2020: The Year the Glass Shattered
Last Year’s Top Moments from Women in Sports
Last year was 365 days filled with heartbreak, challenge and pain. And even those sentiments don’t cover the worst of it.
We’re nearly a week into 2021, and it may be too soon for some to look back on the previous year with any fondness. However, much of the news that broke headlines in 2020 came from the females who broke barriers in the sports world.
Last year, the women of the athletic world silenced their critics, raising the bar on the heights they can reach. Voices that were once silenced and accomplishments that were once overshadowed by their male counterparts are now heard, seen and respected.
A year that brought so much loss and suffering also brought immense progress and hope. And that is surely something to acknowledge.
So to celebrate, I’ve created a silver linings playbook, if you will, of the top three moments from women in sports in 2020.
Black Female Athletes Sparked Social Change
Black women in sports demanded to be heard. Triggered by the murder of George Floyd, citizens everywhere flocked to protests, spoke out at rallies and turned to social media to support the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement—often with female athletes at the helm.
The most significant athletic protests happened inside the Women’s National Basketball Association’s (WNBA) bubble. Among the most notable activists were Players’ Union president Nneka Ogwumike and Washington Mystics point guard Natasha Cloud. Both athletes modeled what it takes to put everything on the line for change, and inspired others to do the same.
Without Ogwumike, the racial injustice protests we witnessed in sports last year might not have happened. She quite literally put the team on her back. Ogwumike started the #SayHerName campaign, which raises awareness about violence against Black women. She motivated other players to wear images of police brutality victims on the back of their jerseys. Her strides in activism sparked countless reform efforts across sports leagues.
Cloud opted out of the 2020 season entirely to focus on racial justice reform. This decision came at the pinnacle of her career—she won the WNBA championship the year prior, increased her salary and signed a new endorsement deal with Converse. Even with all this at stake, she recognized that her identity as a Black woman came first. Cloud went on to organize BLM marches across the country and advocate for voting rights.
These women were not the only ones who initiated social change. Star tennis player Naomi Osaka took on social justice battles of her own last year. Osaka wore seven different masks during the U.S. Open, each one naming a new victim of racial profiling. This statement was especially powerful because of tennis’ dedicated history of activism. Osaka, using her platform as the highest paid female athlete ever, carried the tradition forward in relevant fashion.
Gestures like these paved the way for other major sports. The world has a long road ahead in the fight against systemic racism, but these women have helped further the racial reawakening of our country.
Sarah Fuller Made HERstory
Two weeks after she helped win Vanderbilt University a women’s soccer championship, Sarah Fuller kicked off for the Commodores football team. She became the first female collegiate athlete to play and score in a Power Five Conference game. Now, after an unprecedented debut in college football, she’s become an icon for young athletes across the nation.
Admittedly, writing this section made me realize that her title in soccer was completely overshadowed by the two extra points she kicked for the winless football team. This only reinforces the fact that sports played among men still hold much higher regard than that of women.
Nevertheless, in the days that followed, Fuller’s name spread like wildfire on social media.. She went from around 1,000 Instagram followers to 140,000 since putting on the shoulder pads, and gained support from big name accounts such as ESPN and NBC Sports.
Fuller’s football career ended abruptly due to game cancellations, but her moment on the gridiron last year changed college football forever. She’ll now return to the pitch in hopes for another soccer title in 2021.
Kim Ng Finally Got Her Chance
Last, though certainly not least, comes the hiring of Kim Ng as the first general manager of a Major League Baseball team.
This moment, put simply, was game-changing for women everywhere. The United States had never seen a woman fill a role as large as this in Major League sports. In the final months of 2020, the Miami Marlins chose Ng to lead their ball club.
Being the “first” woman to do anything often sparks debate over whether women should be there at all. In Ng’s case, she’d been there––ready for her shot––for far too long. She spent 30 years in the league as an analyst, assistant director and assistant general manager, working for dynasties like the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Many thought she was overqualified for this position, and that may be true. But the heartbreaking reality is that many women who apply for male-dominated positions are in fact overqualified; they often still lose the job. It takes guts to fill this role as “the only one” to ever do it, but Ng is the perfect fit.
As a girl growing up with sports woven into nearly every corner of my life, 2020 marked a massive turning point. Until now, I’ve only ever seen men fill roles I dreamed of; writing columns for ESPN, reporting on the sidelines and winning championships that millions watched at home.
Boys believe from the get-go that they can do anything. They see their idols on TV screens and on the field and believe that they too can become one of the greats someday. Parents whisper in their ears, “If you can see it you can be it,” and it’s true. Representation matters, especially for future stars.
That’s why 2020 was so special. Now young girls could finally tumble out of bed on a Saturday morning, rush into the living room and see a woman on TV kicking extra points or standing up for what they believe on the court. They can finally say to their parents, “I want to be like her when I grow up,” with plenty of female icons to choose from.
Last year was filled with many firsts and necessary reform. My guess is that we’ll see more of it in 2021. We may want to forget 2020 altogether, lock it away for good. But when we hope for a better future, let’s remember the silver linings for women in sports.