Stephanie Militello had always wondered what it would be like to play football competitively.

In seventh grade, she found out.

“The guys thought it was cool and my family also loved the idea of me playing football,” said Militello.

She would eventually move on and play for St. Francis De Sales High School in her first two years and is a member of Eastern’s rugby team. Militello also played girl’s basketball and softball.

Militello started at wide receiver for the Pioneers and was a backup free safety and outside linebacker. She said she was treated just like one of the guys.

“(Playing football) got me a lot of respect,” she said. “I was treated the same.”

In her sophomore year, Militello was the only player to catch a touchdown pass.

“She was tough, hard-nosed,” said Tom O’Connor, St. Francis’ football coach. “(She was) every bit as tough as the boys.”

O’Connor said she was the only female player that had played for him in his St. Francis coaching career.

Teammate Sean O’ Connor played alongside Militello sophomore year when they went 8-1. O’Connor is now a senior long-snapper for St. Francis.

“It wasn’t really different (her playing football),” said Sean O’ Connor, who also played on the offensive and defensive lines.

Sean said that opponents would hit her hard but she hung tough and never quit.

In high school, Militello was always known as the “girl who played football.”

She was popular because of it, she said.

But on the field, it was sometimes a different story.

Militello often heard negative comments because she was a girl playing a boys’ sport.

“There definitely was a lot of trash-talking going on,” she said. “When I would tackle someone, I would always give the other guy a shot to help me out, and they would hit me back and get penalized for it.”

Something that helped her overcome the hardships, she said, was that her coach would shout profanities in practice to light a fire under her.

Militello transferred to Flora High School after her sophomore year, but did not play football.

When she began her junior year, she decided against playing football because she did not want to go to a new team and she thought the Flora High School coaches would probably not play her because she was a girl.

She said the biggest difference between football and rugby is the continuous action.

One of the most difficult things Militello had to go through was getting dressed before an away game, said Tom O’ Connor.

“They didn’t give us a separate locker room so that Stephanie could get suited up,” O’Connor said. “We tried not to make a spectacle of it.”