Twenty-two-year-old free safety Toni Harris recently became the first female football player in a skilled position to receive a full athletic scholarship to play in college. Central Methodist University was one of many colleges that offered Harris a scholarship to play football, but ultimately the university Harris decided to commit to. Illustration by Lilli Sams
Twenty-two-year-old Central Methodist University free safety Toni Harris represents a future where female football players are encouraged to follow their dreams.
Being a female football player is virtually unheard of in America — the New York Times article “More girls are playing football. Is that progress?” asserts that of the 5.5 million Americans who play tackle football, only 10.9 percent are female.
With only three amateur football leagues for women in the U.S. and no female professional league, achieving gender equity in American football seems out of reach. It’s not.
In 2019, 22-year-old Central Methodist free safety Antoinette “Toni” Harris became the first female college football player in a skilled position to receive a full athletic scholarship. She plays in the defensive position of free safety, meaning she is fully involved in the contact portion of the sport.
Not only does she play a position other than kicker, and not only does she play for a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) college, but she plays on a full athletic scholarship.
Some may say that her scholarships are superficial or that she doesn’t have a sufficient highlight reel. However, colleges would not waste an athletic scholarship offer on anyone, much less a female player, if they weren’t excellent in their position.
Colleges would not waste an athletic scholarship offer on anyone, much less a female player, if they weren’t excellent in their position.
Some may say a woman playing in the NFL, Harris’ ultimate goal, is impossible. Some might have also said this about a woman playing football in college on scholarship, and Harris did that. Some might have said this about a girl playing in high school, and thousands have done this.
According to the CNN article “Woman gets a college football scholarship to play defense on men’s team,” Harris was told by her high school coach that she would never move on from high school football.
She went on to prove him wrong. She didn’t care what he thought. She went after her dreams and is continuing to go after her dreams despite all the defeatists.
If more women move on from high school to play in college, a woman in the NFL won’t seem so impossible. Harris is inspiring girls all across the country to look the naysayers in the eye and say, “We don’t care what you think.”
