COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. — Payton Gibbs is a 12-year-old girl on the autism spectrum who fell in love with football at a young age and wants to be a coach just like her dad PJ who is the Associate Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator at Golden Gate High School. However, Payton now spends her Fridays in the stands after Collier County Public Schools (CCPS) banned her from the sidelines.

At the beginning of the season, Friday nights were Payton’s favorite time of the week.

That’s when she got to spend a couple of hours on the sidelines of the Golden Gate football games with her dad. She would follow him around, tracking plays and stats while learning the game she loves.

However, Payton now spends her Fridays in the stands after Collier County Public Schools (CCPS) banned her from the sidelines.

“It kind of came out of nowhere,” Payton’s grandmother Joanne Roessner said.

Payton’s father, PJ, declined to comment on the story.

However, her grandmother, or GiGi as Payton calls her, wanted to speak out.

“This is beyond baffling,” Roessner said. “We feel she’s been singled out.”

The ban is hard for Payton to understand too. She doesn’t get why she’s been relegated to the bleachers.

“She burst out crying, and she said, ‘I don’t understand, GiGi, why these people don’t like me,’” Roessness recounted Payton saying after the first game she had to spend in the bleachers.

When we reached out to CCPS for an explanation of their decision, this was their statement:

“For a variety of reasons, including safety, sideline access is for players, coaches, credentialed media members, and those working the game in an official capacity. After being informed of Payton’s desire to learn about the coaching profession, school administrators offered Mr. Gibbs the opportunity for his daughter to sit either in the press box or the field-level family area.  

Even though Payton is not enrolled in Collier County Public Schools (CCPS), we applaud opportunities for children – like what she experienced at NC State – and wish Payton well on her future endeavors.  

It is important to understand CCPS allows, promotes, and rewards student managers of teams at both the middle and high school levels.  Student managers attend the schools of the teams they support and handle a range of important tasks such as counting pitches, organizing equipment, and keeping statistics. Many student managers even receive varsity letters from the coaches to celebrate their contributions.”

Payton’s grandmother, Joanne, pushed back on the safety claim.

She said Payton is very aware of the sidelines and that the family understands and accepts the risks of having Payton down there.

“There are ball boys, there are volunteer children on the sideline,” Roessner said. “Why is she any different from them? If anything, she has more sense because she’s been on the sideline her whole life.”

CCPS said they offered for Payton to be in the field-level family area or in the press box, but Roessner says there were even restrictions on that.

“She was not allowed to interact with any of the coaches in the box,” Roessner said to what the county told her family. “So, basically, she would be allowed to sit there.”

Payton’s story has even extended outside of Florida. NC State Football’s Head Coach Dave Doeren has gotten involved. Doeren has an autistic son, so he felt connected with the Gibbs when he heard about Payton’s story. Doeren emailed CCPS on behalf of Payton and said he didn’t hear back.

“You don’t have to dig in your heels as an administrator all the time,” Doeren said. “Sometimes doing the right thing out of the goodness of your heart is enough.”

After hearing about what Payton is going through, Doeren invited the entire Gibbs family up to Raleigh for an NC State football game.

Payton spent time with the team behind the scenes, ran out of the tunnel with them, was out at midfield for the coin toss, and spent the entire game on the sidelines cheering on the Wolfpack. Doeren said his players loved having her there and were very impressed with her knowledge and passion for football.

“Somebody needs to fight for Payton,” Doeren said. “Somebody needs to help her do what she wants to do. People need to get out of the way. Young people deserve to have dreams.”

So while Payton spent a Saturday on a college football sideline, she is still waiting for the Friday that she can return to the high school turf with her dad in Southwest Florida.

“Our goal is to get her back on that sideline,” Roessner said. “So, we’re hoping. We haven’t tossed the towel in or given up or anything. We’re going to keep going.”

Roessner says her family plans to continue fighting for Payton and wants more of an explanation from CCPS.

Golden Gate football begins the playoffs on Friday, Nov. 10, against Mariner. That will be a home game.