Entering a field in sports reporting never crossed my mind at a young age. A female reporter never flashed across the screen growing up, and I never heard a feminine voice. 

Headlines of articles weren’t written by women and games that were broadcasted were played by men. I never imagined a world where the words, “I’m a sports reporter,” would come out of my mouth. But now, at the age of 20, I get to say just that. 

As I walk across the Florida Atlantic University’s graduation stage in May, the words on my diploma will read: Bachelors of Arts of Multimedia Journalism with a minor in Sports Studies. 

I have the privilege of saying I am the first female sports editor that the University Press has had. And I cannot even begin to describe the honor as a woman that statement brings. 

The position has granted me with the most incredible opportunities. When men’s basketball head coach John Jakus first came to FAU, former UP Managing Editor JD Delcastillo, Owl Radio Program Director Maddox Greenburg and I got to conduct his first interview on April 26, 2024. 

I’ve even spoken to Brandin Bryant, a former FAU football player turned author. While writing the article about his publication journey, I had the privilege of interviewing a Disney animator.  Another accomplishment was traveling to the University of Central Florida (UCF) to cover their men’s basketball game against FAU on Nov. 12, 2024. 

Sports reporting is much more than simply covering a game. It’s about learning people’s journeys and stories that can be developed out of athletics. 

Writing, speaking to people and hearing about their life has always been a passion of mine, and some wonder why I questioned my ability to get into this profession in the first place. 

The simple answer to that question is the lack of women who work in this field.

Based on statistics from Zippia, an online database that used 30 million profiles in the United States, 20.9% of sports reporters are women, and 79.1% are men, per 2021 statistics. In 2010, 80.13% of reporters were men and 19.87% female. 

On Sept. 22, 2021, the Sports Media Racial and Gender Report Card on Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) evaluated over 100 newspapers and websites, where they found that the overall grade for gender hiring of APSE came in at an F, meaning less than 25 percent of their staff are women. The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports at the University of Central Florida conducted the report. 

“While women saw slight improvements in 2021, the overall record of the sports media for having women in prominent positions remains terrible. Nonetheless, there were increases in sports editors (10 percent to 16.7 percent), reporters (11.5 percent to 14.4 percent) and copy editors (20.4 percent to 24.7 percent),” said Richard Lapchick, the director of the Institute and primary author of the report. 

Zippia’s statistics on ESPN’s demographics show that 33% of its employees are women, and 67% are men. 

“ESPN has been a leader in the hiring of women and people of color in key positions. In fact, as will be seen, if we were to remove ESPN from the date entirely, racial and gender percentages across multiple categories would drop significantly,” said Labchick in the report. 

Additionally, the UCF study found that ESPN employed 25 percent of the female sports editors out of all the reported newspapers and websites. 

After looking at these statistics, it’s apparent that representation in this professional field lacks heavily. I cannot say that it’s shocking that I’m the first female sports editor the University Press has had since its birth in 1998. 

This underrepresentation presents women with mental battles. I cannot speak for everyone, but I know that, personally, I have the constant feeling that I need to prove myself to others. I know I can do it, but why don’t they?  

The feeling has grown from comments made over time. When men have asked what major I have, some of their responses to the answer have been, “It’s interesting you chose something so masculine.” I’ve even encountered writers at FAU who didn’t respect my position as an editor and claimed their knowledge on sports far surpassed mine.

My pathway into watching sports is similar to any avid watcher, and growing up, I instantly found myself surrounded by athletics. 

I credit my dad for beginning my journey of watching sports, specifically football, which started out as a simple way for me to spend time with him. Every Saturday was spent watching college football, and Sundays were dedicated to the National Football League (NFL). 

As time progressed, I too, found myself yelling at the screen just as he did and blossoming into a Detroit Lions fan. 

While my passion for watching sports grew, so did questions. Why do my friends not share a similar interest? Why are my family members surprised that I watch sports? Why do I only hear male voices commentating on games? Why is the focus on male sports? Don’t women play sports, too? 

It was hard to process the severity of my questions, but with my knowledge today, the answers become more clear. And many of them deal with the struggles that women faced when gaining the right to simply play competitive sports. 

In 1972, Title IX, the law prohibited discrimination based on sex in the educational setting, according to the U.S. Department of Education, and forever altered the pathway for women in sports. 

Before its approval, women were unable to participate in school-sanctioned sports, which resulted in a lack of representation in competitive sports as female “sports” were only non-competitive and informal. After its passing, women finally gained the right to participate in competitive sports, sparking a cascade of other effects. 

Title IX paved the way for women across the United States to play in sports. I will forever be grateful for the law as it granted me the opportunity to start playing soccer at four years old. Then basketball in third grade and volleyball in fourth grade. 

Without it, I would have never gotten to play for my high school’s volleyball team, and my heart goes out to the young girls who were deprived of that right 60 years ago. 

But let’s talk about my basketball experience for a moment. 

I wanted to play softball to be like my mom, but the YMCA didn’t have enough girls to sign up to make a team, so my options were to play basketball or not play a sport. Naturally, I wanted to continue with athletics, so I chose basketball. 

What I didn’t realize with that choice was that I became the only girl on an all-boys team. At eight years old, that didn’t seem like a big deal until we began to play games. They refused to pass the ball to me because they assumed that I wouldn’t be able to make it. 

Midway through the season, my coach was forced to step in during a timeout and tell them, “Give it to Megan.” And when I made the shot, it felt like cloud nine. 

When I think back on that time, it’s shocking that the memory still stands out so clearly in my head, but it was the first time and, unfortunately, not the last that I faced gender discrimination on the playing field. 

After that basketball season, I transitioned to an all girls team but the discrimination began again in the middle school gym. 

Once again I was placed in a situation where I had to play sports with predominantly men and unfortunately a similar trend occurred. They’d pick the girls last for teams, expect us to not put in effort and lacked trust with the ball in our hands. The situation was frustrating because it happened in gym class where the score didn’t truly matter, however, I wasn’t surprised this time around. 

As women began to play sports competitively in 1972, they also started to report on professional athletics. 

Phyllis George became the first female sportscaster in 1974 to work at a major TV network. Just one year later, she landed the position as a co-host for “The NFL Today” as a journalist and football broadcaster. But her background lacked sports reporting. She won “Miss America” in 1971, which sparked controversy and criticism, according to an article in The New York Times by Richard Sandomir. 

Sandomir wrote that George responded to criticism by claiming that she knew plenty about sports, specifically football. 

“I’m from Texas,” George said to People magazine in 1967. “And down there you follow the Texas Longhorns and the Dallas Cowboys or you don’t belong.” 

Early female reporters battled more than simple critiques. When they first entered the job field, there became an issue with entering the locker room. Some organizations had strict rules in place that prohibited women from entering men’s locker rooms, which presented the issue of attaining interviews. 

These reporters were told to wait outside the locker room to conduct their interviews while male reporters entered and got to freely ask their questions. After the players answered the questions of the men, they often didn’t want to go outside and answer further questions from women, so they were forced to write pieces without quotable material. 

Luckily, today, there are no issues with women getting the ability to gain quotes from athletes inside of locker rooms. Personally, I’ve had no issues at FAU with getting to speak with the players and coaches as they hold their interviews in a media room. 

Unfortunately, the critique that women just don’t know enough about sports still holds true today. And I’ll admit, I don’t consider myself a sports “nerd.” While I may not know every former player, or can, off the top of my head, say all college football head coaches, there are two things I know I can do well: report the facts and speak on it. 

The statistics show that the representation of women who work in sports reporting or editing has improved over the last decade. In the next 10 years, my wish is another five percent improvement. 

If you’re passionate about a job, no matter what it is, go for it. I absolutely love what I’ve gotten to learn about sports journalism here at FAU and it has given me the ability to meet such amazing people on a daily basis. 

To any women who are thinking about taking the plunge, do it. Don’t let any statistics hold you back and let’s continue to be the first to hold a role.