Blow the Whistle: A Conversation on Diversity in Coaching
Abstract
Sports coaching, with professional credentials, is a growing industry in athletics. Beyond promoting optimization of sports skills, sports coaches, at all levels, provide guidance on mental and physical health, quality lifestyle, leadership, and academics. However, as sports levels increase, diversity among coaching staff significantly decreases. While policies including Title IX and the NFL’s Rooney Rule have been enacted, there is still a significant amount of progress that needs to be made to ensure absolute, dynamic-changing, and empowering diversity in sport for minorities and women.
To better understand how to bolster change, a webinar—hosted virtually, on campus—will be conducted, entitled “Blow the Whistle: A Conversation on Diversity in Coaching - Recognizing Barriers Specific to Black and African American Coaches. Based upon research, this webinar will serve as a sounding board for the initiatives needed to create a more diverse and welcoming coaching environment and inspire future minority and female coaching professionals. The panelist board will feature seven diverse individuals from various sports leadership professions, demographics, backgrounds, and levels, which will serve to diversify the perspectives shared and contribute to the drawing up of a cohesive strategy. This webinar endeavors to note the importance of workplace diversity in leadership and mentorship and share information with those working towards or job searching within athletics on the best practices for being the face of diversity, integrating diversity, or carrying out both simultaneously.
Keywords: Sports, Athletics, Coaching, Diversity, African American
Blow the Whistle: A Conversation on Diversity in Coaching
Sports coaching, with professional credentials, is a growing industry in athletics. Beyond promoting optimization of sports skills, sports coaches, at all levels, provide guidance on mental and physical health, quality lifestyle, leadership, and academics. However, as sports levels increase, diversity among coaching staff significantly decreases. While policies including Title IX and the NFL’s Rooney Rule have been enacted, there is still a significant amount of progress that needs to be made to ensure absolute, dynamic-changing, and empowering diversity in sport for minorities and women.
To better understand how to bolster change, a webinar—hosted virtually, on campus—will be conducted, entitled “Blow the Whistle: A Conversation on Diversity in Coaching - Recognizing Barriers Specific to Black and African American Coaches. Based upon research, this webinar will serve as a sounding board for the initiatives needed to create a more diverse and welcoming coaching environment and inspire future minority and female coaching professionals. The panelist board will feature seven diverse individuals from various sports leadership professions, demographics, backgrounds, and levels, which will serve to diversify the perspectives shared and contribute to the drawing up of a cohesive strategy. This webinar endeavors to note the importance of workplace diversity in leadership and mentorship and share information with those working towards or job searching within athletics on the best practices for being the face of diversity, integrating diversity, or carrying out both simultaneously.
Keywords: Sports, Athletics, Coaching, Diversity, African American
