Faith Nguyen

Every morning at 6:30 a.m., Faith Nguyen practices with her teammates, lifting weights. The Cranbrook Crane freshman is technically the backup kicker for varsity football, but she’s been an integral part of the team. Head Coach Marcus Green sees exactly what he values in a teammate.

“What I'm most excited about is her work ethic and how much energy and effort she puts into getting better as a kicker,” Green said. “She seeks out workouts, camps, and is always trying to perfect her craft. That's something that's always encouraging to see as a coach. You always see the fruits of that type of labor. I was confident in how good she would be.”

Nguyen is of Taiwanese and Vietnamese descent and was born and raised in Dallas,

Texas before her family moved to Michigan in 2019. After a year in the Troy school system, she found a home at Cranbrook in her fourth-grade year. Football was on her schedule in the seventh grade, and she talked to the coach, who wanted her to play. Her parents didn’t.

“My parents said, ‘No way’ because it was tackle football,” Nguyen said. “But I asked, ‘What if I was the kicker?’ They said, ‘Okay.’”

She had to get her coach on board. She had never kicked before.

“He just knew I could,” she said.

With a background in basketball, soccer and lacrosse, she was more drawn to football. Without any equipment at her first practice, she jumped into the warm-up line. In her first season, the team was undefeated, and she kicked extra points. Her first game action came sooner than she expected. 

“The first play of the game, we returned it for a touchdown,” she said. “Coach was calling for an extra point and I said, ‘What? Now?’ It was so quick and sudden. Everyone was really encouraging. Lots of people were shouting my name. Then, when the snap was there, I just ran up and let it fly.”

And Nguyen had her first real extra point and football action in a game. The most pressure she’s faced was in an eighth-grade game. The team didn’t have a great season and were tied at 6-6 with Berkshire as Cranbrook had scored with three minutes left in the game. The coach called for the extra point that would win the game. 

“I knew my kick would make or break the game,” she said. “I was super nervous. But the snap was good, the hold was good and that allowed me to kick straight through the uprights.”

A field goal opportunity hasn’t presented itself just yet, but Nguyen keeps practicing and will be ready when the time comes.

“In practice, she's shown 25 yards. I think she can sneak in a 30-yarder,” Green said.

When Nguyen isn’t in class or on the football field, she enjoys being part of the debate club, newspaper club and Vex Robotics. At home, you’ll find her baking from scratch, tweaking family recipes, or making her own sushi roll. But in the summer and fall, she’s on the football field, sharpening her skills and supporting her teammates.

“We call it the ‘Cranbrook football lifestyle.’ It's more ingrained in your DNA as to who you are, and it speaks to your character in terms of your development off the field, in the weight room. She's at every morning lift. It's something that always inspires and encourages the team. She's one of the guys. She's a part of the very fabric that makes what Cranbrook football is.”

Faith Nguyen – Cranbrook football player but more importantly, a great teammate.

Story: Mark H. Stowers

Photo: Theodore Micahel