The NFL has created a position to address the lack of women in coaching and scouting roles at the team level and named former womens football pro tackle player Sam Rapoport as director of football development.Rapoports role will be to identify women who are knowledgeable about the game and train them, and to create a space for those women in the social networks that often lead to jobs in football.My role is to create programming to show them that the pipeline is open to them, Rapoport said Tuesday, and create that pipeline for females to enter into positions that were traditionally held by men.Opportunities for women and minorities have been a focus for the NFL in the past year. The leagues insularity was exposed during the crisis surrounding Ray Rices domestic violence suspension. Last winter, women in the front office planned a womens summit that was held during the Super Bowl. There, commissioner Roger Goodell announced the NFL front office was creating a Rooney Rule for women in front-office jobs, meaning that for every managerial position and higher, a woman would be interviewed before a hire is made.With 52.6 million women viewing the Super Bowl this past February, according to the NFL, the league wants to expand opportunities for women in, for example, officiating and as athletic trainers.In such a strategic hire as this, we needed to have an individual that is passionate and knowledgeable in this space, NFL EVP of football operations Troy Vincent said. Sam is an excellent fit.Currently, 30 percent of the NFLs front-office employees are women. Football operations jobs are a different story. Sarah Thomas became the first woman hired as a full-time referee last year, and Kathryn Smith is a full-time quality-control coach for the Bills.Rapoport, as a former player, is plugged into a network of women who have played the game known as professional womens football even though players generally dont get paid to play. Jen Welter, the first woman to coach in the NFL through a coaching internship with the Arizona Cardinals, had a background in womens tackle and later played and coached men. Similarly, the NFL wants to mine that talent and train women for possible jobs in coaching and scouting.Playing tackle football obviously is not a prerequisite to being an excellent coach, Rapoport said. Adam Gase coaches the Dolphins and never played (in college or the NFL), and there are others. Its not a prerequisite, but in order to be a good coach, you have to have a general knowledge of football and you have to be able to relay that info in a coherent way to players. And, to me, that translates to male or female. Do you know your stuff, and are you able to relay that in a coherent way?Connecting qualified women with NFL teams may be a bigger challenge. Rapoport has been calling general managers and owners to set up a committee on gender inclusion. With just two months on the job, she is in the early stages, but the goal is to create connections that can lead to jobs in a field where many hires are based on previous relationships in mens football.Thats how any job -- not just football, but any job thats a prestigious job -- is acquired, Rapoport said. Thats our biggest barrier. We didnt grow up in the male tackle football world, so we dont have a friend who is a coach, or, I played for him, so hell recommend me for a job.Thats a reason this position exists, and thats a big-time focus for me, just connecting owners and general managers to women who are very qualified and very passionate and ready to go.Rapoport played flag and touch football growing up in Canada and was a member of the Canadian national flag team. She has worked in football since 2003, first with a marketing internship with the NFL and later developing a national flag football program for girls during her six years with USA Football.In 2003, as a quarterback for the Montreal Blitz, Rapoport applied for her NFL internship by sending her résumé along with photo of herself in pads and a football. 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Barcelonas entertaining victory ensured the defending Spanish champions retained their share of the league lead with Atletico Madrid two rounds ahead of their meeting in the capital. Real Madrid needed a late goal by substitute Jese Rodriguez to earn a 3-2 victory at Valencia to stay in third place and three points behind its title rivals.Former F1 driver Robert Kubica will compete in the Renault Sport Trophy at Spa-Francorchamps on September 24-25.?During five years with BMW Sauber and Renault, Kubica was tipped to be a future world champion but a serious rally crash in early 2011 prematurely ended his F1 career. The Pole, who won the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix, has been largely focused on rallying since his accident but also competed in the Mugello 12 Hours earlier this season.Kubica will try the R.S 01 for Duqueine Engineering, a car he has already sampled at a shakedown event at French circuit Ales.Speaking about his first impressions of the car, Kubica said: I quickly felt at ease at the wheel of the R.S. 01, and even on a twisty track like Ales its qqualities were immediately evident, especially the stopping power granted by the carbon discs, Kubica said.ddddddddddddI was impressed by how late into the corner you can brake and by the absence of body roll, even when you push to make the most of the available grip.I look forward to driving it at Spa, where all the downforce the car can generate will also come into play.Spa was the scene of what turned out to be Kubicas last F1 podium in 2010. 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