Safety Haley Van Voorhis becomes first woman non-kicker to play in NCAA football game

Haley Van Voorhis, a safety for the Division-III Shenandoah Hornets, made history Saturday by becoming the first woman non-kicker to appear in a college football game.

Van Voorhuis came in during the first quarter of Shenandoah's home game against Juniata, registering a quarterback hurry on third down.

The 5-foot-6 junior joined the team in 2021 after she was the first female player at Christchurch High School in Virginia, where she was a 2019 All-State Honorable Mention. In 2021, Van Voorhuis told Fox DC it was her dream to play for Shenandoah and from a young age, she always wanted to play football.

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"I wouldn’t want to play anywhere else," Van Voorhis said. "It’s like a spark and a fire that pushes you to want to go harder."

There have been several women that have appeared in a college football game in special team roles since Liz Heaston became the first in October 1997 for the NAIA Willamette Bearcats. In 2003, New Mexico kicker Kate Hind became the first woman to score in a Division I-A game, and in 2020, Vanderbilt kicker Sarah Fuller became the first woman to play and score in a Power 5 football game.

In 2014, Shelby Osborne became the first woman to make a roster as a non-kicker, according to ESPN, for NAIA Campbellsville University, but she didn't appear in any action.