This year has been groundbreaking for women in sports. Not that we’re at the perfect place right now when it comes to women in sports because we’ve still got a long way to go. But women have been breaking barriers all over the place when it comes to a male-dominated sports field.
The latest achievement comes in college football, where women don’t really have a place. While there have been women that have played high school football or even college football on the smaller scale, there haven’t been any women that have broken through to the Power Five conferences — the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC.
Vanderbilt student-athlete Sarah Fuller will become the first woman to participate in a Power 5 football game as she suits up as the team’s place kicker at Missouri on Saturday.
Fuller serves as a goalkeeper on Vandy’s SEC championship soccer team. She tried out for the football team and was added to the roster this week.
“I think it’s amazing and incredible,” Fuller told Vanderbilt’s website. “But I’m also trying to separate that because I know this is a job I need to do and I want to help the team out and I want to do the best that I can. Placing that historical aspect aside just helps me focus in on what I need to do. I don’t want to let them down in any way.
“It’s an honor they called on me to be able to do this and help them out.”
The opportunity comes with Vanderbilt having one kicker opt out before the season while several special teamers went into quarantine this week due to COVID-19.
Fuller will be donning a sticker that reads “”Play Like a Girl” on her helmet on Saturday.
There have only been two other women that have played football at the FBS level, which includes Katie Hnida of New Mexico and April Goss of Kent State.
