didn't think it was anything big."

NOTE: The Missouri State High School Athletic Association makes special provisions for girls such as Bollinger to participate on an all-boys team. Girls may not participate on a boys team if the school sponsors a girls team in that sport. Also, boys may not participate on a girls interscholastic athletic team if the school's overall boys athletic program equals or exceeds the girls' overall athletic program.