How do we normalize something that is worthy of history books?

I recently shared the story of Brooklyn Harker, a Junior at Chapel Hill High who plays starting Free Safety on the Varsity Football team. As I’ve watched her resume grow each Friday night since, I’m awestruck by her confidence and ability to stay focused on football.

But the truth is, time isn’t given to women as they act as pioneers in sports.

I could tell when I talked with Brooklyn that she wanted her participation on the football team to seem as normal as possible. It’s exciting, sure, but she seemed to know the secret about opportunities that all women know, which is, “if I talk about it too much, it might just disappear.”

Opportunities for women in sports are few are far between, so when we see the Brooklyn Harkers or the Becky Hammons of the world, we have to walk the line between celebration and normalization.

There were a lot of social media conversations in response to Brooklyn, and the naysayers ultimately wanted to know one thing – is she really that good? First of all – yes, she is, and that’s why she’s on the field for the first down of each game. But second of all, what if we she wasn’t? Boys are given opportunities to grow and learn within the game – even to make mistakes in the process. Why couldn’t Brooklyn just be a 16-year-old kid who wanted to play one of her favorite sports?

In February of this year, Sarah Thomas became the first woman to referee for the Super Bowl. This fall, Maia Chaka became the first Black woman to officiate an NFL game. Five years ago, there were no women coaching for any of the 32 NFL teams. Today there are 12.

These women are the ground breakers for generations of girls who love the game of football, but we’ve got to get rid of this “no-hitter” type thinking that if we draw too much attention to it, we’ll ruin it for the next person.

Ultimately, we believe we can become what we can see, so we can’t afford to whisper when history is being made.

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