A Kick In The Right Direction- The Legacy of Sarah Fuller

On Saturday, Nov. 28, in Nashville, Tennessee, just after the start of the third quarter of the Vanderbilt Commodores football game against the Missouri Tigers game, Sarah Fuller became the first woman to ever take the field in a Power Five football game. The Power Five conferences are five of biggest the athletic conferences in United States college football that are considered to be the best five conferences in the country. Her kick made Vanderbilt the first team in history to have a female kicker play in a league game.

However, Fuller didn’t randomly wake up one day and become a college athlete. She has worked her entire life to become the best soccer goalie she could be. This year, her senior year, she spent most of her time on the field being a goalkeeper, always wearing her signature number 32. She had a 314 minute stretch where she saved all goal attempts made against her. Fuller helped her Division I Vanderbilt soccer team win the Southeastern Conference (SEC) by making three spectacular saves just six days before she went on the football field.

Despite her accomplishment, breaking football barriers isn’t as easy as one kick. Fuller still has to endure the difficulties of being a female player in a male college sport. For instance, one of the many rude tweets on Twitter was written by a man who said, “Someone better tackle the —- outta her. Make her realize it’s 2020, but she shouldn’t be on the mother ——– field.” Regardless of those hateful comments, Fuller said in an interview with ESPN, “I’ll take on the hate. I don’t care.” Later, she stated that it will all be worth it in the end.

Fuller is a pioneer. Beyond her roles as both a soccer and a football player, she is a front-runner for combating sexism in a male-dominated profession. She has used her platform to encourage girls and women to pursue their passions, even if those activities are primarily the province of boys or men. She also has spoken out about how female sports should get more coverage.

Fuller wore a helmet which had the saying “play like a girl” painted on the back with gold lettering. The saying is up for interpretation, but Fuller put the quote on her helmet because she liked the idea that playing like a girl is as good as playing like a boy. Nicola de Petra, a tenth grader from the School, loved the quote “because it helps dismantle the stereotype of girls not being good at sports.”

Fuller didn’t just take a step in the right direction when it came to female empowerment; she sent a kick in the right direction as well. The School’s tenth grader Adele Atherton is “beyond excited” to see her improve and develop as the season progresses. What else does Fuller have in store?