Joellei Benot is one of the boys on the North Vermilion Middle School football team, despite being a girl

Joellei Benoit was 8 years old when she knew being a cheerleader was not something she wanted to do. What caught her eye was what was happening on the football field - a lot of tackling and hitting.
Tackle football was different and it looked exciting from her point of view as an 8-year-old.
She could have played flag football but she decided to skip the easy stuff and go right into tackle football.
“I remember being a cheerleader and walking by and seeing them playing football. I told myself I could never do that, because I would be the only girl on the team,” said Benoit.
However, the seed was planted in her head about playing tackle football.
She expressed interest and brought it up to her mother, Amy Benoit, who gave her words of encouragement.
“She told me I could do anything if I put my mind to it. I am glad she told me that. She also reminded me I was a girl and the guys I would be playing against had been playing longer than me.”
A year later she enrolled in the tackle league in the Vermilion Football League. Like any football player, Benoit has been injured. She suffered a concussion as a sixth grader and bruises on her ribs and arms.
Today she starts for the North Vermilion Middle School seventh grade team. Benoit is not just a body in a football uniform. She is contributing to the 7th grade team on defense and offense. Last week she caught a 40-yard reception for a touchdown.
“I am playing football because I like doing something different,” said Benoit, who carries a 4.0 grade point average. She emphasized she is not playing as a way to meet boys or seek attention.
With a girl at practice, coaches have had to watch what they say when fussing at players. She gets dressed in the same locker room as the volleyball players.
She puts on her shoulder, pads and they put on their shirts and shorts.
When she gets on the practice field or football field, it is hard to tell she is a girl. Her long blond hair is pulled up. Some of her teammates refer to her as “Joe” or “Joey.”
Last week the middle school played Loreauville Middle School and before the game, Benoit had her uniform on with her helmet off. She walked past a group of Loreauville girls and one asked her, “You play?” She answered yes and they responded, “We really respect you.” Benoit responded by telling them the same words her mother told her when she was only 8.
Being a girl on a boys team does have its challenges, she said. Benoit is a football player first and the hardest part about playing with guys is trying to keep up physically with them, she said.
“We have good athletes on the team and I want to live up to that, not that I am just a girl, but I want to be a good athlete like them,” she said. “These are my brothers and I do not want to let them down. We are a team. Whenever one person messes up, we run.”
She will continue to play football until she has had enough. That could be next year or that could be in high school. She admits she is not 100 percent sure when she will take off her cleats and helmet for good. Until then, Benoit will keep trying to be as good or better than her teammates in order to help the team.
“It has been great. I love it.”