Becca Longo has for years proved that gender norms can be challenged, even in football. In 2017, she made history by being the first woman to break a critical glass ceiling, signaling a greater acceptance of female players in football. Becca currently lives in Alamosa, CO., a small town of 10,000 people located about four hours south of Denver, where she plays for Adams State University. However, the journey to where she is today wasn’t easy. How did she get there?

One of her greatest inspirations is her brother, Bobby. He is 11 years older than Becca and she has looked up to him as a role model since she was a little girl. As she was growing up, she tried to be just like him, or even be better. One thing that stood in her way of outdoing him, however, was that he was a linebacker for his school’s football team. Due to the sport being physically demanding, it’s usually classified as a boys’ sport.

However, in 2004, Becca witnessed young Heidi Garrett hit a 48-yard field goal, which is a national record for longest field goal kicked by a woman in high school. As Becca watched Heidi at the party at the end of the season, she knew she had found her role model. She wanted to be just like her, but she was still little and football wasn’t an option for her age. In time she would prove herself, though.

For years, Becca excelled in traditionally women’s sports, setting aside her fond memories of football pads smashing together, the dull thunk of the football being kicked into the end zone, and the electrifying energy on the football field. She played as a point guard in basketball, while her strong right leg made her a force to be reckoned with in soccer. Despite this, the more physical, more dangerous sport of football was calling her, even if she didn’t know it yet.

At the end of her Freshman year at Queen Creek, Becca was walking home with a friend and saw the school’s football team practicing. She noticed that not one of the players on the field was a girl, which frustrated her. Anything a boy can do, she could do, too. She decided she was going to do something about it. She immediately told her friend that she intended to kick a different ball. That night, she informed her father that she intended to kick for Queen Creek.

When her father heard, he voiced no question or concern. He knew his daughter, a natural athlete, wasn’t just competitive, she was extraordinarily so. It made perfect sense for her to take up a challenge that would seem impossible to others, such as a girl playing football. When asked to recall what motivated her to challenge these stereotypes, Becca later told ESPN: “I think it’s just something inside of me. I don’t always have to prove myself — but I always want to.”

When Bob Longo knew this about his daughter, so when he heard Becca say she wanted to play football, he recalled Heidi and her father, Rance, practicing on the field for hours, spending quality time together. Bob said, “I always envied them. They had a great father-daughter relationship. I hoped that one day I’d have the same connection with Becca.” As it turned out, his wish had come true and he would have the same connection.

For young girls looking up to her for inspiration, Longo said, “I just want to let people know that you can do whatever you want. As cliche as it sounds, nothing is impossible. I had a little girl the other day, her name is Kennedy, who lives up in Kentucky, do a wax museum of me … my jersey and full pads, find it on my Instagram. I cried. That’s the impact that I’ve always wanted to have on people That I can do it, it’s insane.”

A week later, Becca’s parents took her to a kicking camp hosted by the Arizona Cardinals at Gilbert Christian High School some 20 minutes away. Some NFL players even showed up to watch the next generation of kickers. No stranger to pressure, Becca impressed those watching her, despite never having kicked field goals before. Former players approached her after the camp to offer to train her, but she and her father wanted to work with former University of Arizona kicker Alex Zendejas, who runs a kicking academy in Phoenix that has taught seven Arizona All-State kickers.

Zendejas was impressed when he saw her. “She has the leg. She can kick field goals from 50 yards,” he said. “She can open up the door for a lot of girls out there who want to kick. Because I think soccer is already out there for girls sports. When you have a strong leg … I would like to see more girls take advantage of the kicking game, whether in high school, college or Pop Warner.”

Zendejas only needed to see her once to know she had the potential to be a future star. The talent was there, all she needed was to stick to it. The next day, Paul Reynolds, Queen Creek’s athletics director, got a visit from Becca, who told him she wanted to play football. Reynolds laughed and said, “I guess you should go for it and try out for the team.” Not the most encouraging message, but definitely not a negative one. Moreover, the director’s laugh motivated her.

Becca passed tryouts and made it into Queen Creek’s Junior Varsity team for her Sophomore year in high school. During her first season, she made 30 out of 33 extra point kicks after the team scored and went four for four on field goals, her longest being 30 yards. Unfortunately, she still stood out even with a helmet on, which isn’t always the best thing in high school. When she wasn’t playing football, bullies saw her as a target, just because she was different.

On the field, she was a star, but intramural sports aren’t the only thing in high school. Kids in this age group are especially prone to picking on those who stick out for being different, which is what happened when they saw a girl playing football — even if she was a good kicker and one of the best players on the team. “They’d post pictures on the internet and say, ‘Is that her jersey or her boyfriend’s?'” Longo told the media. “I got laughed at the entire year.”

“That which does not kill us makes us stronger,” Friedrich Nietzsche once said, and the experience taught Becca just this. She became a more well-rounded person thanks to her experiences in Queen Creek. That being said, she knew that she needed a change because the environment she was in was unsupportive of her dream. She took matters in her own hands and decided to transfer to a school 20 minutes down the road that is called Bash High School.

Becca felt right at home in her new school and was thrilled to begin playing for them. Unfortunately, due to transfer bylaws, she was not allowed to play for her Junior year. This wasn’t ideal for the up-and-coming kicker, but she was patient. She worked hard, honing her kicking skills as part of the team and waiting for the opportunity to come for her to prove how good of a kicker she was, regardless of whether she was a boy or a girl.

By her Senior year, Becca’s hard work paid off, as she started as Bash High’s kicker. After a year on the sidelines, she was finally ready to prove herself as a player. For the 2016 season, Becca got in 35 out of 38 free points, with the missed being blocked kicks that are out of the kicker’s control. She proved to everyone that she belonged there by excelling. She was Becca Longo, an integral part of the team who was doing outstanding work as a kicker for her high school.

Regional college sports recruiters began taking notice of her. Granted, she wasn’t predicted to be the next Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens, but she was good and had proved that she could rise above challenges others wouldn’t even face. She and her father made a video of highlights from her two years kicking that attracted the attention of Josh Blankenship, Adams State’s offensive coordinator. Blankenship invited her up to Adams State, a Division II school, for a tryout that she aced, sinking in 23 of 25 field goal attempts.

After her impressive display of raw talent, Adams State offered Becca a scholarship. She later told CNN: “I was completely shocked. Everybody who has it on video said my jaw dropped to the floor.” Women had challenged gender stereotypes in football long before her and kicked in field goals, yet this was different. Believe it or not, this was actually the first time in NCAA history that a female player was offered an athletic scholarship for football on the Divison II or I levels.

Timm Rosenbach, at the time Adams State’s head coach, was secretly watching Becca’s tryout and was extremely impressed with her braving the freezing cold and the ferocious wind. “She’s kind of put herself out there to let everyone know she wants to do this,” Rosenbach said. “If she’s able to compete at a level we think she’s able to compete at, we should afford her that opportunity to do that.” He later told ESPN, “I don’t care if the player’s a Martian…the gender part wasn’t really a factor to me.”

Rosenbach, a former NFL quarterback before he became a coach, sums up his football philosophy as follows: “If you can play football and you have determination, I don’t care what your gender is. And Becca can play, simple as that. She’s got accuracy and she’s got a powerful leg, which will only get stronger. We brought her to Adams State for a reason: to compete for a job and help us win football games.”

“I don’t know how many people told me I couldn’t play football and I should stop and give up,” Longo told the Associated Press earlier in 2018. “I look at where they’re at now and where I’m at. I mean, had I listened to them, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I get a lot of messages asking for advice and I say the same thing: ‘Don’t stop because somebody tells you you’re not qualified or you can’t do something.'”

Coach Rosenbach summarized to Bleacher Reports that “Becca is a football player. That’s it.” Indeed, that is the exact message he told his team when she joined. “You will treat her like any other teammate and welcome her on to our team.” Becca soon proved herself, telling USA Today that “Everybody was just so warm and welcoming. Quarterback Jorge Hernandez said, “She gets after it just like all of us. She’s not just here to be on the team. She’s here to play.”

When she arrived, however, Longo was happy to see that any misgivings she had about being accepted were unfounded, as she was welcomed by the rest of the team as one of their own. “I was basically their sister. And I love them to death and I’m never going to forget them. They’re my brothers,” said Longo. “They are the ones who lifted me up when I was down. I had all their support in me.”

Despite the show of support among the team, Longo is no stranger to being criticized by online trolls and bullies, having endured it for years. When asked about the online jeers and insults she receives, she told ESPN,  “If they want to think that, they can think that. I’m just going to kick a game-winning, 55-yard field goal … see how loud they are then. I’ve been doubted in everything I’ve done. Being mentally strong is the only defensive mechanism I have.”

It is thanks to her positive attitude that Becca has gotten so far. Instead of letting the naysayers influence her negatively, she focuses all her energy on improving. She reaped the fruits of her hard work when she accepted an athletic scholarship to a Division II school, the first time in history that a woman had been selected for one. Although she is a trailblazer, she is not the first woman to break the mold and challenge gender discrimination in football.

The first time Becca kicks off, she will be following in the footsteps of pioneering trailblazers that came before her. The first woman to score at the Division I FBS level was Katie Hnida in 2003. The first woman to score in Division I in general was Ashley Martin in 2001, who is pictured here on the right, in the middle. That being said, Becca represents a new era, when we will expect to see many more women on the football field.

It seems, though, that one of the firsts in modern times belongs to Liz Heaston, who was the first woman to score in a college football game in 1997. She played soccer and was a star player for Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. As far as her football career goes, she was a replacement kicker for the team. She kicked two points in a game against Linfield College, which they won 29-0. This attracted the media and, in turn, her interviews exposed her to the broader population.

Becca Longo isn’t just part of some public relations campaign undertaken by her school by letting a woman walk on the field and kick a field goal; she was selected specifically for her talent, inspiring girls everywhere. Her message for aspiring girl athletes is clear, as she told ABC’s Good Morning America: “If they want to play football, go out and play football. If they want to play hockey, they can go out and play hockey.”

Jennifer Welter, a former indoor football player who was the first woman to intern as an assistant coach for the Cardinals, praised the young athlete. “It’s amazing to see Becca kicking down doors and for all of us who have been in the game,” she said. “We walk a little taller, we definitely clap a lot louder, scream a lot louder, knowing that she has this world and so does every other girl coming after her. Every single one of us is pulling for her every single day.”

Sports have been part of Becca’s life since the very beginning. She was born in 1999 to a family of athletes and took after her other family members by displaying a natural knack for sports. By the age of four, for example, she was on water skis. By the age of nine, she was kicking soccer balls accurately in goals. Her natural athleticism, coupled with the supportive atmosphere she was raised in, nurtured her development as a sportswoman.

Unfortunately, we will need to wait before seeing Becca Longo break barriers by kicking for the first time in a game. An unexpected injury is causing her to miss much of the 2018 season. Instead of her cleats, she was seen on the sidelines wearing an orthopedic brace boot. However, if her previous history of coping with setbacks tells us anything, she will come back even stronger than before. Before we know it, she’ll be getting her big break on game day.

Injuries take time, and she needed surgery last year to get better. Earlier in January, she posted on Instagram about her improvement. “10 weeks post-surgery and you can definitely tell which ankle was injured,” she wrote. “I am ahead of schedule though that is for sure! Ran today for the first time since September and let me tell ya.. my lungs hurt!! I just want my muscle back alreadyyyyyy! Sorry guys no box jumps for a while.” Only a few weeks later, doctors cleared her to kick.

Even though Longo remains positive, there’s a lot of work to do before she’s 100%. “I tore some tendons in my ankle,” she said. “My plant foot. I went to go plant in the ground and my foot kept going and it just kind of snapped… I tried kicking again but I was not having it.” Unfortunately for the brave Longo, she will need to wait until the 2019 season to compete again. The good news, though, is that it’s right on the horizon!

Have you always wondered the secrets behind the girlfriends and wives of famous rugby players? Have all of them always been models? Well, some of them are professional models, but on the other hand, some come with great academic backgrounds. Here’s a list of some amazing women that reign in the lives of famous rugby players. Without further ado, let’s get to know them better!

Let’s start the list with one of the most gorgeous women of all time. Laura Dundovic is the girlfriend of famous player Quade Cooper. She won the beauty pageant Miss Universe Australia back in 2008 and became top ten at Miss Universe.

We have seen her working with a bunch of international labels starting from Steve Madden to Charlie Brown. Apart from the world of beauty, Laura is an athletic personnel who competes in international marathons. Not to mention, her face was a first at the Nike NTCTour in Australia.

It looks like Scottish player Richie Gray has an eye for gems. Otherwise, how did he find one of the most stunning ladies out there and put a ring on it? Ellie McKeating is just all about looks – she is one of the most talented models out there.

The reason behind her flashing career is her becoming Miss Scotland in 2014. After that, she participated in the Miss World beauty pageant where the world was starstruck at the sight of her.

Sam Burgess straight up went for a woman with talent. His beautiful girlfriend Phoebe has built up a great career. She works as a freelance writer. Some people think that people who get into freelancing fall out of it after some time, but it looks like Phoebe did not fall into the spiral.

She simultaneously worked in TV shows and magazines. In addition to that, she has a bachelor’s degree in Media and communications from the University of Sydney. She is also a fitness enthusiast who fluently speaks French.

We are big fans of women who invest hours to maintain their fitness. The world needs such positivity. Dan Carter’s wife, Honor Carter, is one of the fittest ladies out there.

She is also an athlete who played for the New Zealand Women’s National Field Hockey from 2004. Over the next two years, she won tons of trophies that explain how she went there to win, not just to play. This couple became parents of two sons.

Rob Kearney from Ireland is currently dating Jess Redden. Jess is the epitome of blonde beauty. We will always have a soft corner for women and girls with blonde hair and there goes Jess taking all our hearts, and Rob’s.

If you are wondering why she looks so young, that’s because she recently hit her twenties. The two love birds have been dating for over a year and a half. They prefer keeping things low-key. She is currently a student at Alexandra College.

English player Ben Foden tied the knot with Una Healy, who is not only a gorgeous looking diva but also an award-winning singer. She is a member of an all-girls group. They have had tons of record-breaking releases with ten top hits and top ten albums.

The name of their group is The Saturdays. Her journey in the music industry started in 2008 with a famous song named “Chasing lights.” The couple dated for four years before finally tying the knot.

When it comes to the players who have the maximum accuracy as goalkickers, none other than Leigh Halfpenny’s name comes on top. This goalkicker is a keeper too for being with such a diva-like Jess Tumelty. Jess is all about being the most supportive partner out there.

What makes us say that? Well, we have seen Jess appearing on game nights multiple times cheering wholeheartedly for Leigh at the Stade Felix Mayol for Toulon.

Can we take a moment to gush over Mike Brown’s fiance Eliza Woodcock? This woman is one of the most gorgeous women in the fashion industry. She has a knack for fashion designing, which inspired her to eventually launch her own fashion line named Scarlett Black London.

We have seen a bunch of celebrities wearing Scarlett’s signature black outfits that are hard to overlook. It looks like Eliza has something with athletes because her father is famous footballer Tony Woodcock, who ships her relationship happily.

Have you ever looked at Rory Kockot’s wife Stephanie Kockott and wondered why she looks so familiar? Well, hear us out. Don’t you think that she resembles Eva Mendez? See?

We are not the only ones thinking of this. Other than that, this beautiful couple tied their knot back in 2014. Later, after one year, they broke the news of having their first child. By the end of 2015, the couple welcomed their first child into the world.

Hats off to Alana Raffle and Sonny Bill Williams from New Zealand for keeping things extremely low-key throughout their dating life to the point where they were able to secretly tie the knot with family and close friends.

Even though the world was in awe of the couple and the media was ready to pay them six figures to cover their wedding, the couple decided to keep things on the low. Alana was a Brazilian dancer and later she started her career in modeling.

Richie McCaw knows what true talent is and, upon recognizing that inside Gemma Flynn, he immediately gave their relationship a shot. Other than Gemma’s beauty, she is commonly recognized as a beauty with brains. Not only this, she comes with an athletic background too. So many talents in one woman?

It looks like Richie got really lucky this time. Gemma runs a company named The 100% Project, through which she promotes sustainable living. Other than all that, she has completed her bachelor’s degree in Sport and Exercise Science.

Chris Robshaw’s classical singer-girlfriend Camilla Kerslake looks so effortlessly stunning all the time. We loved her appearance during the world cup. Her talent in singing is phenomenal. She was one of the very few artists who Gary Barlow signed initially.

Her first debut music album came out in 2009. She comes from a mixture of roots from English, Kiwi, and Welsh. She toured with Russel Watson, English Tenor, and many more. On another note, she has been associated with campaigns regarding Breast cancer.

We all know Schalk Burger as our Hulk Man. Someone out there has been able to steal the heart of our beloved hulk, and that is none other than his lady Michelle de Munk. Before you start gushing over how gorgeous Michelle looks in all her public appearances, you need to see her creative and professional sides too.

Michelle is an interior designer based in Cape Town. The couple got married in 2011 and started living happily ever since. They have two amazing sons: Schalk Junior and Nicol.

We all dream about marrying someone who becomes our best friend after being together for years. It looks like Ben smith is living our dream. Ben Smith and Katie Menzies dated for thirteen years. Then they finally decided to put a ring to it.

The world cup in 2015 was a big year for the couple as they had their first child then. Katie is also a triathlete who came first in the National Olympic Distance Championships in 2010.

How many of us really got the chance to marry our heroes? Well, Janine Habana got the chance and we are eternally happy for her. Back in 2009, Janine Habana and Bryan got married. The couple first met each other at the University of Johannesburg.

Ever since, they could not stop being in love with each other. Janine is a wonderful woman who owns Femme Fitness Excercise and Pregnancy Wellness Centre based in Cape Town. It makes us sad that the couple decided to call it quits afterward.

Alexandra Rosenfeld is not only one of the most beautiful and influential women in our eyes but in the eyes of Europe too. She won Miss France in 2006. In the same year, she won another beauty pageant, which was Miss Europe. After dating rugby player Sergio Parisse for some time, she got married to him.

They had a beautiful daughter together. Later, the couple decided to split up for personal reasons. This did not stop her. She appeared on the TV for the Top Chef French version.

Irish player Cian Healy dated Holly Carpenter for two years. Holly has always looked gorgeous. In 2011, she became Miss Ireland. Later, she went on to take part in the Irish edition of the show Next Top Model. She was one of the twenty-eight finalists in Britain and Ireland.

Afterward, she won the seventh position. She has been beloved for moving forward and growing. She even got a degree in textiles at the National College of Art and Design.

We all know George Ford’s girlfriend Jessica Portman for her Instagram fanbase. She has a huge following on social media and all her followers love her. She studied both business and fashion marketing.

After her graduation, she started making trips to many countries, of which her Japan trips became trending. She used to post snaps and stories at high-end fashion outlets. Her fans were drooling on her posts back then.

We have another Instagram star for you today. She is Cheslin Kolbe’s wife, Layla Kolbe. People on Instagram just adore her and put all their hearts on her family pictures. The reason why she has a huge fanbase on social media is that she is good at putting up her holiday photos for all her fans to gush over.

One of her popular photos was the one where she was breastfeeding her child at a museum. She is also a highly qualified accountant. The beautiful couple now lives in France.

The wife of England flanker Courtney, Jessica Lawes is one of the most gorgeous ladies we have seen in a long time. She is a mother of four beautiful children. This became one of her identities as she wrote blogs and became a famous mommy blogger.

Other than that, she runs a company for property development. The couple got married in 2015. She always tries to be there for her spouse during important matches.

We have another mother of four kids onboard today. Rachel Kolis is the wife of former Springbok captain Siya. Apart from their biological children, the couple adopted two of Siya’s siblings and took very good care of them.

They first met each other at a friend’s party and started seeing each other afterward. Three years down the road, they got married. We have seen tons of social media drama regarding the couple, but in the end, they resolved all their issues.

Michelle Cussell and England flanker Elliot Daly started dating when they met back in school. They were both going to Whitgift School in Croydon. Elliot was a student there and Michelle was a sports organizer. When they started dating, the two of them were eighteen.

After years of dating, Elliot finally popped the question and he became the luckiest person as Michelle said yes to him. Then the couple later got married.

Kuziva Makore is the wife of Prop Tendai Nihal, known as Beast. The fun part about their marriage is that they did not meet each other first. Instead, Tendai’s mother first saw Kuziva at a church where she was singing.

Later, she gave Kuziva her son’s number and did a pretty good job at match-making. The couple tied the knot in 2010. They have two beautiful children. Kuziva is a psychology student and, at the same time, she is a voice-over artist.

Ben and Charlotte met each other at a charity show. She is a cosmetic nurse and was visiting the show with veteran doctors in London. Ever since, the couple became inseparable. Finally, in 2015, the couple decided to settle down and tie the knot.

Now, they are the parents of two amazing children. Charlotte is well trained in Botox and skin peels. She was extremely supportive of her husband when he decided to take some time off rugby.

Handre Pollard got married to Marise Malherbe. She is a talented athlete with tons of prizes under her name. Over the years, she won one gold medal and two silvers at the South African National Championships for eight hundred meters.

She is looking forward to getting qualified to get into the next olympics. The fun part about this couple’s meeting is that they interacted on Facebook and later got married in 2017.

England fly-half Piers Francis and Amanda McClatchie have been dating each other for quite some time. She was a lawyer at the beginning of her career. Later, she opened a marketing company that is entirely based on nutrition.

The couple then got engaged to each other. Later, they had their first child during Christmas. The two of them are one of our favorites couples of all time for their beautiful public appearances.

After seeing each other for years, Francois Louw and Sarah Louw decided to get married and start their own family. Later, they had their first child Lucy. After Lucy, Sarah gave birth to Thomas.

Back in 2011, Louw signed for Bath and, as a result, Sarah was supposed to quit her career, which she did not. She joined a company where she worked on mergers and acquisitions in that city, which helped her continue her career. She runs her own blog too.

We all know Hannah for her online appearance on social media. She is the wife of Barrett, and their love life is loved by all their fans on the internet. The couple loves to have fun together. We can say that they are each other’s best friends.

They like to go out on adventurous trips together and post fun pictures on their social accounts, which have huge popularity among their fans. Hannah has become a social media influencer and, at the same time, she is a tax specialist.

England’s player James Haskell and Chloe have been seeing each other for years. If you are wondering what the secret behind her looking so fit and stunning all the time is, you should know that she is a fitness enthusiast.

She is known as a fitness guru now and has a huge fanbase who love to learn about her fitness tips. She is another social media personnel with huge popularity. She has appeared on the TV screen as well.

Joanna Cooper and Cono Murray have been dating for a long time. The couple was inseparable since their first meeting. Joana is the actual example of beauty with brains.

She participated in Miss Universe from Ireland in 2015. She was popular in Ireland because she won the beauty pageant that year. Her academic background is great too. She completed her bachelor’s from Belfast University in Journalism. Apart from that, she is now a professional model.