BOSTON -- Jennifer Olivieri has to repeatedly instruct her 7-to 10-year-olds so that they'll remember what she's trying to teach. They're learning a game she truly loves, one most people might be surprised to see her coaching at first -- football.

But after getting to know the Hull native, and her background as a player, no one would be surprised that she ended up on the sideline of her 9-year-old son's youth team.

"I just enjoyed running around with the boys playing touch football in the backyard growing up. When they went to sign up to play for the youth league I said, 'I want to play too,'" Olivieri said.

The first-year coach is working hard to teach her players the fundamentals -- most of the kids on the team have never played before -- and avoid the troubles that sometimes come with dealing with younger children.

"It's tough because the kids have a short attention span," said Olivieri. "You've got to move on to different drills quickly when they fade, but go back to them often so you reinforce the lesson."

She said that sometimes during practice it's tough to figure out what's sticking and what's going over the kids' heads. Hull lost its first game last weekend, but that's ok with the coach because it provided her with an opportunity to see exactly what the team needs to work on.

For all the nerves she felt when she first took over at the start of the season, Olivieri has found she enjoys the coaching side of football as much as playing.

"On game day I was so excited," she said.

The oldest of three sisters, Olivieri grew up in a Hull neighborhood that was full of boys. Olivieri was an active child who fit right in. She recalled that everyone in the neighborhood was close to the same age, making it easy to become friends.

Because she was accustomed to doing what the boys did, when her fifth-grade teacher handed out sign-up sheets for football and cheerleading Olivieri insisted that she get the football form.

"She went around giving all the boys the football form and the girls the cheerleader form. She gave me the cheerleader form and I said, 'No, I want to play football.' The teacher asked if I was sure and if my parents would be OK with me playing football," said Olivieri. "I asked them and they said, 'Sure.'"

Gary Twombly, now the Hull Youth Football president, was originally Olivieri's coach.

"She was a good player at that age level actually -- very fast, very coachable -- a natural athlete," Twombly said. "She was very determined, she wanted to play, and she played."

Olivieri said that opposing coaches weren't very understanding of a girl playing football, and that would sometimes cause problems.

"Other coaches would say, 'Get that girl,' she said.

Olivieri was able to play for a couple of years-- until she broke her leg. When that happened, she took a break from football for a while. Olivieri was heading into high school and the boys had caught up to her in size. She decided to try other sports, but there was still this desire for football that she couldn't shake.

After college, Olivieri found a local women's pro team. Now a nine-year veteran of the Boston Militia (formerly the Boston Rampage and other names), she's had the opportunity to get back onto the field to do what she loves most.

As an outside linebacker, she made the league's all-star game in Texas this year.

When a vacancy for Hull's youth head coaching job opened this year, Twombly knew exactly who to ask.

"When I brought her name up to the league board the women on the board were a little taken back by my suggestion. They were surprised by the thought of a woman football coach. But I told them she knows more about football than most guys," Twombly said.

Twombly had been asking her to coach for a while.

"Every time he saw me he'd say, 'When are you going to coach?'" said Olivieri.

Twombly admits to pushing her into it.

"I ran it by her the first time and she said, 'I'll think about it.' Every time I saw her after that I'd say, 'What do you think?' Finally, she said, 'I'm going to do it.' I said, 'Great!'"

Olivieri said that the players' parents have been really supportive of her.

"No one has even batted an eye," she said.

She attributes all the support to her longtime residency in town. Most people in town knew her well before she started coaching, she said.

Twombly said that, so far, everything has been going well.

"The kids really respect her, and I've heard from the parents that she's doing a wonderful job," Twombly said.

Olivieri gives a lot of credit to her six assistant coaches. She said they know as much about the game as she does, and they're really good with dealing with the kids.

With 40 kids from grades 2-4 playing "it's a big team." It takes a lot of help to keep them focused during practice and under control while they're on the sideline on game days, Olivieri said.

As far as Twombly knows, Olivieri is the only female coach in the Old Colony Youth Football League, the league in which Hull plays. He said he knows for sure that she's Hull's first female football coach.

The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association said that, while they only regulate high school sports, this is the first instance of a female football coach in the state they've ever known about.

Olivieri is solely concerned with what she can bring to the program.

"I felt I knew enough about the sport and I knew different drills that would teach the game," she said.

Olivieri has tried to spread her passion for football to her two sons and even her 14-year-old daughter.

Her daughter wouldn't bite, she said, but her sons have shown a strong interest. Her 9-year-old is Hull's quarterback. Olivieri said that there hasn't been much conflict with Mom being the coach. Plus, she added, she primarily coaches the defense during practice while her son works on offense.

"I've played since he was a baby, so it's natural for mom to be involved as a coach," Olivieri said.

Her 6-year-old wants to play, but is still a bit too young. Maybe next season, she said.

Olivieri's love of football goes even beyond playing and coaching. She's a fan of fantasy football, with teams in two leagues.

She plays one with her husband and all of her friends, and a second with her fellow coaches. Her favorite roster this year is in her league of friends.

She has star running back Adrian Peterson and quarterback Peyton Manning, among others. According to Olivieri, "I have the best team ever."

Olivieri is hoping Hull has a good season too.

While this is her first time coaching football, it's not her first time coaching. She has coached her daughter's basketball team as well. In a lot of ways the challenges and rewards have been the same, she said.

Her favorite part of coaching has always been, "When you see that the kids get it," she said.