WICHITA FALLS, Texas — Officials in any sport become the storyline of a game, only after a mistake was made. However, in this case, at the Texas Sixman High School Football All-Star game — the crew was too important to go unnoticed.
Five women officiated the contest in Wichita Falls on July 17. It was the first time in Texas high school football history that an all-female crew worked a game.
"Females can do this too and women can do this too. It's not just a guy’s sport and just because guys play it doesn't mean it's just to be officiated by females or males," said Rachel Stepien, who was the head line judge in the game.
Stepien and back judge Valerie McIntosh are both from the Austin Chapter of Football Officials. They were joined by umpire Jenifer Calhoun (Waco), line judge Amy Smith (Fort Worth) and referee Crystal Cooksie (Dallas).
“I’m really honored to be a part of it. Very excited to just claim our spot and to be a part of the community,” McIntosh said.
McIntosh started her officiating career in girls’ lacrosse before giving football a shot.
“I decided I'll just go to this one meeting. I’ll just go to this one training event," McIntosh said. "And I just got hooked from there.”
She's now in her fourth season on the gridiron.
“We do it because we love the game. We love the energy of the players," McIntosh said. "We love seeing the athleticism of these young people and watching them be challenged by their coaches.”
Stepien is in her third season as an official, two in Texas and one in Florida.
She first got involved as a way to make some extra money. She said "no one" goes to games for the officials, but welcomes the attention this opportunity is bringing to her and her peers.
“There's nothing like walking out into a field of 10,000 people in the stands," Stepien said. "But I also enjoy the challenge of the rules and applying them and how all that works and plays into the entirety of the game."
And now the two women who took the field for completely different reasons are both pioneers archived in the history of Texas high school football.
“We're the third team on the field, and without the officials it’s just practice," McIntosh said. “If we're having a good game, everybody's having a good game.”