Back to School

School starts in my town this week. I know it's already started in many other towns across the country. Sports are gearing up--and if you haven't started back at practice, you soon will. I love fall; the crisp air, sipping on hot chocolate, sitting in the stands watching your favorite team. Or better yet, playing in the game!

This summer has seen two women elevated to positions never before held by women in professional sports. Sarah Thompson is the first female official in National Football League (NFL) history. Jen Welter is the first female coach in NFL history--she's an assistant Coach with the Arizona Cardinals.

They are both athletes in their own right. Sarah played basketball in college, and has been officiating football games for twenty years. Sarah says, "You want to be known as an official -- not as a female official -- because that's going to put you in a separate category," Thomas said. "We don't want to do anything that will enhance that. So when a coach looks at you, he just sees an official."

Jen Welter has a a master’s degree in sports psychology and a doctorate in psychology--in addition to having playing on a professional women's football team. One of her hallmark coaching strategies is leaving notes of encouragement for her team. She says about her experience, "We showed little girls that even in the final frontier of sports that anything is possible,'' she said. ''That is breathtaking to me. It's something that I never thought was possible.''

Get out there and play like a girl, just like these two groundbreaking women!

Sources:
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/12669370/meet-sarah-thomas-first-female-nfl-official-referee
http://espn.go.com/blog/arizona-cardinals/post/_/id/15729/how-jen-welter-got-hired-by-the-arizona-cardinalshttp://sports.yahoo.com/news/coach-jen-welter-calls-groundbreaking-nfl-fantastic-220005347--nfl.html