March is Women’s History Month and in honor of that, here’s a look at some amazing women who are shattering glass ceilings everywhere and changing the world of sports as we know it.
Sarah Thomas
If you watched football this past season, then you saw the first woman ever to referee a Super Bowl, Sarah Thomas. Thomas has been a huge presence in football and has been the first to do a lot: woman to officiate a major college football game, full-time female ref in the NFL, female ref in a playoff game, and now first woman to referee a Super Bowl. She’s been paving the way for future female referees not just in football, but in all sports.
Kim Ng
Not only is Kim Ng the first woman to be an MLB General Manager, she’s the second person of Asian descent to hold the position. The MLB was formed in 1906, and of the now 30 teams, none have had a woman fill the GM role; Ng had interviewed for the GM position with five different teams (Dodgers, Mariners, Padres, Angels, and Giants) before the Miami Marlins gave her the job. To have a woman lead the front office is huge and Miami is lucky to have Ng, who has been involved with the game for over 30 years and has worked her way up, starting as an intern with the White Sox.
The U.S. Women’s Soccer Team
This soccer team has done it all— they won 4 World Cups, fought for equal pay, sued the United States Soccer Federation, and the 2015 team was the first women’s sports team to have a NYC ticker tape parade. These ladies are fearless and are changing soccer forever. Their 2019 lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation claimed “purposeful gender discrimiantion” which couldn’t have been more true. It’s no secret that the U.S. women’s soccer team is much better than the men’s—the women have 4 World Cup titles, while the men don’t have any, and women’s soccer has won 4 Olympic medals since their first games appearance in 1996 and the men don’t have any in the last century. “According to a statement from Fox Sports, citing data from Nielsen, approximately 14.3 million U.S. viewers tuned in to the final [women’s 2019] match on television, compared to 11.4 million for the 2018 Men’s World Cup Final, a 22% U.S. viewership boost”. Despite their higher viewership and more success, the women are paid significantly less than the men, but this team keeps pushing and fighting for equality no matter whose toes they need to step on.
Angel City FC
Abby Wambach, one of the best U.S. soccer players, is helping make this new professional soccer team a game changer. The women of the U.S. soccer team have been advocating for equality in the sport for a long time and after seeing how her retirement was going to differ from other male athletes who were paid much more, Wambach invested in Angel City FC. The team will begin playing in 2022, and pushes for higher pay, better working conditions, and benefits for the athletes. The majority of the ownership group are women and some of the investors include Wambach, Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Natalie Portman, Kara Nortman, Jessica Chastain, Jennifer Garner, America Ferrera, and Serena Williams. Billie Jean King, who threatened to boycott the 1973 U.S. Open if women weren’t paid more fairly, is also an investor.
The Williams Sisters
Rounding out the list are tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams. Two women from L.A. changed tennis forever as we watched them become the perfect doubles pair and obliterate records for decades; we also saw Serena win more Grand Slams than any person ever (23). The confidence of the Williams sisters is always seen on the court and their style is unmatched. Not only have their careers been longer than most professional tennis players, they’re an inspiration for all women; they’ve inspired diversity and shown girls everywhere that strength is in.
So many women are changing the athletic world forever and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for these game changers.