Michael Quinn

2020 did not fall short in the category of trendsetting women and their goals to achieve more and break that glass ceiling. Though the general view of the year may be pessimistic, there were some amazing outcomes as well. 

In many aspects of life, including the first female Vice President, Kamala Harris, we have seen a substantial number of women break barriers this year, which includes sports. 

Katie Sowers became the first woman to coach in the Super Bowl. As an assistant coach for the San Francisco 49ers, Sowers “helps organize practices and spends late nights drawing plays on cards for the scout team and early mornings prepping drills.” Microsoft aired a commercial featuring Sowers during the Super Bowl. She left viewers with a quote saying that “All it takes is one, all it takes is one and then it opens the door for so many.” A trailblazer for many women who are searching for coaching jobs, Sowers made an explosive start in early February of 2020. 

Katie Sowers would not be the last to have a first for women in sports this year. Even when COVID-19 forced nearly all sports to cancel or postpone their seasons. Enter quarantine, sports resuming in the year 2020 did not seem likely. But, as the restrictions were lifted and sports began to start back up, we were introduced to an even more groundbreaking year for women. 

Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss became the first female owner to lead her team to an NBA title. The NBA resumed their season and were able to complete it in early October, ending with a championship for the Lakers. Buss took over the team in 2017, following a legal battle with her brothers. “Buss’s legal team countered her brother’s claim and she officially cemented her leadership as the owner of the Laker organization for the rest of her life.” Three years later under her ownership, the Lakers collected their 17th championship in franchise history. 

Also in the NBA, Doris Burke became the first woman to call a Conference Finals and NBA Finals game. Burke has been a pioneer for women analysts in the NBA, as “she became the first woman to serve as a full-time network NBA game analyst in 2017. She has also been part of the crew doing the finals since 2009 as a sideline reporter.” 

Burke has been praised for her work and strides for women in sports broadcasting. ESPN’s executive vice president of event and studio production, Stephanie Druley, stating “Doris is a trailblazer who continues to reimagine what is possible for women in broadcasting.” 

Buss and Burke both became firsts in their own respective ways during late 2020, but the year does not stop there for women. Come November, two more women would become the firsts in baseball and the Power 5 conference in college football. 

Kim Ng, a longtime MLB executive for the league itself and numerous teams, was hired as general manager for the Miami Marlins. This hire made her the first female general manager in league history, a major step forward for not only women searching for executive roles, but women who are seeking jobs in sports in general, regardless of position. Ng, 52, was vocal about what this hiring meant to her and women as a whole, stating that “she felt an immense responsibility to continue setting an example for other minorities and women, particularly younger ones thinking about a future in sports.” 

Ng was not the final woman in sports to break barriers in the month of November, as Sarah Fuller became the first woman to play in a Power 5 college football game. Fuller came out to kick-off the second half of the Vanderbilt and Missouri game and is set to kick again for the team in their game against Georgia. Fuller ended the game with a quote, expressing that “I just want to tell all the girls out there that you can do anything you set your mind to, you really can.”