Play Like A Girl gets exposure from Sarah Fuller's history-making moment on football field
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- It's a sports moment sure to go down in SEC history.
Senior Goalie Sarah Fuller of the Vanderbilt Women's Soccer team suited up Saturday, and kicked off to start the second half against Missouri. She became the first woman to ever play in a Power 5 Conference football game, and turned the 21 year old into an overnight role model for young female athletes.
But she'll be the first to tell you the road to get to this point hasn’t been easy.
“There's times you want to quit. I’ve had a lot of phone calls with my parents where I'm just crying my eyes out because I can't pass my fitness test,” says Fuller. “I’ve been through a lot of struggles I've been told ‘no’ a lot of times, I've been hurt a lot, I've been through the ringer.”
‘Hard but worth it’ is the message Nashville nonprofit Play Like A Girl works to instill in its young athletes through a series of mentorship programs that focus on rethinking failure.
It's the reason Fuller wanted to wear the group's name on her helmet, so she DM’ed Founder and CEO Dr. Kimberly Clay.
“It was certainly not something we planned or even knew to expect so it was a hugely welcome surprise this time of year,” says Clay.
Clay says she was incredibly proud to see her group represented by someone so inspirational, a female who proves girls really can do anything.
“It meant so much because girls need to not only hear about the possibilities but see the possibilities,” explains Clay. “There is no limit. The possibilities for girls are boundless, but they have to know they can actually shatter the glass ceiling. What Sarah was able to do yesterday was just reaffirming our message.”
Since Fuller wore Play Like A Girl's logo on her helmet- the nonprofit has seen a major surge in merchandise sales, volunteers requests and donations.
As of Sunday morning- they already raised $13,000. CLICK HERE to donate.
