Men’s Football
Weekend Watch: Canadian University sport returns with U SPORTS Football and Soccer
Ontario University Athletics (OUA) football fans are undoubtedly excited to see the 2022-23 season kick off on Saturday, August 27, but as the 114th season hits the gridiron, it is more than just the student-athletes who are looking to make their mark.
As part of the officiating crew for the game between the Waterloo Warriors and York Lions, Taylor Mickleboro will become the first woman on-field official in the history of the OUA, doing so alongside Kevin, her father and the 2021 recipient of the Ken Green Officials Award of Merit, and Ryan, her brother.
Despite breaking this barrier, however, Mickleboro looks at this as just another game.
“It’s not something I have really thought about, being the first female,” said Mickleboro, “because to me it’s just another football game.”
Rather than be celebrated as the first woman to take on the role within the conference, something that she does recognize makes room for other female officials who are coming up, Mickleboro prefers to look ahead to a time when news like this is the norm and not the exception.
“I am more of the mindset that I am an official who just happens to be female rather than the other way around because again, just trying to normalize it and make it an everyday thing, that’s kind of how I think about it.”