MINNEAPOLIS — Sarah Fuller should have been allowed to bask in the spotlight. She had been pulled from the women's soccer team at Vanderbilt in November 2020 to kick for the Commodores football team.
That's football, as in the sport with the ball with the pointed ends.
Fuller handled kickoffs and nailed two extra points, becoming the first woman to play in and score in a Power Five football game. Vanderbilt, which has no men's soccer team, turned to her after the Commodores' kicking squad was sidelined by coronavirus matters. The groundbreaking moment wasn't without pressure, because no one would forget if she failed.
Instead, Fuller, 23, ended up in a mental health crisis. She was told to stay in her place on social media. Her parents in Texas received hate mail.
"I got a death threat and stuff like that," Fuller said. "It was just crazy, but you know I wanted to take like the positive out of it."
Fuller doesn't regret taking advantage of the opportunity, no matter how rocky things got. On Wednesday, she spoke to about 300 athletes, parents and coaches at the Star Tribune's fifth annual All-Metro Sports Awards at Allianz Field. Her message: Talk to someone about how you are dealing with the challenges presented to you. Even if things are going well, talk about how and why that is.
She regularly saw a sports psychologist at school, so she had support as she dealt with unexpected resistance to her breakthrough performance. She also reached out to others for support, and the inner circle of confidants helped her ride out the storm. She transferred to North Texas, where she is completing work toward a master's degree in sports entertainment management.
"It's definitely really important to keep those lines of conversation open," she said. "If it's not a counselor, it's close friends and family members and people like that."
Fuller also took a break from soccer but ended that break to play for the Aurora, a first-year team in the pre-professional USL W League. The fun of playing returned, as the team quickly became a close-knit and fun-loving group — it had about 30 goal celebrations drawn up — as it rolled to the championship game before its first loss. Fuller said during Wednesday's appearance that she's interested in returning to the Aurora next season.
For now, she's going to focus on her master's. She also announced that she will forgo her final year of eligibility at North Texas as she presses toward a post-playing career.
"I feel like I have a lot of responsibility to represent women in sports and continue to drive it forward," Fuller said. "And so, I'm thankful to now have this platform."
