Line judge Maia Chaka (R) and field judge Steve Currie talk between plays while officiating a college game between the Washington and the North Dakota in Seattle, U.S., September 8, 2018. /AP
Maia Chaka is the first black woman to be named as the officiating staff at the American National Football League (NFL), the league announced Friday.
The NFL made the announcement on "The Today Show" prior to a live interview with Chaka.
"It didn't really hit me until just now when I saw the introduction," Chaka said on the show.
"I'm like, this is really real. This is something that we're always taught to work hard for and sometimes we just don't take time to stop and smell our own roses. And I've just been grinding for so long in this. It's an honor to be able to join the NFL."
Chaka is a health and physical education teacher at Renaissance Academy in Virginia Beach.
She has officiated at the collegiate level, including games in the Pac-12 Conference and Conference USA. The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that operates in the western states while the Conference USA is operated in the southern states.
Down judge Sarah Thomas arrives before the NFL Super Bowl game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa, U.S., February 7, 2021. /AP
Chaka joins Sarah Thomas as the NFL's only female officials. The pair worked together in Conference USA in 2014.
"Maia's years of hard work, dedication and perseverance – including as part of the NFL Officiating Development Program – have earned her a position as an NFL official," said Troy Vincent Sr., NFL executive vice president of American football operations.
"As we celebrate Women's History Month, Maia is a trailblazer as the first black female official and inspires us toward normalizing women on the American football field."