March is Women’s History Month so it only seems right that this month’s highlight of girls and women in sports should recognize three women who made sports history in the just the last  few weeks.

On February 4, 2021 Sarah Thomas became the first woman to referee a Super Bowl game. She became an NFL official in 2015, worked her first playoff game in 2019 and reached her goal of being first in her position and earning the Super Bowl gig in 2021. The first position she held in her profession was that of “line judge” but when she transitioned to “head linesman” the NFL renamed the position “down judge” to be gender-neutral.

Two weeks earlier on January 25, Natalie Sago and Jenna Shroeder made history as two women working the same NBA game for the first time. Sago grew up in a gym watching her dad referee. She worked three seasons in the G League and WNBA. She became a full-time member of the NBA officiating staff in 2018.

Shroeder worked in the NBA G League for three seasons and the WNBA for two. She also officiated for seven years in four collegiate conferences and played basketball when she was in college.

All three of these women pursued their careers because they love the game. They love their job, and they want to be known for doing it well.

Isn’t that what we should all aspire to?

As I started my career in the 1980s, I was reminded often that I wasn’t entirely welcome. My first week on the job after graduating from college a coworker told me: “They say they want women in management but not very many get their own stores,” and in my next job “You’re the first woman we’ve hired for our management team.” I learned quickly that many of the men I worked with reluctantly acknowledged my presence but would never respect me the way they respected their male coworkers.

But I was there. Just like Violet Palmer was there.

Palmer was the first woman to referee an NBA game on April 25, 2006, between the Indiana Pacers and New Jersey Nets.

Many young women followed me into the business world and a growing number are joining the ranks of professional and collegiate officials. Women are playing a bigger role in most professions. And where they aren’t, those leaders might learn a lesson from the NFL and NBA, two of the most recognized male-dominated businesses.

"It's amazing," Sago said. "I'm just proud to be part of an organization that promotes people to do the job based on our abilities, not on our gender, race, ethnicity, those types of things."

That’s what all organizations should aspire to.

Read more

Five Things to Know About Sarah Thomas, the First Woman to Referee a Super Bowl, Sports Illustrated

Hear Sarah Thomas talk about her goal to work a Super Bowl game after she had worked her first playoff game

Two women make NBA history, ref Magic game together, Orlando Sentinel

Natalie Sago, Jenna Schroeder Become First Two-Woman Referee Crew in NBA History, Sports Illustrated