By Karenlyn Barone
The quarterback pulls off the perspiration-filled football helmet and out spills her trademark blonde ponytail. Michelle Corso is the quarterback for the East Rockaway Rocks Junior High football team, a position she not only loves, but deserves.
Michelle was three years old when her older brother, Sal, started playing football for the local Raiders team. She thought his uniform looked cool and by watching him play, she learned the game. Once he started tossing her the ball, she fell in love with the game.
"Sal was always tossing the ball back and forth to Michelle," said mother Rita. "But at that time I never thought about her really playing."
With little-girl conviction, Michelle asked her mother to sign her up for the Raiders team the summer of her ninth year.
"When I went to sign her up, she had on a baseball cap, and no one really looked at her face," recalled Rita. "When I said her name was Michelle, Lou Perri [the Raiders director and founder] went up to her and said, 'What are you, a girl?'"
Michelle merely took off her cap and smiled.
The coaches were skeptical at best and found it hard to believe that this beautiful little girl could play football, but all their fears were abated once practice started. Not only could she throw, she could run fast and hit hard. Fellow teammate, Shane Murphy, remembers the day he first saw Michelle at a Raider's practice.
"When I saw her, I thought, she can't play," said Shane. "But then she floored some kid and I was convinced."
His father, Jim, had similar doubts.
"I'm embarrassed to say that when I saw Michelle was on the team I didn't want my son playing with a girl," he said. "But when I realized that she hit harder than any other boy on that team and I never gave it another thought."
The Murphys are now among Michelle's biggest fans. At the end of her first year with the Raiders, Perri presented Michelle with a football that read: "Our 1st Lady Raider. Go baby!"
A good degree of Michelle's athleticism and flexibility come from her eight years of training and competing in karate, where she earned her black belt last year. The other winning component is her confidence.
"I knew I could play and I was faster than the boys," said Michelle. "It was good because I think the boys on the team were intimidated by me," she said matter-of-factly. "They didn't want me to be better than they were, so they tried harder."
The unspoken motivation worked. Michelle, playing running back and safety, was a vital part of her team's undefeated season. Her confidence and her skills grew to where she knew she could play at the junior high school level.
"I wanted to keep playing and the coaches at the high school were expecting me," laughed Michelle. "They had heard about me and knew I wanted to play for the school."
The coaches knew that she wanted to follow in her brother Sal's footsteps. He played varsity football for The Rocks and graduated 2000. What they didn't know was that Michelle had decided to play quarterback.
"I knew I would have to prove myself, but I knew I could be quarterback," she said. "I like the position because it puts me in charge and I admit I like things done my way and I love passing the ball.
In a telephone interview, Pat Pizzarelli, football coordinator for Section 8, which is the governing body for high school athletics in Nassau County, explained that a female athlete is permitted to play any sport where there is not a specific, organized girls team. Historically, such sports would include wrestling, lacrosse, baseball and football. Pizzarelli said he believes Michelle is the only female playing football in Nassau County this year.
"I don't know of any other females this year," said Pizzarelli. "But, more and more, girls are playing boys sports. The bottom line is, they're good athletes."
Dom Vulpis, athletic director for the East Rockaway School District, said Michelle's desire to play football for the school was never an issue.
"Michelle is physically very fit," said Vulpis. "When we test students annually on muscular strength, cardiovascular health, flexibility and endurance, Michelle scores in the 90 percent to 95 percent range. Her being a female is not an issue. There is no gender agenda here."
Luckily, it has not been an issue for opposing teams either.
"Other teams don't know she's a girl until she takes her helmet off," said Rita. "A coach came up to me after a game once and congratulated me. He said that my daughter had more heart and courage than anyone on his team."
Proud father admits that Michelle has the heart of a lion.
"She is more determined than anyone I know," said Lou. "If she says she can do something, she makes sure she can."
Current plans for Michelle include what she hopes will be a successful 2003 season. Future plans will probably include Michelle playing junior varsity football next year.
"I think I'm going to go for it," smiled Michelle. "Even if I have to choose between playing a different position and not playing at all, I want to play."
Michelle's mother is resolved to accept her daughter's decision.
"I would prefer she take up cooking," said Rita. "But my daughter has changed the way people think about girls in sports and that's important."
