The inspiration for Sarah Bailey’s career traces back to a conversation she had with her statistics professor in college, whom Bailey credits as the most influential woman for her professionally.
“We were writing a paper together and before we began, she asked me what I liked, to which I responded sports and math,” Bailey said. “She encouraged me to combine the two and at the time I had kind of laughed it off like, ‘that’s not a realistic career,’ but the sports analytics seed was planted then and I thank her everyday for it.”
Today, Bailey is Manager of Football Analytics for the Rams, with whom she’s been with for over five years. In that role, she is responsible for analyzing and presenting on all data on the football side including scouting/personnel, medical, and coaching.
Bailey said she always likes to say her experience breaking into the industry was the result of being “lucky” with timing and job applying, but she doesn’t believe it’s the entire story. It began with her education and putting herself out there and was supported by her putting herself out there and applying for jobs.
“I knew I wanted to be in football, but I also knew that any sports related research or job would bring me closer to that if football wasn’t available,” Bailey said. “I always encourage young women to take a risk on themselves, apply to the job you may not have every qualification for, and be confident.”
Young people seeing her in her position is crucial because it makes the career a reality, according to Bailey.
“I know when I was growing up, even when I was in college, there was no precedent for a role like this, especially for women where we’re historically underrepresented in both sports and technology,” she said. “Seeing this career as a viable option makes it easier to try and pursue and can stretch your internal limits of what’s possible in a career. I think regardless of your gender, it’s important to normalize women being in this position to remove some of the bias or standards women are often given in roles that are male-dominated.”
While football has long been a male-dominated sport, Bailey has seen that paradigm shift during her time with the Rams due to the increase in women in the organization as well as the NFL.
She said that when she first started with the organization, there were only a handful of women on the football side of it, and she also believed that she was one of only two women in football analytics across the league. Now, there’s a lot more women…
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