The lyrics from Irving Berlin’s “Anything You Can Do” may someeday hold true for Selena Hescock, a 9‑yearold Seymour girl who plays Pop Warner football.
Selena plays for the Seymour Tigers’ Mitey-Mites, a team for ages 7 – 9.
About 1 percent of the 225,000 Pop Warner football players in the U.S. are female, according to a spokesman for the organization. One notable female quarterback is Samantha Gordon from the Salt Lake City area in Utah.
Selena’s brother, Roman Hescock, 7, is also on the Mitey-Mites and plays right guard. He likes the fact his sister is a teammate.
“I was just excited she was going to play,” Roman said. The two attend St. Mary-St. Michael School in Derby, as does their older sister, Bella.
Coach John Lowman of Ansonia said Selena is the second girl he has coached in football. Two years ago he coached a girl on his flag football team but her family has since moved away, he said.
“It’s no different than anything else a long as I treat (Selena) like a football player,” Lowman said. “I love having her on the team. The boys have no problem with her; I won’t let them.”
Lowman said Selena plays wing back, outside linebacker, and defensive end.
“At this level they do as much as they can in all different positions,” he said. “We give them a little bit of everything.”
Lowman said as a player Selena is no different than the boys.
Selena is “on par” with an average boy at the level they are playing, he said.
Lowman said he has seen two girls playing football recently – one on the Junior Mitey-Mites in Naugatuck and another who plays on the Junior Pee Wee level in Danbury – but he said it’s a rare occurrence.
And how have her teammates reacted?
“They think I’m tough,” Selena said softly. And her girlfriends “think it’s cool,” she said.
Audrey Hescock is Selena’s mom. She said the team shows respect to Selena.
“The boys have been very good to her and have treated her as one of the guys,” she said.
Selena said the Tigers practice three days a week at the Seymour High School football field.
“(Selena) loves football more than any other activity,” Audrey Hescock said. “She’s amazing at it.”
Selena also has played softball. “I told her if you don’t want to do this any more, that’s OK,” Audrey Hescock said.
But Selena will have nothing of that.
She said she loves being on the football team. She dreams of attending Yale University and playing football there, and after that playing for the Denver Broncos.
