Hughes proves being a good sport has nothing to do with gender

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Poland Middle School 8th-grader Aleah Hughes, 13, will represent the Youngstown Youth Flag Football Association in the National Football League’s flag football tournament in Florida in February.

Staff report

POLAND

Aleah Hughes loves playing sports, and she’s pretty darn good at them.

The eighth-grader from Poland has played pretty much everything — softball, basketball, volleyball, track, soccer, gymnastics, dance and cheerleading.

Her coaches have noticed her standout capabilities, most notably in softball, where she and her team made it all the way to the Little League Softball World Series earlier this year in Oregon.

But her most recent success isn’t in any of those sports, but rather flag football, where come February, she’ll represent the Youngstown Youth Flag Football Association in the National Football League’s flag football tournament in Florida.

“Sometimes, when you look at girls, you can tell they’re natural athletes,” said her flag football coach, Elliott Giles. “She’s really good.”

For Hughes, a 13-year-old at Poland Middle School, this challenge has been different, as she admits flag football — which she started playing last year — isn’t her top priority, but it’s still her passion.

And for Hughes and her six teammates — who live throughout the Valley — it’s also been a unique experience. This season, which consisted of six regular-season games, the Youngstown-area team played against five other boys teams.

“Most people don’t think flag football is a sport for girls,” said Hughes, who quarterbacks her team. “But once you’re in the game and playing, it’s a lot of fun.”

And playing against boys wasn’t a problem for Hughes, whose team went 3-3 before winning the Cincinnati regional — one of eight nationwide — to earn a berth in the 12-to-14 girls division in the national tournament.

“It was nice to play against boys because it was harder to play them,” Hughes said. “Then when we went out and played girls, everything went a lot slower.”

The slower game speed will be beneficial for Hughes, who unlike in during the regular season when Giles called the offensive plays, will have to play the role of coach and direct her teammates against some of the nation’s top flag football players.

“I’m just real nervous about that in case I call the wrong play,” she said.

Giles, who has three sheets full of plays prepared for the tournament, admitted he’s nervous yet confident about the future playcalling.

Hughes, an all-A student, said she’ll study the playbook like homework between now and the tournament. At least when she’s not at softball, basketball or her personal favorite — volleyball.

The 5-foot-8 Hughes said volleyball, another sport she picked up last year, is the one she’d like to focus on next year when she starts high school.

“I know a lot of coaches push one sport, one sport, but me and my husband both are real keen on ... play as much as you can, and as long as you’re having fun and you like it,” said her mother, Krisie Hughes.

Hughes echoed her mother’s comments.

“I still want to play as many sports as I can,” she said.

Though she said she hasn’t really contemplated her athletic career aspirations, Giles said she may be able to pick and choose what road to go down when she gets to high school.

“If she keeps her head on right, which I think she will, she’s a scholarship [athlete] waiting to happen,” said Giles, a former wide receiver at Youngstown State and now a teacher.

Football is something Hughes plays recreationally at the moment, in part because of her love of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and she said she’s excited not only at the opportunity to play in the flag football tournament, but also her second national tournament this year.

“It’s overwhelming,” Hughes said. “It’s great to have the experience to do both of them.”