Personal Narrative: My First Basketball Team

I’d like to think that I fell in love at a young age. I grew up watching the WNBA with my parents and always thought that the women displayed on our tv screen were innovators, visionaries, and influencers; alas, my vocabulary back then could only describe them as one thing: superheroes. I was four when my dad took me to my first basketball practice. I remember gripping the brand-new basketball, the smell of genuine leather I began getting familiar with, and I naturally started dribbling the ball to break it in. It felt invigorating. I immediately started running towards the net for the first time on a full-sized court, imitating what I saw on tv. I was close to the basket when I coordinated my steps accordingly. Left foot, right foot, left

Unfortunately, these injuries were from playing basketball, my first love that left me heartbroken. While this was a depressing and dark time in my life, it is also the reason why I was so delighted to become the student manager for my basketball team. My teammates and coaching staff were very supportive during my ACL surgical recovery, and they introduced me to a side of sport that I did not know had such an impact on and off the court. I liked the ability to hold my players and coaches accountable while also supporting them in small ways such as providing first aid kits, score sheets, and water bottles. I was so content with being a manager that I soon became the student manager and video producer for the football team. This felt different than me competing in the sport. I really felt worthy and valuable. At this point, I knew that if I did not have a future playing sports, that doesn’t mean that I have to say goodbye to it altogether. I decided I wanted to dedicate my academic career to Sport Management while researching race and sex in sport and sport event legacy. I want to obtain a Master’s degree then pursue a PhD in the same

I have experienced racism and sexism in the sporting industry as a black woman. For instance, when I still played basketball and wasn’t performing well, I once had a parent come up to me on the bench and impolitely say that I was naturally more athletic than my white counterparts because I was black, so I should start acting like it. I also was told by one of my high school classmates that the reason why more people attended the boys’ games than the girls’ games were because the girls’ team looked “too masculine and weird” to play basketball. Experiences like this began to open my eyes to racism and sexism in sport; however, the more I thought about these comments, the more I realized these comments were from ignorance and stereotyping instead of hatred. As a result, I chose to be open and accepting of individuals, in sport and in life itself, so that I can further understand and appreciate the similarities and differences in people. With this outlook on people, it has shaped me into a lively and outgoing woman who wants to continue to learn about this topic. Because there is a lack of women of color in the sporting industry, especially in high-profile and administrative positions, this drives me to further my education and to break barriers in the industry to set an example that anyone, no matter what background they come from or how they identify themselves, can obtain