by The landmark legislation of Title IX paved the way for women’s participation and growth in collegiate and professional sports over the past 50 years. And as the calendar year rolls into March, National Women’s Month, we celebrate trailblazers who continue to break new ground for the next generation of girls.
Last year, Lori Locust became the Tennessee Titan’s first full-time coach. For the first time in FIFA history, an all-female team has scheduled a men’s World Cup match. Sandra Douglass Morgan became president of the Las Vegas Raiders, the first black woman to manage an NFL team. An 11-year-old snowboarder not only became the youngest to compete on a Winter Dew Tour, but also the youngest to ever place down.
The list goes on.
“Some people say you have to have an example to do it, I didn’t think so,” Connie Carberg, the NFL’s first Official Girl Scout, told USA TODAY Sports.
Title IX The goal was to get women into graduate schools. For more than 50 years she shaped her role in sports.
QUEENS OF THE COURT: Black tennis pioneers paved the way for modern day superstars
WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 1971: Venus and Serena Williams produce documentary
SAME SALARY: A $24 million settlement in the USWNT lawsuit is preliminarily approved by a federal judge
In honor of National Women’s Month, celebrated in March, we’ve compiled a list of women making a splash in the sporting world, from athletes to executives and employees.
Brittney Griner returns to the WNBA after her arrest
The seven-time All-Star re-signed with Phoenix Mercury last month. She will return to the WNBA for her 10th season, all of which played in Phoenix, after missing out on a 10-month sentence in Russia last year.
Griner will return to the court on May 19 when the Mercury begin their season against the Sparks in Los Angeles.
BRITTNEY GRINER re-signs with the Phoenix Suns and secures WNBA return in 2023
Patti Zhou, the youngest person to ever compete in the Winter Dew Tour, wins silver
The 11-year-old snowboarder finished second in Sunday’s Dew Tour snowboard superpipe event in Copper Mountain, Colo., becoming the youngest athlete to ever stand on a winter Dew Tour podium and the second-youngest ever on one Dew Tour event.
MORE: 11-year-old Patti Zhou makes history on the Dew Tour. Worth knowing about the snowboard sensation
Carolyn Kindle leads the historic MLS ownership group
St. Louis CITY SC made its professional debut in MLS earlier this month, led by Carolyn Kindle and her cohort, who form the league’s first female-led ownership group.
“Making money is great, but think of the impact you have on young girls who see that even if you’re not an athlete, you can work for a team,” Kindle said.
MORE: How Carolyn Kindle went from soccer newbie to the face of the historic MLS ownership group
An all-female crew conducts a military flyover over Super Bowl 57
Four female pilots orchestrated the diamond formation — a tribute to 50 years of flying women in the US Navy — before the traditional military flyover of Super Bowl 57 before last month’s game in Glendale, Arizona.
“Thinking of all the little kids looking up to this team of all female Airmen who did the flyover at the Super Bowl tonight,” First Lady Jill Biden wrote on Instagram.
Super Bowl 57features the first all-female military flyover
Lori Locust named the Tennessee Titans as the Tennessee Titans’ first full-time coach
Locust joined Mike Vrabel’s staff last month as an assistant defensive coach, the first full-time female coach in franchise history. She was previously an assistant defensive line on the staff of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 2020, Locust and Director of Rehabilitation and Performance Coach Maral Javadifar became the first women coaches in the NFL to win a championship as the Buccaneers conquered Super Bowl 55.
TENNESSEE TITANS Hire Lori Locust as a defensive assistant, the franchise’s first full-time coach
For the first time in FIFA history, an all-female team officiated a men’s World Cup match
The trio of Stephanie Frappart (France), Neuza Back (Brazil) and Karen Diaz (Mexico) refereed a game between Germany and Costa Rica during the 2022 World Cup in December, becoming the first all-female team in a men’s game of the tournament.
Six referees took part in the tournament in Qatar.
WORLD CUP 2022: Frappart becomes the first woman to lead a men’s World Cup
MORE: FIFA appoints the first all-female referee team for a men’s World Cup match
High School Girl Scores Two TDs in One Game: “Dunno, That Was Such a Big Deal”
Bella Rasmussen, a teenager running on the Laguna Beach (California) high school varsity football team, became the first girl to score two touchdowns in a game. She completed the feat in the Breakers’ 48-0 win over Santa Ana Godinez on Oct. 14.
Rasmussen was the first high school player to sign a NIL deal.
MORE: High school grad Bella Rasmussen becomes the first girl to score two touchdowns in a game
Sandra Douglass Morgan: “This appointment is historic”
Douglass Morgan was named the Raiders’ team president in July, becoming the first black woman to captain an NFL team. She is only the third woman and third black person to hold the position.
“It makes me very humbled to understand that my position here with the Raiders could hopefully inspire others,” she said. “It’s also one of the proudest moments of my life.”
LAS VEGAS RAIDERS: President Sandra Douglass Morgan is the first black woman to lead an NFL team
Connie Carberg was the first female NFL scout
Carberg made history in 1976 when she became the NFL’s first official Girl Scout and worked for the New York Jets. She made an impression for the Jets by scouting a lesser-known defenseman from East Central University named Mark Gastineau. The Jets selected Gastineau in the second round of the 1979 draft, and he became the franchise’s sack leader as a member of the “New York Sack Exchange”.
Questions and answers: The first female NFL scout saw the industry, women’s rights evolve after she joined Jets in the 1970s
Contributors: USA TODAY staff
