How Many Female NFL Officials Are There?
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- There are currently eight female NFL officials.
- Sarah Thomas became the first full-time female NFL official in 2015.
- Thomas is also the first female official in any major professional sport in the United States.
- There are two female officials in the NFL’s officiating development program.
- There have been several female officials who have worked NFL preseason games.
- There are no female officials in the NFL’s regular season or postseason.
There are currently eight female NFL officials. This includes the first full-time female official, Sarah Thomas.
There are currently eight female NFL officials.
While the NFL has been working towards increasing the number of female officials, they are still greatly outnumbered by their male counterparts. As of the 2019 season, there are only eight women serving as NFL officials.
This past offseason, Sarah Thomas became the first full-time female official in NFL history when she was hired as a line judge. She had previously worked as a substitute official and made history in 2015 when she became the first woman to officiate an NFL playoff game.
In addition to Thomas, there are seven other women who serve as officials on a part-time basis. These officials are Terri Valenti (replay official), HannahASEDHI (down judge), Dana McKenzie (line judge), Michelle Miller Edwards (field judge), Maia Chaka (side judge), Jennifer Liss (back judge), and Barbara Johnson (head linesman).
The number of female officials has been slowly but steadily increasing in recent years and it is hoped that this trend will continue. The hiring of Sarah Thomas shows that the NFL is committed to increasing diversity among its officiating ranks and it is hoped that more women will be given the opportunity to officiate at the highest level in the years to come.
Sarah Thomas became the first full-time female NFL official in 2015.
Sarah Thomas became the first full-time female NFL official in 2015. She had previously worked as a referee in Conference USA football games, and was hired by the NFL as a line judge in 2015.
In the 2018 season, there were eight full-time female officials: seven referees and one umpire. Of these eight officials, six worked in the NFL’s minor league, the AAF (Alliance of American Football), before being promoted to the NFL.
In 2019, there were nine full-time female officials: Sarah Thomas (referee), Maia Chaka (line judge), Dana McKenzie (line judge), Stephanie Rossie (line judge), Yvonne Angeles (field judge), Emily Vaughn (side judge), you can see them allHina Joshi (back judge), Alyx Sacks (back judge) and Shawn Hochuli(replacement official).
Thomas is also the first female official in any major professional sport in the United States.
According to the NFL rulebook, there are currently 121 officials, 20 of whom are women.
In 2015, Sarah Thomas became the first full-time female game official in NFL history.
Since then, three other women – Maia Chaka, Alex Kemp, and Jen Welter – have become NFL officials.
Thomas is also the first female official in any major professional sport in the United States.
There are two female officials in the NFL’s officiating development program.
According to an article on ESPNW, there are two female officials in the NFL’s officiating development program. One is Sarah Thomas, who has been an official in the program since 2015, and the other is Maia Chaka, who joined in 2019.
The article notes that while there has never been a female game official in the NFL, there have been several women who have served as officials in other leagues, including the now-defunct Alliance of American Football (AAF) and the XFL.
One potential obstacle to more women becoming officials in the NFL is that, according to the article, most officials are hired through personal connections and often come from a background in playing football. This can make it harder for women to break into the officiating ranks.
However, with programs like the one run by the NFL, it is possible that we may see more female officials in the league in the future.
There have been several female officials who have worked NFL preseason games.
In 2015, line judge Sarah Thomas became the first full-time female official in NFL history. She was joined by Maia Chaka, who served as a sideline official during the 2018 season. There are currently no female officials in the NFL.
There are no female officials in the NFL’s regular season or postseason.
There are no female officials in the NFL’s regular season or postseason.
The NFL has had one female official in its history: Sarah Thomas, who became the league’s first full-time game official in 2015.
In 2019, Thomas became the first woman to officiate an NFL playoff game.