text: The National Football League has hired its first female ref, Sarah Thomas, according to a report. Thomas, 42, a referee for college football's Conference USA, has been considered before for a position in the NFL before she was chosen to start in the league next year, Baltimore reporter Aaron Wilson posted on his Twitter account. She has previously refereed preseasons games, scrimmages and minicamps after becoming part of the NFL's training program since 2013. Sarah Thomas, a 42-year-old mother of three from Brandon, Mississippi, has reportedly been tapped as the first woman to be hired as a full-time NFL referee. Above she officiates a preseason New Orleans Saints game . The Conference USA official became the first woman to officiate and FBS game in 2007 and the first to preside over a bowl game in 2009 . The NFL would not confirm Thomas's hiring on Friday, saying in a statement: 'The 2015 roster of officials has not yet been finalized. When it is, the new officials for 2015 and the entire roster will be announced.' Thomas will be among eight new hires made for the 2015 season, a source close to the matter told the LA Times. A Brandon, Mississippi, native, Thomas played basketball at University of Mobile before beginning officiating after attending a meeting with her brother. 'He told me there’s a bunch of old men sitting there. And that I might get some strange stares,' she told the Hattiesburg American last year. 'When I walked into that meeting sure enough that did happen.' She reffed basketball and high school football before moving on to college and becoming the first woman to officiate a FBS game in 2007 and the first to preside over a bowl game in 2009. 'The thing is, I've never set out to be the first and that hasn't changed, she said in 2013. 'I do this because I love it.' The mother of three credits her success in sports to being raised with brothers. The Mississippi native first began officiating after attending a meeting with her brother and credits her family with helping her succeed in the sports world . Though Thomas is tabbed to be the first full-time woman hire by the NFL, Shannon Eastin became the first female to officiate a game in the league when she was a replacement ref in 2012 . She also works as a  pharmaceutical sales representative, and says she doesn't wear the makeup she wears at her day job when she's on the gridiron,  according to Gulf Live. Shannon Eastin technically became the first woman to officiate an NFL game in 2012, when the league hired replacement refs while in negotiations with the officials' union. However, she stopped working for the NFL after owners reached an agreement with the regular officials. If Thomas begins reffing regular season games, the NFL would become the second major American sports league to have women officials, after the NBA. Violet Palmer and Dee Kanter were hired by the basketball league in 1997. Kantner was fired in 2002, though Palmer still regularly runs games in the playoffs. The NBA hired another female ref, Lauren Holtkamp, last year. Women umpires in baseball have only reached the Triple-A and preseason game levels. Female refs are common in the WNBA. Violet Palmer, NBA . Violet Palmer referees a game between the Orlando Magic and the Denver Nuggets in January of this year . Violet Palmer is the longest-serving female referee in any of American sport's four major leagues. She was first hired by the NBA in 1997 and has continued officiating men's basketball to the present day. Palmer later continued trailblazing, becoming the first woman to ref a playoff game in 2006, between the Indiana Pacers and the New Jersey Nets. Beyond breaking ground for her gender, she also publicly announced that she was lesbian in 2014, shortly after Jason Collins became the first NBA player to come out as gay. Dee Kantner, NBA . Dee Kanter, was hired the same year as Violet Palmer as an NBA ref but left after several seasons. Above, Kantner stands next to North Carolina Tar Heels coach Sylvia Hatchell at a 2013 womens's NCAA game . Dee Kantner joined the NBA officiating staff the same year as Palmer, but was fired after the 2001-2002 season. In a statement about her firing, the league said that she was 'not making sufficient progress in her own development'. Kantner said that she was 'stunned' by her letting go and that she had been given no warning about the decision. She worked as the supervisor of officials in the WNBA before going to the men's league, a role to which she has since returned. The long time referee has also consistently officiated women's college basketball. Lauren Holtkamp, NBA . Female NBA ref Laura Holtkamp, who  is completing her first season in the NBA this year, discusses a call with Denver Nuggets player Ty Lawson in November . Laura Holtkamp, 34, became the NBA's third female referee in 2014 after . She played basketball at Drury University in Missouri and had plans to get a master's degree in divinity at Emory in Atlanta before being drawn to refereeing. She soon became reffing women's college games as well as WNBA and NBA D-League matches, according to Grantland. Her first year in the league has not been without controversy. Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul was criticized by many for alleged sexism when he said 'this might not be for her,' after he was given a technical fowl by Holtkamp. Pamela Postema, MLB Spring Training . Female MLB umpire Pamela Postema calls balls and strikes behind the plate at a a Kansas City Royals game in 1992 . Pamela Postema was not the first woman to umpire a professional baseball game, with her first innings come five years after Bernice Gera sued Major League Baseball to preside over a minor league contest in 1972. However, Postema became a fixture in the professional games everywhere but 'The Show' in the 1980s. She spent seven years in Triple-A, the league directly below the majors, and even made it to spring training games in 1988 and 1989. However, she was controversially fired in 1989 after the death of MLB commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti, who had been considered supportive of her career. Postema filed a sex discrimination lawsuit after the firing ended her well-regarded career, which was settled out of court. Ria Cortesio, Minor League Baseball . Ria Cortesio, pictured at a Double-A game between the Jacksonville Suns and the Montgomery Biscuits in 2007, was fired the same year . Ria Cortesio was the face of female umpiring in baseball for many years in the mid-2000s. She spent nine years in the minor leagues, with the highest being the Double-A Southern League, according to the Houston Chronicle. Cortesio was also the first woman since Postema to umpire an exhibition game when she worked a spring training match-up between the Chicago Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks. She also worked the Home Run Derby at the 2006 All-Star Game in Pittsburgh. Her umpire rating in Double-A slipped during the 2007 season and she was let go in the autumn of that year, according to ESPN. Shannon Eastin . Shannon Eastin became the first woman to officiate a regular season NFL game in 2012. Above, she follows the Jacksonville Jaguars and Indianapolis Colts during the same month . Shannon Eastin became the first woman to officiate a regular season NFL game in 2012 when she was used as a replacement ref in the September 2012 game between the St Louis Rams and the Detroit Lions. Regular officials were locked out by owners during a 2012 dispute, a replacement refs were used until an agreement was reached at the end of September. She had previously officiated the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference college games and high school games before being hired by the NFL. The Massachusetts native, 42 at the time, has not returned to the NFL since the end of the referee lockout.
target: Thomas has refereed a preseasons game, scrimmages and minicamps .
  She was first woman to preside over a bowl game in college football .
  Shannon Eastin, replacement ref, officiated game during 2012 lockout .
  Hiring would make NFL second major sports league with woman official .