Over the past several years, I’ve told many stories about standout Southland athlete Nadia Bibbs.

Most were about her brilliant career as a girls basketball player at Hillcrest. But we also kept tabs on her as:

A college player at Northwestern.

A member of the Mexico national women’s basketball team.

An Illinois High School Association and college basketball referee.

Here’s a new tidbit that you couldn’t possibly know unless you grew up with her. I didn’t know about it until she told me the other day.

Bibbs was a Pop Warner football player from fourth through sixth grade with the Hickory Hills Rebels.

“I was always the only girl on the team,” Bibbs said. “I played quarterback and I played left outside linebacker. And I loved it.

“Prior to fourth grade, I begged my father to play and he would never let me. I would play with the boys in front of our house, and one day he saw me tackle this kid. So he finally let me play.”

Now, here’s the latest news. Bibbs is back playing football — and on a national stage.

Bibbs was chosen to be a member of the USA women’s team that will be competing in the International Federation of American Football Flag Football championships.

The event is to be held in 2021 from Oct. 6-10 in Palma, Spain.

“I am super grateful and excited for the opportunity to represent Team USA at the IFAF World Championships,” Bibbs said. “Making the team has been a goal of mine for the past few years and I’m super excited to have finally achieved it.

“We have a team composed of great athletes, great coaches and, most of all, great people. I’m really looking forward to stepping on the field with them in Spain.”

Bibbs has been playing coed flag football since 2008. The league plays at Ellis Park in Chicago from spring until fall. Her teams have won myriad championships over the course of the past 12 seasons.

She’s primarily a receiver, but Bibbs also plays some safety/cornerback. Among her current teammates is former Bears wide receiver Rashied Davis.

“Nadia is almost unguardable by both men and women,” Davis said. “I’ve seen her destroy men just as much as she’s done to the women.

“She’s has phenomenal hands. She’s a technician. I can sort of guess how much time and effort she put into basketball in high school and college.”

If I were picking an all-time Southland high school girls basketball team, Bibbs would certainly be on the roster.

During her career at Hillcrest from 1999 to 2003, she established a program record for assists. During her senior season, she averaged 18 points, seven assists and six steals. Academically, she ranked second in a class of 251.

Bibbs played in college for one year at Boston University and three at Northwestern. For seven years, she was a member of the Mexico national team, which won a silver medal at the Pan American Games in 2011.

“Basketball was everything for me,” Bibbs said. “It taught me hard work, dedication, playing with different players and learning communication skills. Playing point guard helped develop my leadership skills.

“Basketball set me up for the rest of my life. I would definitely get kids into sports at a young age, because it really helps develop some skills you might not get if you don’t play sports.”

She is certainly using hers to the fullest.

For the past several years, Bibbs has worked downtown as a software engineer for a trading firm. She competes there, too.

“I love my job and I love what I do,” Bibbs said. “The industry that I work in is very high energy, high intensity. You’re trading money really fast, and if something goes wrong, you have to react very quickly.

“It’s fun. There is a thrill to it.”

A winner there as well. It’s so Nadia.