A New Possibility

Lauren Johnson

Sarah Fuller is the first woman to play in the “Power 5” college football game.

On Saturday, November 28, 2020, it was an amazing day for 21 year old Sarah Fuller. Sarah Fuller is the first woman to play in a “Power 5” game in college football. As football teams are mostly represented by men, for a woman to play in a college football team will hopefully open individuals’ views on female representation for the female community. 

Sarah Fuller is a senior at Vanderbilt University. She is a senior goalie for the Vanderbilt’s women’s soccer team and was recruited by the Vanderbilt’s football team to play this week due to the team having to bench their specialists.

On Friday, November 27, 2020, Sarah Fueller tweeted out, “Tomorrow I will be wearing “Play Like a Girl” on the back of my helmet. @iplaylikeagirl is a nonprofit that encourages girls to play sports and get exposure to STEM opportunities.” Fuller tweeted.

Being apart of the female sports community, they do not always get an opportunity to be bold and do something different, Sarah Fuller sent this as a message to show that it can happen.

The female community is not as expanded as the male community for some sports. Football is mostly male-based and it is not common for females to play football.

There are sports out there that are around the male community, such as football, that do not have female representation.

During the game, there was going to be a halftime part where Sarah Fuller would be able to do a historic kick that the sports industry would remember. For this historic kick, she would most likely be nervous or anxious, considering being the first female to play in a “Power 5” game in college football.

“The SEC championship was more stressful if I’m going to be honest.” Fuller said.

She stated that she was calm during this time, as she also thought the football game was not as stressful as her SEC championship.

For the female community receiving great news of a female player playing in the “Power 5” college football game, this will affect all current female sports players. As Sarah Fuller did something that was uncommon for most female sports players.

“It’s just so exciting,” Fuller said. “The fact that I can represent the little girls out there who want to do this or thought about playing football or any sport really. And [I hope] it encourages them to be able to step out and do something big like this.”

Most female players stick with the sport that they feel most common on, or will not step it up for other sports.

As the sports community hears of Sarah Fuller’s amazing act of being the first female to play in a “Power 5” college football game. This will hopefully show the female community that they can do anything they put their mind to even if it is hard to reach or an uncommon sport for females.