Anya Henry remembers sitting on the sidelines of New Cumberland Saints football games as a 10 year-old cheerleader. She remembers watching the team and cheering—and longing to be out on the field herself.



When her father, Brad Henry, asked the standout Kung Fu fighter before the following season if she wanted to cheerlead again, she answered simply.



No.



She wanted to be out on the football field.



It didn't surprise her father.



"She's always been into rough sports," Brad Henry said. "That's how she explained it to me. She said it is the one time that she can hit someone and no one will call the cops. She loves being physical and just hitting people."



It is one of the reasons Henry has excelled at Kung Fu during her 10 years in the sport.



And it's paid off for the 13-year-old on the football field as well. Henry became the first offensive linemen—a right guard—and the first female to win the CFA Offensive Player of the Year Award in the American Conference Midget Division in 2011.



And for good reason.



When opponents saw the honor student play, their jaws dropping. Sideline officials jokingly questioned whether she was really a girl or not. And opposing players learned quickly of her skills.



When voting for the season awards took place, Saints coach Keith Newkam nominated Henry.



He saw the 5-2, 130-pound athlete's quickness. He saw her ability to knock her competition on their backs on a consistent basis—sometimes breaking past double and triple teams on defense en route to a sack.



But he didn't know if enough other coaches noticed her play.



So in a room of eight coaches during the award selection process, Newkam prepared to argue his case for Henry.



It proved to be an easy sell.



"When I started to talk about her a lot of other coaches started to chime in," Newkam said. That's what is the amazing part. Everyone noticed her. That's what stands out. And she stuck in the coach's heads. They saw how she knocks guys on their butts, how quick she is and how she doesn't quit until the whistle blows. That's what makes her special. She is a fireball."



It was an honor Henry didn't expect.



"I was so excited," Anya Henry said with a breath full of energy. "I didn't think that I would have won it, but I was really excited. There were a lot of guys that were really good."



And a girl that was, too.

ADAM KULIKOWSKI/The Patriot-News