Caitlin (Williams) Dallmeyer can relate to recent Vanderbilt soccer player-turned football kicker Sarah Fuller. Although their stories are significantly different (and happened nearly two decades apart), they both have an important similarity — playing on a boys’/men’s team.

Both have done more than just put on cleats and compete on the field. They represent breaking down barriers, specifically gender barriers.

“It’s inspiring to see Sarah Fuller's story, and I hope in the future, we continue to see many more just like it,” Dallmeyer said. “But I also think it’s important to recognize the criticism her story has brought. To me, it shows the extent of the work that still needs to be done.

“What I admire most about Sarah is the strength she showed to rise above the critics in order to continue giving her best to her team. I wish for every female who begins to break down gender barriers that they have the strength to deal with the aftermath that may come with it.”

This fall, Fuller took advantage of an opportunity to kick for the Commodores when COVID-19 created a need. Dallmeyer, who is now the head field hockey coach at Lehigh, created change when she played boys’ high school lacrosse at St. Thomas Aquinas (N.H.) from 2001-02.

“Making the choice to go to Catholic school as opposed to our local public school was about having some more opportunities, and one of those was certainly around sports,” she said. “I had played field hockey my freshman year, then moving into the spring semester, I was interested in playing lacrosse. However, they didn’t have a girls’ lacrosse program.”

Instead of sitting back, Dallmeyer asked questions.

“They did have a boys’ team that had been successful and established for several years,” she said. “I was told there wasn’t enough interest to create a girls’ team. Having a lot of interest myself, I thought I could get enough other female students to develop a team. I created a petition and had plenty of people sign it.”

Dallmeyer received about 40 signatures, but the effort went for naught.

“I discussed it with my parents,” she said. “My parents are big believers in trying to create change where you feel it might be needed, so they encouraged me to — if I didn’t have the opportunity to play girls’ lacrosse, but still wanted to play the sport — try boys’ lacrosse.”

Dallmeyer was nervous, but forged ahead.

“Because of Title IX, they didn’t offer an opportunity to play for females, so they had to allow me the opportunity to play on the boys’ team," she said. “I was able to recruit some of my female friends. I was definitely pushed far outside my comfort zone and grew a lot through the experience.”

Dallmeyer dealt with plenty of critiques sent her way, but couldn’t speak more highly of head coach Barry Katz, saying that he “made me feel welcome and worked hard to create an inclusive environment.”

“The times in which I felt uncomfortable were often game play, playing other teams, and some of the parents on our own team weren’t as welcoming as they could have been because they weren’t thrilled I may have been taking time away from others on the field — or that their sons had to play on the field with a female. That part was hard.”

That said, Dallmeyer said her experience was mostly positive overall. Katz always felt culture was the most important part of establishing and maintaining excellence as a program.

“Our culture of inclusion and ‘team-first’ was drilled as much as split dodges and offensive sets,” he said. “The reason Caitlin enjoyed success and the admiration of her teammates was because she earned it.”

Dallmeyer learned that creating change is far from easy, and it takes patience to reap the benefits.

“It was one of the first times in my life I was put in a space where I was extremely challenged and had to navigate an unknown territory, build up my confidence and be my own self advocate,” she said.

That advocacy would eventually pay off, and for not just herself.

“After playing my freshman year, still nothing evolved with the girls’ team,” Dallmeyer said. “We were in the same situation again. I put the petition together, got plenty of signatures, yet no team came from it. I recruited even more young women to join the [boys’] team, and we had a group of seven who went out for the team that year. One of them was my younger sister [Kiera]. She was a freshman and I was a sophomore.”

The sisters both played junior varsity that year but were called up to varsity for the playoffs.

“At the end of junior varsity season, I always met with the captains and asked if there were any JV players who could help us in practice to prepare for the playoffs,” Katz said. “The captains immediately and unanimously suggested Caitlin with some promising underclassmen. These players were called ‘sherpas’ — those who would help the team get to the top.

Dallmeyer wasn’t the first female to play for St. Thomas Aquinas boys’ lacrosse, but she was the first and only female to play in both a varsity game and a state playoff game.

The success was great on an individual level, but most importantly, Dallmeyer was playing a unique role and continuing to advocate for change, which would eventually come.

“I had some help in advocating for a girls’ team once I moved up to varsity because a lot of the other parents of the male players became very vocal and assisted in making a push,” Dallmeyer said. “The following year, there was a girls’ team, so I was able to switch over.”

Dallmeyer’s story is much more than what’s on the surface. It also helped shape her career coaching collegiate field hockey, and in turn, making an impact on so many young adult lives.

“The experience taught me to stand up for what you believe in and make sure when you’re told no, you continue to find other ways to make things happen,” Dallmeyer said. “Obviously, I was told no several times but still wanted to create an opportunity for myself and others, so I kept finding ways to push myself out of my comfort zone.”

Dallmeyer’s actions have helped pave the way for future girls’ lacrosse players at St. Thomas Aquinas, including her sisters (Kiera, Meghan and Reagan). Kiera went on to play collegiate field hockey at New Hampshire. Meghan played both lacrosse and field hockey at Saint Joseph’s College of Maine, while Reagan is currently playing lacrosse at Richmond.

“One of the hardest parts about change is, you don’t always see the fruits of your labor in the moment,” Dallmeyer said. “At that time, I was very much doing it for myself. My mentality as a high school student was that I really wanted to take advantage of this opportunity before I left high school and didn’t have the opportunity to play lacrosse again. I wanted to fight for what I felt was right.”

Helping secure girls’ lacrosse was enough validation at the time, but it led to her younger sisters getting involved, developing a passion for the sport.

“They played the sport, got recognized by college coaches and had the opportunity to play beyond the high school level, which wasn’t afforded to me,” said Dallmeyer, who played field hockey at Duke. “Looking back, I realize the battle and struggle I went through in advocating for the program was certainly worth it.”

Dallmeyer now wants to see a similar hard-working mentality from the student-athletes she currently coaches.

“The challenges our student-athletes are facing certainly can be exhausting, and they have to choose to keep working hard,” she said. “That choice might not give them instant gratification. We might not win a Patriot League championship next year, but we’re laying a foundation that others will come into and succeed.”

Sound familiar? It should.

Dallmeyer knows the value of a patient, big-picture mindset, which extends beyond the playing field.

“As a coach who works with many female athletes who will go on to work in male dominated STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) fields, I am committed to ensuring they’re well-equipped with the confidence they need to remain resilient under any and all circumstances,” Dallmeyer said.

Confidence and resiliency to block out the noise describes Fuller when kicking for Vanderbilt, and Dallmeyer when playing boys’ lacrosse. Creating change isn’t easy, but it’s what keeps Dallmeyer going.

“When you see the opportunity to fight for something, keep working at it and don’t back down,” she said. “There is a result out there. You might not see it initially, but the reward will come.”