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Andrew Burget never figured he'd play an interscholastic sport on the same athletic field with his older sister, Emily.

Indeed, the odds were stacked against it. Boys don't often play in the same interscholastic sporting events with girls, let alone, with their sisters.

Moreover, Andrew is a freshman at Bellwood-Antis High School, and Emily is a senior.

But, thanks to a co-op agreement between Bellwood and Tyrone high schools, they're teammates on the Tyrone boys soccer team this fall.

"I used to play football until last year, and I'm still playing basketball,'' said Andrew, who took up soccer for the first time this past spring. "I never thought I'd play soccer with my sister, because we're three years apart [in age]. We kid about it, but we get along really well, though.''

Emily is a midfielder on the team, while Andrew is a forward and a sweeper.

"She gave me a big hug on the sideline after I scored my first varsity goal this year,'' Andrew said of a goal he scored in September against Philipsburg-Osceola. "She passes the ball really well, she makes good decisions on the field, and she's well-liked by all her teammates.''

Emily is so well-liked, in fact, that her teammates named her as one of the team's tri-captains this year, along with her fellow Bellwood boys classmates Mike Garber and Cooper Campbell.

As unique as the Burget family story line is, there are actually two brother-sister combinations on the Tyrone boys team this fall. The Burget siblings are joined on the squad by brother and sister Gabe and Jasmine Figueroa, who are also students at Bellwood-Antis.

And in yet another interesting twist, Emily Burget is also Gabe Figueroa's girlfriend.

Gabe, a junior midfielder who is a first-year player on the Tyrone team this season, transferred to Bellwood-Antis this year with his sister, Jasmine, from Altoona's Great Commission School.

Gabe casts a protective eye on both Emily and Jasmine while they're on the soccer field with him.

"I'm watching out for both of them,'' Gabe said. "It's nice to have my sister on the team, and Emily happens to be my girlfriend. Emily is a good captain, a good soccer player, and overall, a great girl. [Having both Emily and Jasmine as soccer teammates] adds a special life to the games.''

This is Emily Burget's second year on the Tyrone boys team. Bellwood-Antis, which does not field a soccer program, engaged in its co-op arrangement with Tyrone for the first time last year.

Due to PIAA classification regulations, girls from Bellwood-Antis were granted an exemption to play soccer on the Tyrone boys team, but not on the Tyrone girls team.

"I've played on girls club soccer teams, and [the boys game] is definitely more aggressive,'' Emily said. "There is a lot more running involved, and the competition is definitely better. But I always wanted to play soccer for my school team, and [playing for Tyrone] gives me that opportunity. I love playing on the boys team, and I love playing with my brother. It's really cool.''

Emily Burget and Jasmine Figueroa are joined on the Tyrone boys team this year by another Bellwood-Antis girl, defender Alisha Simmers.

According to the PIAA classification regulations, had the Tyrone girls soccer team taken on the three Bellwood girls as players, Tyrone would have been required to move up from the Class AA to Class AAA level in girls soccer. As things stand now, both the Tyrone boys and girls soccer programs can continue to compete in Class AA, which is fine with Tyrone boys coach Chris Elder.

"It's a unique situation, but all four of them [the Burgets and the Figueroas] played on the same AYSO [Altoona Youth Soccer Organization] club team together last spring, so they're used to playing together, and they're all very good, coachable kids,'' Elder said. "And it hasn't been a problem on the team at all. Every player on the team views every other player on the team as a teammate.''

Next year, the co-op soccer arrangement between Tyrone and Bellwood-Antis will change, and girls who attend Bellwood-Antis will have the opportunity to play soccer on the Tyrone girls squad for the first time.

But Jasmine Figueroa, a sophomore forward, likes things just the way they are now.

"I enjoy it more than I would playing with [an all-girls team],'' she said. "Our team is really awesome, and everybody is fun to be around. I just enjoy everybody's company here.''