As more and more women enter typically male dominated fields the issue of men and women not playing sports alongside each other because evident. Typically there are male only teams and female only teams and even entire leagues for women only such as the WNBA. Today women’s only teams have a huge following. Millions watched the United States women’s soccer team compete in the World Cup and the Women’s Canadian olympic hockey team has won four consecutive gold medals. But recently one teenage girl blurred the lines and broke a major barrier when it comes to women in the world of sports.
Becca Longo is a typical teenager from California starting college this fall. But there is one thing about her that will set her apart from other girls attending school . She is the only girl on the football team. This 18 year-old made headlines earlier this year when she accepted her offer to in Colorado, she became the first female to ever receive a football scholarship to a Division I or II school. There have only been around 12 other female football players that made it on college teams in the past. Liz Heaston played on Willamette University’s team in 1997 where she became the first female to score points in a college football game and Katie Hnida remains the only woman to score in a Division I-A game in New Mexico in 2003.
But Becca does not view herself as any different from her teammates and neither does her coach. Becca’s future coach, Timm Rosenbach, said, “If you can play football and you have determination, I don’t care what your gender is.”Becca’s accomplishment marks the sign of a bright future for women in sports. With more and more women entering the world of sports It is not that hard to imagine a female NFL player in the near future.
[post_page_title]Determined from the start[/post_page_title]
Even as a baby, Becca proved herself to be extremely determined. Her parents recall many incidents when Becca climbed down from her crib and stole her mother’s glasses from her nightstand. She would carry them downstairs and return to her room without being caught. Eventually her parents caught on and came up with solution of gently tying her leg to her crib. However their plan did not work as Becca figured out a way to break out of her crib only two days later.
