At 8 years old, Abby Scott knows exactly who she is. In fact, she has known since the age of 2. Although Abby was designated female at birth, she told her parents, James Scott and Sara Markustic, that she was really a boy on the inside. Abby, who was featured on Tuesday night’s episode of Friday Night Tykes: Steel Country, is gender-fluid, meaning she identifies as both a male and female. When she’s on the football field or wrestling mat, she prefers to go by Adam.

According to Markustic, her child’s gender-fluid split is 75 percent Adam and 25 percent Abby. Her father was excited when Abby took a liking to football early on in life. Today, she is a lineman for the Monaca Little Indians in Beaver County, Pa., who not only plays with the older boys, but is also considered by head coach Ricky Suman to be “our best bet.”

“If it helps one family to accept their child for who they are, then I feel I’m doing my job,” Markustic told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I just accept her. She’s a great kid. People try to form their kids into what they want. You can’t do that. You have to let children be themselves. We stress that and let her be herself and accept her no matter what.”

Researchers from the University of Washington recently conducted a study examining mental health among transgender children. The findings showed that kids who receive support from their family have only normal levels of anxiety and depression. Abby’s family couldn’t be happier about the outpouring of support and acceptance she has received from her friends, school, and even strangers. Markustic just hopes that some of the more judgmental parents have an open mind if their child ever identifies as gender-fluid.

“I want her story to be out there so that people understand there is this other community [of gender-fluid children] and maybe a parent hearing my story will say, ‘My God, that’s my kid,’” she added.