Stick it to the Man
Opportunities for women to get involved in football have skyrocketed, not because of diversity quotas, but because they deserve them.
Trailblazers have set the precedent for equality and representation. For women, men’s sports has been a challenge to break through. Especially, in a sport like football, where there is no women’s professional league to compete with the NFL.
Becoming a trailblazer is as daunting as it seems. You will be judged from day one, to a higher standard than those who are seen as the “stereotypical” worker - or in this case, men.
Shannon Eastin was one of those trailblazers, and a significant one as well. In 2012, there was a massive lockout between the NFL and its officials. During this time, the league had to find replacement officials for the first few weeks of the 2012 season.
Among those was Shannon, the first female to officiate an NFL game and first woman to have an immediate impact on the game, as there were no female coaches until 2015.
Shannon knew right away the extra stakes she had to endure, and said: “[I had to do] a lot more than the average man. I knew that's what I was signing up for because back in the day when I was trying to break in, there were no women.
“There were very few women working at a level below the NFL. So I was prepared, I realized that I had to be better than a man.”
Despite her hiring, the NFL was still not prepared for women to take on the responsibility of officiating. Shannon had to adapt to the uniforms, which were not made for women yet.
She said: “One that's super silly is that the uniforms weren't made for a woman. I had to get certain approval to do certain things to my uniform, but one thing that was kind of interesting was the hat I wore. It made me almost look not like a woman. Now, the NFL has hats for women.”
With the hiring of Shannon, the precedent was set and in the 2024 season, the NFL had three women in their officiating crews.
Off the field, women have made themselves household names. Beth Mowins in 2017 was the first woman to announce a nationally televised NFL game. Lisa Salters and Laura Rutledge have become staples in ESPN’s coverage of the NFL.
Sky sports have their own staple names, Hannah Wilkes and Phoebe Schecter work for the company on their NFL coverage in the UK.
Hannah has faced her own criticism and skepticism covering a men’s sport as a woman.
She said: “ It's as a woman in any sport, not just the NFL, and in any role in sport, whether that's officiating, coaching, nutrition, media, you are held to a higher standard, rightly or wrongly, and for the most part, wrongly.
“ As a British woman covering an American sport, there's also that added skepticism, because, as I always say, unless you've got very liberal parents, up until relatively recently in the UK, you'd have to be staying up very late to be seeing these games. So it's not a sport that I grew up watching, it's a sport I discovered and fell in love with as an adult.”
In her role at Sky, she has been to the Super Bowl and produced a podcast titled “Her Huddle” that highlights female voices within the sport. Their positions range from owners to coaches, from backroom to media staff.
Hannah said: “Her Huddle is showing the world their journey because as we evolve and we see more women in sport, we do see more women broadcasting all sports.”
Her podcast has even been seen as an inspiration for all audiences, no matter if they enjoy sport or not, saying: “I had a lot of male fans of the sport get in touch and say they love the sport and they've been trying to get their daughters interested.
“So they start listening to Her Huddle together, in the car, on the way to school, because they were like, even if they don't care about sport, these are still inspirational women and they're good stories to hear.”
Not only have women taken to “off-the-field” roles, but they have taken the opportunity to pursue their own leagues and teams. The growth starts at grass-root levels and women have taken dominance in the expansion of flag football.
Eric Mayes, Managing Director of High Performance and National Teams at USA Football, said: “Growth starts at the foundation.
"We've been very fortunate to see and support the substantial increase in opportunities for girls and young women within local leagues nationwide and the scholastic space.
“Those opportunities will only continue to increase as the sport’s popularity grows and more pathways appear for women to compete at the collegiate level and beyond.”
Eric said: “Flag football continues to grow at an exponential rate year over year here in the United States. Globally, other countries are experiencing growth at a similar rate. Flag football provides an opportunity for athletes to pick up and learn the sport of football with low cost and limited barriers.”
Last year the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) held their Flag Football World Championships in Lahti, Finland. 23 women’s national teams from five continents showcased its global growth.
The 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles will premier a men’s and women’s flag football event.
Eric said: “The Olympics have served as a catalyst for other sports to experience significant growth. The Olympics provide an avenue for young women to look up at the athletes competing at the highest level and say ‘that can be me.’”
In addition to Olympic exposure, Eric said it best. “This is a sport athletes can play in their backyard with friends from around the neighborhood or on a university campus against high level competition, and that gives it tremendous potential.”
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