Bank of America Stadium, home of the Carolina Panthers. Image Courtesy of Flickr.
By Gigi Picard ’22
Sports Editor
The National Football League kicked off its regular season this September with a new “first” for women in sports. After starting out in the NFL’s Officiating Development Program, Maia Chaka recently became the first Black female NFL referee. Originally from Rochester, NY, Chaka was a line judge for the first Sunday Night Football game of the season on Sept. 12 between the Carolina Panthers and the New York Jets.
According to the NFL, Chaka’s addition to the list of referees for the upcoming season was announced last March. In a NFL Communications press release from March 2021, the NFL executive vice president of football operations, Troy Vincent, Sr., said that Chaka deserved the promotion because of her “hard work, dedication and perseverance.” He continued, “[Chaka] is a trailblazer as the first Black female official and inspires us toward normalizing women on the football field.”
Dr. Javaune Adams-Gaston, the current president of Norfolk State University, Chaka’s alma mater, released a statement in March saying, “We are so very proud of Maia Chaka for the history she made today by becoming the first Black female referee in the National Football League. She is a trailblazer, proudly representing NSU, Black women and HBCUs.” Adams-Gaston continued, “As I have learned more about [Chaka] and her connection to NSU, her story should be one of inspiration for the entire Spartan community and for all women seeking careers in the sports entertainment industry.”
USA Today reported that Chaka has been a health and physical education teacher at Renaissance Academy in Virginia, an alternative education school for at-risk students who face difficulties behaviorally and academically, for 14 years. The Undefeated reported that Chaka officiated high school games, and pasted to her office wall were the words: “Hustle. Grind. Conquer. Dominate.”
Chaka quickly moved up the ranks from being a high school referee to officiating collegiate games in the Conference USA and the Pac-12 Conference.
USA Today discussed Chaka’s college-officiating experience and how being a woman impacted her job. Starting when she was a referee in Conference USA, coaches behaved differently around her, particularly when in situations that would usually inspire a “chew out,” a coach yelling at a referee over a call.
“I think that coaches were afraid to talk to me,” Chaka told USA Today. “My sideline partner used to get an earful, because coaches didn’t want to offend me or say the wrong thing. So they were leery when I first came in. But after a year or so, it was equal-opportunity chew-outs,” Chaka said.
Two days before Chaka’s first game as referee, Troy Vincent, Sr. tweeted a video of Chaka talking about her thoughts on the achievement.
“This historic moment, to me, is an honor and it’s a privilege that I’ve been chosen to represent women and women of color in the most popular sport in America,” she said.
Chaka is the third woman to officiate an NFL game, after Sarah Thomas and Shannon Eastin. In her statement, Chaka expressed hope that her new position as an NFL referee would “[give] somebody else … some inspiration, and empower … them to step outside the box and to do something different.”