With the common core emphasis on English language art and mathematics skills, physical educators are faced with a challenging task. Educators, in general, are expected to identifying the language demands of their discipline and develop academic language skills within each disciplinary area. In other words, educators are expected to prepare students to utilize the discipline-specific vocabulary and language function to effectively communicate within the content area. This article aims to address some of the challenging issues physical educators face in the process of implementing academic language in conjunction with promoting literacy among English language learners, or ELLs. Specific teaching strategies that can help "level the playing field" for the ELLs while promoting academic language in physical education classes are presented. Moreover, ideas that can help reduce the disparities between ELLs and native English speakers and promote more opportunities for achievement for all students are discussed.