Back in 2020, Sarah Fuller made history when the then-Vanderbilt women’s soccer goalkeeper was asked to play for the football team as a placekicker. She became the first woman to play — and score points — for a Power 5 conference team.
Now, she’s ready for a more important challenge.
Taking to Twitter on Tuesday, Fuller demanded the NCAA put more effort into helping student-athletes with mental health. She spoke out against the “continual pressure to be ‘mentally tough’ year after year” and believes more can be done.
“Something has to be done to better understand and aid in student athlete’s mental well-being. What’s being done now is not enough and the continual pressure to be “mentally tough” year after year is exhausting. It hurts to see all we have lost to this expectation,” Fuller wrote.
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Her football career began when Vanderbilt’s regular placekickers were unavailable because of COVID. The starting kicker opted out of the 2020 season, and other kickers had been temporarily ruled out because of contact tracing.
She turned out to be a fine replacement, helping first with kickoffs and eventually on a pair of extra points in a game two weeks later.
