Rachel Worsham made Virginia high school football history last week when she debuted as the state’s first-ever female head coach of a boys’ varsity football team.
According to Yahoo Sports, Worsham is the head football coach of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.
Prior to her groundbreaking head coach debut, Worsham had served as an assistant football coach for more than a decade.
"To me, being the first in the state comes with a lot of responsibility, of course," Worsham said. "But it's not that I'm the first that I really care about, what is more important to me is that I'm not the last … I anticipate a lot of scrutiny because I'm a woman in a traditionally male-dominated field. There is certainly a pressure that I carry to do a good job, to get it right."
Worsham played the game herself in the Women’s Football Alliance and played on the USA women’s team, as well as the DC Divas.
"I'm looking forward to having people come watch the football games, because I know that TJHSST doesn't have a big following," Worsham said. "The more we can get support for the team, and the program will be great."
TJHSST lost the inaugural game of the season, but for Worsham and women’s sports leaders everywhere, the debut remains an important benchmark.
"Having a pioneer, like Rachel Worsham, leading our program brings invaluable connections to the sport and a genuine passion for teaching the game," TJHSST principal Michael Mukai said.
