We have found a trailblazer for women’s sport in the middle-class community northwest Queens. The Daily News reports on the petite Irene Gjoka, a student at Long Island City High School in New York, who has abandoned pigtails and lip gloss for the more grueling regimen of high school football. Though she never played organized sports in her native Canada, Gjoka’s conditioning program has impressed the coaching staff so much that she’s become part of the team as a special teams backup. And, in the tradition of Kathy Ireland’s walk-on soccerist-turned-kicker in Necessary Roughness, her male teammates are very protective, while the other boys wanna knock her out.

Gjoka’s teammates said they’re looking forward to protecting her from opposing players who vow to “put that little girl on her a—.”

“Whoever says that, I’m probably gonna put him on his a—,” said Samuel Deutsch, a cornerback. “Gotta look out for our little sister.”

Gjoka might be the toughest little chick in New York City right now. Though her coach expresses concern that she may be brutalized during a game (which limits her to special teams, naturally), the 17-year-old isn’t worried in the least, and actually seems to revel in her threshold for on-field violence.

“I don’t care about bruises or anything like that,” Gjoka said as she revealed a red and purple wound that extends from her forearm to her shoulder. “Pain’s not an issue.”

We imagine it must be quite intimidating for the boys at Long Island City high to approach Gjoka for a date. How are you gonna use the same old pick-up lines when she’s paraphrasing Clubber Lang?

Queens high schooler tackles her football dream [NY Daily News]
Image [NY Daily News]