All-star team picks girl over boys

For the first time, a female footballer has broken through to play in an all-star American Football game, and in a crucial role as well.

High school offensive guard and defensive tackle Eriana Pula has made upcoming California Classic all-star game on merit.

Pula is the first female to be selected for the annual game, to be played in Sacramento in January. Her job is to block on defence, and to try to disrupt opposition attackers by getting through the defensive wall when she is offensive guard.

Pula, who is also a star in the classroom with top grades, is built for the job at 1.78m and 113kg, started on both sides of the line for Compton, a suburb in south Los Angeles.

Most tellingly, she reportedly often fooled those who saw her or played against her.

‘‘Oh, man, you’re a beast,’’ one foe on the line reportedly told Pula in a postgame handshake line when he learned she was a she.

This commentary from Plays and Grades scout Kevin Steele, one of the selectors for the California Classic, may be even more straightforward and telling:

‘‘I did not know when I scouted her that she was a girl,’’ Steele said. ‘‘I didn’t see that. I did not know that. She’s a good player.’’

Now, for one more game Pula will be recognised among the best in her home state. She has decided to forego football when she reaches college, but will be excited to strap on her helmet one final time.

‘‘A lot of people doubted it but once they saw I could do it, it was like, put her in,’’ Pula told KABC.