Justine Siegal and Lauren Holtkamp, two of the biggest female trailblazers in sports in recent years, discussed their career paths and challenges with SI's Maggie Gray at the ’17 Game Changers Conference in N.Y. Siegal, the first woman to coach for a major league organization when she was hired by the A's in '15, said being the first woman to pitch batting practice to an MLB team was as much of a mental challenge as a physical one. “If I fail it would take a long time for another woman to get a chance,” she said. Siegal added she knew there would be some friction when she first started in the role. Siegal: “When you’re working with men in this kind of situation, you have to do it very delicately.” Holtkamp, who in '14 became the third woman to be a full-time referee in the NBA, said she has felt the responsibility of being a female trailblazer in sports. “I want to do my job as well as I can,” she said, "creating a career that is meaningful and has depth both for myself and beyond. It’s not a burden, but a calling.” Siegel added, “When you’re doing something that has never been done before, a lot of it has to do with opening people’s minds.”
