SAN DIEGO, CA (KGTV) — While girls flag football is a CIF sport for the first time this school year, some girls are still interested in playing tackle football. Ava Muylle is a first-year player for the junior varsity football team at Westview High School.
"I was nervous because it was a sport that I had never played before," Muylle says
Considering this is her first year of playing tackle football, you wouldn't fault Ava for being a little nervous with the contact.
She says that wasn't a problem.
"If I'm being honest, that is the one thing I wasn't worried too much about," she says. "I think my parents were worried, but I wasn't worried too much."
Muylle has an athletic background, as she has played rugby and 10 years of soccer. Despite her soccer experience, from day one of practice she let the coaches know she wasn't out there to be the kicker.
"Well you know how it goes — the girl is the kicker. People kind of put those two together. So I was like 'Maybe I will just withhold that,'" Muylle says.
She had no interest in being the kicker, but from her experience playing powderpuff football, she did have interest in playing defensive line.
"So I told my coaches I wanted to play on the defensive line, and they were like 'Alright.' They also wanted me to try the offensive line as well. I ended up playing really well on both," she says.
Her play on the line has impressed all the coaches, and they like the fact she is very a very quick learner.
"Once we started going through drills and putting the pads on and actually doing some hitting, she immediately became an integral part of our offensive and defensive lines," says JV football coach Greg Foster.
Muylle says she's just another player on the team playing a very physical position. She's also had to deal with more than just the blocking and tackling; she says her opponents like to talk smack.
No worries, as Muylle dishes it right back.
"I'm not going to lie — I have slipped a little here and there with my smack talk, but really it's not bad as most teams are pretty respectful," she says.
While more and more girls are taking interest in playing football, Ava's advice is to give it a shot.
"I think that any girl that wants to try it should try it. Sure, it's not going to be for everybody, but anybody that feels they want to come out and give it a try should do it."
