Stilettos are gamers in coed youth football league

Wide receiver Olivia Fiss found an open spot in the back of the end zone and signaled her quarterback to throw.

Sam Ashby lofted a great pass to the perfect location – right in Fiss' arms. Touchdown.

The Stilettos – an all-girls flag football team competing in a league against all-boys teams – played with heart and moments of tremendous promise during a recent game. It wasn't enough during that matchup, as they lost 32-6. But the Stilettos made progress.

"I thought the whole game was a great learning experience for the team," Stilettos Coach Bruce Ashby said. "That's what they're out here for – to learn and get better every game."

The Stilettos play at Foster Park, 4700 S. Clark Ave., in a flag football league against other children ages 12 and 13.

"We're not scared to play against the boys," said Fiss, a seventh-grader at Wilson Middle School. "All of us are tough. … A bunch of [the boys] are really small. We're bigger than a lot of them."

Many of the Stilettos are athletes in other sports as well. But the team's 10 girls all are new to organized football.

Several knew each other before joining the Stilettos and thought it would be fun to play in a flag football league. When a few other girls joined the league, it was decided those girls should become Stilettos as well.

"They're just out to have fun," Bruce Ashby said. "They all want to be competitive. Some have aspirations to play in high school. I think they plan on playing flag football together for a few seasons."

Through five games the Stilettos hadn't won, but they played competitively against some teams, he said.

"We're getting a lot better," Coach Ron Salzman said. "It's been fun. The girls have had no prior experience to football and we're scoring touchdowns. We're giving up a little bit more than we score, but we're respectable in the league and the girls are having a blast."

Through five games the girls had learned plays, how to run tight routes, and how to play team defense.

"The first couple weeks we were kind of confused," said Olivia Salzman, 13. "Now we actually get the game and we're actually playing as a team."

And they're giving it their best shot against the boys.

"These girls are great athletes," Bruce Ashby said. "The big difference is experience in playing, the number of years playing. Especially at this age, they can hang with the guys. Next season when they come back out, they'll be even more competitive."