Shannon Eastin is the first female official of the National Football League (NFL) and the first woman to lead a crew at the Division 1 level for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. For 16 years she officiated football games at the high school and college level before making her mark on NFL fields. Eastin is the Director of Officials for the Canyon Athletic Association, where she oversees officiating services for over 200 schools. She mentors and trains officials in football and basketball through her company, SE Sports Officiating, which also assigns officials for youth sporting leagues. Kate St. Vincent Vogl is the author of Lost & Found: A Memoir of Mothers. Her essays appear in best-selling anthologies such as Listen to Your Mother and Why We Ride, as well as in Bellingham Review and Prairie Schooner. She is the recipient of a Minnesota State Arts Board Grant and a residency at the Anderson Center. Vogl teaches at the Loft Literary Center.
I was instantly engaged in Shannon Eastin’s provocative and very personal journey to becoming the first female to officiate in the NFL. Her story is equal parts inspiring and maddening—for the constant gender inequity she faced in what remains to this day a male-dominated profession. I found myself rooting for her as she stayed the course and achieved her incredible dream with competence, grace, and professionalism! -- Dana Sparling, executive director, Women's Gridiron Foundation Shannon does an incredible job telling the story of becoming the first female on-field official in NFL history. But, this book is more than just that story. She takes a candid look at how athletics were an important part of her life growing up, and how her parents and faith shaped her into the person who she was then and is now. She discusses rising up through the officiating ranks and the struggles she faced along the way and also after her milestone achievement. She is also open about her personal life and relationships. This book is a must read! -- Ken Crippen, founder and lead instructor at the Football Learning Academy