For as long as sports have been an institution, men have taken the forefront in the arena, however, 21st century women are breaking the glass ceiling and acting in the sports world. 

Becky Hammon is the first woman to be acting head coach in a regular-season NBA game after Spur’s head coach Gregg Popovich was ejected. 

The Spurs lost to the Lakers that night, but San Antonio player Dejounte Murray said “At the end of the day, it doesn’t mean nothing, we lost.”

Opposing Laker’s player, Lebron James said “[it was] a beautiful thing just to hear her barking out calls, barking out sets.”

After a WNBA career ending injury in 2013, Hammon switched to a career in coaching. 

She was hired by the San Antonio Spurs as an assistant coach in 2014, making her the first full-time assistant coach in the major four sports (MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL) in North America. 

In the NFL, there are several women taking charge and leading on the sidelines.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were the first NFL team to have two female coaches on their staff. 

Lori Locust serves as Tampa’s assistant defensive line coach and Maral Javadifar is Tampas assistant strength and conditioning coach.

Tampa Bay head coach, Bruce Arians said, “I have known Lori going back to my days at Temple University and I’ve seen firsthand just how knowledgeable and passionate she is about this game. I was equally impressed with Maral’s background in performance training and physical therapy and I know she will be a valuable asset to our strength and conditioning program.”

These incredible women are working hard to break stereotypes and allow little girls to look up to women in the sports industry.