caption: GIRL POWER: Malia Leveson applies a straight arm as she looks to gain more yardage this fall for the Princeton Pop Warner football Mitey Mites. Leveson, the only female player in Princeton Pop Warner tackle football program, played quarterback for the Mitey Mites and rushed for more than 1,000 yards to help her team go 5-2.

QB Leveson Gives the Boys a Lesson as Lone Girl in Pop Warner Football

Bill Alden

A couple of years ago, Malia Leveson turned some heads as she played catch while watching her older brother play for the Princeton Pop Warner football program.

Several parents suggested seven-year-old Malia handled the ball so well that she ought to think about playing football herself.

In 2008, Leveson joined the Mitey Mites program and played as a center, utilizing her ball-snapping prowess to help the team execute its single-wing offense.

This fall, Leveson has been getting to use the rest of her ball skills, moving to quarterback and running her team’s offense.

In addition to drawing attention as the only girl in the Princeton Pop Warner tackle football program, Leveson’s production this fall was eye-popping. Running the ball on nearly every play as a single-wing quarterback, Leveson rushed for more than 1,000 yards and scored seven touchdowns to help her team go 5-2.

Leveson’s love of the physical nature of football has helped her overcome any butterflies she has felt going against the boys.

“I was a little nervous last year,” said Leveson, now 9 and a fourth-grader at Princeton Day School.

“When I played this year, it was better. I am a little nervous each game until I get tackled and then I calm down.”

The pony-tailed Leveson has earned the respect of her male teammates and foes alike. “The boys on my team are nice,” said Leveson. “The other boys are also fine.”

Leveson’s father, Stephen, who also coaches another team in the Pop Warner program, believes his daughter has fit in well with the boys.

“The boys on her team respected her as a player,” said Mr. Leveson. “They are young enough so that there is not that much difference. They don’t have girlfriends like some of the 11-year-olds that I coach.”

Still, Leveson had some concerns when his daughter moved to quarterback this fall.

“I was really nervous before the first game this season,” added Mr. Leveson.

“When she was a snapper last year she was getting hit but nobody was taking a running start at her.”

In Leveson’s view, playing football has helped make his daughter a tougher athlete overall.

“I am looking at it as a crossover benefit,” said Mr. Leveson, noting that Malia plays ice hockey for the Princeton Tiger Lilies 10-U girls’ ice hockey travel team and also does lacrosse in the spring.

“Football is a dead end for her but she says after getting tackled by three boys, she is not scared going into the corner against a girl in a hockey game.”

Malia has grown as a person as a result of playing quarterback this fall.

“It has improved her leadership skills,” said Mr. Leveson. “She knows the offense. She knows when it is time to call a reverse or another kid’s number. She can slap a kid on a shoulder to encourage him.”

While Malia knows that she can’t play football much longer, she believes her gridiron experience will have long-term benefits.

“I like tackling; I like hitting,” asserted Leveson. “I am more aggressive in hockey. I would like to keep playing football for a little while.”

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