What it's like being a girl on boys' lacrosse and football teams

On my sports teams I’m known as Cheeto. I play many sports, but my favorites are tackle football and boys lacrosse.

This might sound strange, but I don’t believe that pink is for girls and blue is for boys. I don’t believe all girls should do dance if they don't want to. I’m not saying that it is wrong to dance — if you like it, that’s fine with me. But we should all do what we love. There is no rule that girls and boys have to do everything that their gender has been told to do. Girl or boy, the only thing that is stopping you from being awesome is yourself.

I play goalie in lacrosse. I play on Team 91 boys AA, one of the top travel teams on Long Island. When I was in second grade, I tried out for Team 91 and didn’t make it. It was a horrible feeling. Over the next year I worked hard and practiced with my goalie trainer. When tryouts came around again, I made the team. I have been playing for them now for four years and I’ve made many great friends along the way.

I got my name Cheeto because once I was eating a bag of Cheetos, and I had orange powder all over my hands and face. I was getting out of my dad’s car to go to training, and my goalie trainer said, “Angelina is too long of a name. Cheeto it is.” Since then it has stuck. Everyone calls me Cheeto.

I’ve played in Canada because I made the Team USA of the U.S. Box Lacrosse Association. Once again, I’m the only girl, but I’m used to that. I also played at the Warrior All-American Games when I was in fourth grade. My team, Team Long Island, beat others from around the country to bring home the championship.

My other favorite sport is tackle football. I play guard and linebacker. I got into playing football when one of the dads on my travel lacrosse team said, “With her eye-hand coordination, she could play football,” and asked me if I wanted to play for Hills Pride. At first I was put on the B team because I was a new player. I wasn’t satisfied with that. I worked hard so I could be on the A team. After a few weeks, I was rewarded and moved up. We were the underdog team because we had just been moved up to the top division. Our team went undefeated. We made it to the county finals and won the first game, but then we lost in overtime in the semifinals. It was amazing, and I had so much fun.

What I’ve learned from all this is that no one is stopping you from being yourself, except you. It does not matter who you are. Work hard. Believe in yourself. Never give up. These are the three keys to success that anyone can do if they put their mind to it.

Jennifer Guerriero’s fifth-grade class, St. Patrick School, Smithtown