What are some of the ways that professional sports have promoted diversity and inclusion, particularly related to race and ethnicity? How successful have those efforts been? And what more can be done to promote diversity and inclusion in coaching, management, and ownership? Be sure to offer specific examples to support your points. Limit: 13 responses
Many professional sports have been taking the steps to promote diversity and inclusion, particularly related to race and ethnicity. One of the biggest problems in sports media is the lack of women and different races and sexualities. The NFL has recently expanded the Rooney Rule, established in 2003, a rule that includes women and minority groups in sports media. Now, when looking to fill significant positions all 32 clubs must interview two women and or people of color. According to the article, “NFL Expands Rooney Rule to Include Women, Required Hiring of One Minority Assistant,” Jelani Scott received information from CNBC that “the NFL believes the addition of women to the policy will ‘encourage the further identification and development of women candidates and the ability to provide them additional opportunity to interview for open positions” (Scott). I personally believe that it is quite sad that it took a rule and set in stone policy in order for women to be represented in sports. However, I appreciate that now women will be involved and at least get the opportunity that was not available in past times. Although we see efforts being made, there is a huge lack of diversity in the NHL. There are barely any players of color in hockey. One of the reasons for that is the horrible discrimination and racism in this sport that many do not realize. In the article, “The Privilege of Play: Hockey's Racist and Affluent Culture Still Hasn't Changed,” Lila Bromberg talks about a traumatic experience J.T. Brown, a former NHL right-wing, had as a 10-year-old during a hockey game, being called the N-word. In tears, he immediately when to his coach telling him what happened. With the referee refusing to take action, his coach forfeited the game and left the arena. Bromberg stated, “though the racist taunts continued during his youth hockey career, it was reassuring to know someone had his back at that moment. “I don't know if I wouldn't have had the coaches, or if I weren't to have the support that I did if I'd even be here at this point,” Brown said. “Maybe I would have eventually changed sports or gotten mad enough that I didn't want to deal with that anymore” (Bromberg). I completely agree with Lila Bromberg that it was reassuring that someone had Brown’s back, with such racism back then and still today.
ReplyDeleteI think there definitely still needs to be changes made in order to create a safe and diverse environment in the NHL. I think there can definitely be changes made in marketing sports media. According to the article, The Importance of Diversity & Inclusion In Sports Marketing,” Dan Hughes stated that “focusing on inclusion and cultural celebration should be at the heart of every sports marketer’s strategy. Not only will being more inclusive with your campaigns and outlook expand your brand’s audience, but it’s also the right thing to do: becoming accessible, not exclusionary” (Hughes). This is really important for sports moving forward. I think that with this vision, there will be change.
ReplyDeleteBromberg, Lila. “The Privilege of Play: Hockey's Racist and Affluent Culture Still Hasn't Changed.” Yahoo! Sports, Yahoo!, 29 Sept. 2020, https://sports.yahoo.com/the-privilege-of-play-hockeys-racist-and-affluent-culture-still-hasnt-changed-140255916.html?guccounter=1.
Hughes, Dan. “The Importance of Diversity & Inclusion in Sports Marketing: Blog: Online Digital Marketing Courses.” Digital Marketing Institute, Digital Marketing Institute, 14 July 2021, https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/the-importance-of-diversity-and-inclusion-in-sports-marketing.
Scott, Jelani. “NFL Expands Rooney Rule Ahead of 2022 Season.” Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated, 29 Mar. 2022, https://www.si.com/nfl/2022/03/29/nfl-expands-rooney-rule-include-women-required-one-minority-assistant.
Brianna Gonsalves
ReplyDeleteProfessional sports are held to a high expectation when it comes to promoting diversity and inclusion. Sports have failed at promoting these topics in the past, but a difference in demand has made leagues change their outlooks. The WNBA is known for their efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in their league. In an article titled Can Professional Sports Offer Diversity and Inclusion Insight For All Industries from Forbes written by Michael Rueda explains how the WNBA has made their efforts known and how they have become the leading league in promoting diversity, “The WNBA, for example, is a leader in diversity and inclusion, with inclusive representation seen across the league, including team ownership, front office leadership, and coaching. In 2021, the WNBA received top scores for racial and gender hiring practices among professional sports leagues from…WNBA players have used their voices and platform to lead movements focused on social justice, mental health, and LGBTQ+ advocacy and rights,” (Rueda). A big problem in sports comes to the people behind the scenes and the unfair chances for people of color to land a job in these professional sport settings. The NFL is a league that gets a lot of backlash for this especially with their lack of hiring women and their unfair treatment of members who are not white males. The WNBA changes this narrative and shows that all people are capable of working in sports, not just the typical white man.
The NFL has received some backlash for their lack of diversity inclusion. They are joining in on the efforts to change the narrative and allow for more diversity in their staff. In an article titled NFL Expands Rooney Rule to Include Women, Required Hiring of One Minority Assistant from SI written by Jelani Scott, discusses a new change the NFL has made to expand diversity, “The league expanded the rule to include women as part of the external minority candidate interview pool. Established in 2003, the Rooney Rule now stipulates that all 32 clubs must interview at least two women and/or persons of color when seeking to fill prominent positions in order to comply with the policy. The revised Rooney Rule will also eliminate Zoom interviews and require teams to hold in-person interviews with minorities,” (Scott). For the NFL this is a step in the right direction. Eventually the NFL will have to shift to having no rules in place and allowing for all people to be hired without there being a need to have a rule in place to enforce it.
Sports are thought to be one of the least progressive industries and need to start working toward full inclusivity. Leagues need to start hiring people based on skill rather than social factors and allow for their teams to be diversified and inclusive. In an article from Forbes titled It’s Time To Make Sports More Inclusive and Diverse written by Jonquil Hackenberg, discusses how sports needs to look past the glory and financial workings and make it a better space for everyone to feel involved, “Sport is one of the least diverse, least progressive, least sustainable industries, yet we pour money, time, and our undivided attention into it year after year. Deep down, most in the industry know that a focus on ESG could change the face of sport forever, and make it an industry that helps push the world forward for the right reasons. The issue is moving past the money and the glory to make this a priority,” (Hackenberg). The sports industry needs to understand that with the change and demand for equality, their financial support relies heavily on the demand for change.
DeleteWorks Cited
Hackenberg, Jonquil. “It's Time to Make Sport More Inclusive and Diverse.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 14 Sept. 2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonquilhackenberg/2021/09/14/its-time-to-make-sport-more-inclusive-and-diverse/?sh=51a0e7763dea.
Rueda, Michael. “Can Professional Sports Offer Diversity and Inclusion Insight for All Industries.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 28 Jan. 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelrueda/2022/01/27/can-professional-sports-offer-diversity-and-inclusion-insight-for-all-industries/?sh=150ffc0c719f.
Scott, Jelani. “NFL Expands Rooney Rule Ahead of 2022 Season.” Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated, 29 Mar. 2022, https://www.si.com/nfl/2022/03/29/nfl-expands-rooney-rule-include-women-required-one-minority-assistant.
Joey O’Donoghue:
ReplyDeleteSports leagues are beginning to take efforts to increase diversity throughout their environment. There are areas where this has been successful, and areas where it clearly has not. According to an article from “Sports Illustrated” by Jelani Scott, “The Rooney Rule now stipulates that all 32 clubs must interview at least two women and/or persons of color when seeking to fill prominent positions in order to comply with the policy” (Scott, 2022). In an effort to increase diversity, the NFL’s Rooney rule allows for more opportunities for people of color and now women, which is part of the root of the issue. There certainly are a lot of qualified white candidates in major sports leagues who deserve the positions they have. Yet, minority candidates were never even being given the opportunities to prove themselves despite the fact that they may be more qualified for a multitude of different occupations. The Rooney rule is a step in the right direction in increasing equal opportunities amongst everyone. Or at least, that’s the idea…
Despite the NFL and other major sports leagues efforts and regulations created to increase diversity in sports, only slight progress has been made. According to an article from the “New York Times” by Gillian Brassil, “In 2020, the N.F.L. started the season with four coaches who identified as nonwhite [three as Black, one as Latino], meaning that 13 percent of head coaches were people of color” (Brassil, 2020). So, head coaching jobs and a majority of management positions in the NFL remain predominantly white despite the Rooney rule being in effect for about two decades. In fact, there is not a SINGLE black owner in the NFL today. Additionally, 30 of the NFL’s 32 owners are white. Increasing diversity is a very complex issue. But, In order for change to occur, it must start from the top. According to an article from “Great Place to Work” by Roula Amire, “Allow them [NFL owners] to have more exposure to Black players, to young Black coaches so that they feel more comfortable with turning over their team to some of these diverse people” (Amire, 2022). A lack of diversity hiring within the NFL could simply stem from a lack of education amongst old white owners. If the NFL made an effort to inform their owners about racial history and introduce them to young and talented minority folks, they may be more likely to hire diverse candidates. The sad reality is that people of a certain race have grown up or been born into lesser opportunities than other races. But, change cannot happen without time and investment into fostering minority talent and increasing education on the subject matter.
DeleteReferences
Amire, R. (2022, February 17). Why the NFL's diversity problem is every organization's problem-and what you can do about it. Great Place to Work®. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://www.greatplacetowork.com/resources/blog/why-the-nfls-diversity-problem-is-every-organizations-problem
Brassil, G. R., & Lutz, E. (2020, December 23). In 30 years, Little Progress for U.S. sports leagues on leadership diversity. The New York Times. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/23/sports/diversity-coaches-sports.html
Scott, J. (2022, March 29). NFL expands Rooney Rule ahead of 2022 season. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://www.si.com/nfl/2022/03/29/nfl-expands-rooney-rule-include-women-required-one-minority-assistant
Nicole Clemons
ReplyDeleteProfessional sports have been taking the steps to promote diversity and inclusion throughout leagues and teams. I think this has increased over the past two years since the protest after the killing of Geroge Floyd particularly relating to race and ethnicity. Although there are some issues with diversity in some sports, a majority of professional sports lack diversity off of the court and field. The NFL has taken steps to be more inclusive while hiring “The NFL announced new changes to the Rooney Rule on Monday as team owners convened in Florida for the annual league meeting. The league expanded the rule to include women as part of the external minority candidate interview pool. Established in 2003, the Rooney Rule now stipulates that all 32 clubs must interview at least two women and/or persons of color when seeking to fill prominent positions in order to comply with the policy. The revised Rooney Rule will also eliminate Zoom interviews and require teams to hold in-person interviews with minorities” (Scott). It is sad that a rule had to be put in place for women to be included in the interview process. Although it is sad it is also important and a step in the right direction for women who want to work in sports.
As I mentioned earlier some sports have a larger issue with diversity within the league. A league that truly lacks diversity is the NHL. Hockey is a predominately white sport and although there have been players of color throughout the years there is always a racist incident that a player of color has faced. One incident that really put into perspective that there is still so much racism in the sport today was the incident with K’Andre Miller, “When New York Rangers prospect K’Andre Miller, who is Black, participated in what he must have believed would be an ordinary question-and-answer session with fans on Zoom earlier this year, he was repeatedly abused with racist taunts”(Doyle). He did not even get to step foot on the ice with the Rangers and his zoom chat was spammed with the N-word. Hockey claims the sport is for everyone, but everyone does not feel welcomed. To have a statement like that people should really feel that it holds true.
I think their definitely needs to be more inclusion in coaching, management, and ownership positions in sports. A majority of the people we see filling these roles are older white men. Many leagues are looking to increase the diversity in their general managers and coaches. The MLS is even willing to hand out fines if they so not comply with the new rules, “The policy is not merely aspirational. Clubs will be held accountable and sanctioned for not complying. Sanctions include $50,000 for a first offense and $100,000 for a second offense. Higher sanctions are subject to the discretion of MLS Commissioner Don Garber”(Rueda). I think the WNBA and the MLS are taking bigger steps in implementing diversity within their leagues better than any other leagues. They don’t just talk about wanting a change they are enforcing it with new rules they are setting in place.
Nicole Clemons cont
DeleteWork Cited
Doyle, Terrence. “The NHL Says 'Hockey Is for Everyone.' Black Players Aren't so Sure.” FiveThirtyEight, FiveThirtyEight, 19 Oct. 2020, https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-nhl-says-hockey-is-for-everyone-black-players-arent-so-sure/.
Rueda, Michael. “Can Professional Sports Offer Diversity and Inclusion Insight for All Industries.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 28 Jan. 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelrueda/2022/01/27/can-professional-sports-offer-diversity-and-inclusion-insight-for-all-industries/?sh=32febb94719f.
Scott, Jelani. “NFL Expands Rooney Rule Ahead of 2022 Season.” Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated, 29 Mar. 2022, https://www.si.com/nfl/2022/03/29/nfl-expands-rooney-rule-include-women-required-one-minority-assistant.
Shannon Goria
ReplyDeleteProfessional sport teams have been trying to combat the issue of diversity and inclusion among sports to create fair opportunities for underrepresented groups for a while. However, it was not until the murder of George Floyd that created a sense of panic and call throughout the nation for the inclusion of all among every industry, including professional sports. Rueda (2022) claims the WNBA to be the leading team in terms of diversity and inclusion as they have representation among the league, including the front office leadership, team ownership, and coaching. She also states that WNBA players even use their platforms to led movements pertaining to social justice, mental health and the inclusion of minority groups. Rueda states that the WNBA has even created a social justice council that focuses on social justice programming including anti-racism training. In terms of men’s professional sports, Rueda claims that the NBA rates very high in hiring more managers and coaches of color in addition to their league-wide action of launching social justice, civic engagement and inclusion initiatives and encouraging NBA players to use their platform to initiate and spread change. Additionally, Rueda claimed that this past December, the “MLS announced enhancements to its Diversity Hiring Policy for various sporting positions” (Rueda, 2022).
Although many teams have implemented social justice policies to promote diversity and inclusion within professional sports, there is still a lot more progress to be made. Bromberg (2020) states that since McBride formed thee Diversity Task Force in the NHL when there was just three players of color in the league, there has only been 42 since…which is very miniscule progress. After the murder of George Floyd this group of minority NHL players formed the Hockey Diversity Alliance (HDA) , however the progress is slow moving. And although a culture of racism doesn’t go away overnight, with more teams such as the NHL hiring a vice president for social impact and legislative affairs and requiring more “educational workshops on anti-racism, unconscious bias, dimensions of identity, microaggressions and cultural competency,” more resources for youth hockey programs for minorities are beginning to grow (Bromberg, 2020).
Alex Weprin (2021) quotes ESPN Chief Jimmy Pitaro on his memo regarding diversity and inclusion in saying “Everyone owns inclusion. It’s the way you treat your colleagues, how you champion your team, how you welcome new ideas and people, and how you make others feel. Each of us is responsible for creating a culture and climate that thrives.” In saying this, Pitaro stressed the importance of raising concern when due, as no change can come about with acknowledging the issue. This, I believe, is the best way to promote more diversity and inclusion in coaching, management, ownership, and everything within the sports industry. I believe that there is power in numbers, and that the more people of every level within the sporting industry that takes a stand for social justice, the better it will become. Professional athletes need to use their platforms as role models to pave the way for the new generations of athletes coming into sports to make them feel more accepted and prouder of who they are. As the more that people share their stories and use their voice to promote diversity, the more normalized it will become. And this is how significant change grows.
Shannon Goria (Continued)
ReplyDeleteWorks Cited
Bromberg, L. (2020, September 29). The privilege of play: Hockey's racist and affluent culture still hasn't changed. Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://sports.yahoo.com/the-privilege-of-play-hockeys-racist-and-affluent-culture-still-hasnt-changed-140255916.html
Rueda, M. (2022, January 28). Can professional sports offer diversity and inclusion insight for all industries. Forbes. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelrueda/2022/01/27/can-professional-sports-offer-diversity-and-inclusion-insight-for-all-industries/?sh=246bbbf1719f
Weprin, A. (2021, July 14). ESPN chief writes memo to staff on diversity efforts amid "complicated" personnel dispute. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/jimmy-pitaro-maria-taylor-rachel-nichols-memo-1234981619/
Part 1
ReplyDeleteCharlie Windels
Diversity in the sports industry is an extremely important topic that is seemingly being talked about more and more recently. Overall we are seeing improvements, but it still is not in the state many sports enthusiasts like myself would like it to be. In an article I was reading titled NFL Owners Are Committed to Diversity — Until It’s Their Turn to Make a Hire by Sally Jenkins she talks about how the NFL talks about these new goals for a more diverse and equal opportune league but does very little when it comes to making the actual decisions. The article quotes “But what has Mara done in more recent seasons to suggest he cares more about racial diversity than diverticulitis? Since the departure of Tom Coughlin in January 2016, Mara has hired four coaches: Ben McAdoo, Pat Shurmur, Joe Judge and now Brian Daboll” (Jenkins). Overall this was something that the NFL continues to sweep under the rug.
Despite these issues with the NFL at some point they will need to make a change as more and more progress is being made towards diversity in other leagues. In particular, the WNBA and NBA have been trying to shine a light on this issue and make more people aware. Another article I read titled Can Professional Sports Offer Diversity And Inclusion Insight For All Industries by Michael Rueda suggests that a lot of this push for change has to do with athletes and activism and their willingness and courage to speak out. The article mentions how “Athlete activism is widespread among NBA players. The NBA has taken supportive league-wide action to address issues of player concern by launching social justice, civic engagement, and inclusion initiatives and encouraging players to use their platforms for change” (Rueda). Overall this shows that at some point the league owners and managers are bound to listen to the many players creating their revenue and soon we should see more change.
Part 2
ReplyDeleteCharlie Windels
In fact, after doing some research of my own I found that even in leagues like the NHL which are known to be predominantly white males we see slight pushes for a change. Many NHL players spoke out on this issue with some refusing to play after the BLM movement. Recently I read an article titled Lightning start all-Black forward line in a game against Panthers by William Douglas in which he quotes player Matthew Joseph. “Joseph said. "My goal, and the goal of players of color in this league, obviously want to showcase their sports to your families or other people of color. It's awesome to be one of the guys who were for that, and it was all from the coaching staff that did that tonight, but it's a great recognition, for sure." (Douglas). Although this is a step in the right direction for the NHL there is still a lot of work that still needs to be done among the NHL and other sports leagues. Overall I think we should see growth in this area shortly as athletes and members of the sports community speak out.
Works Cited
Can Professional Sports Offer Diversity And Inclusion Insight For All Industries
Michael Rueda Forbes Jan 27, 2022,05:30am EST https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelrueda/2022/01/27/can-professional-sports-offer-diversity-and-inclusion-insight-for-all- industries/?sh=150ffc0c719f
NFL Owners Are Committed to Diversity — Until It’s Their Turn to Make a Hire
By Sally Jenkins, Columnist Washington Post February 3, 2022 https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/02/03/brian-flores-new-york-giants-interview/
Douglas, William. “Lightning Start All-Black Forward Line in Game against Panthers.”
NHL.com, NHL.com, 11 May 2021, https://www.nhl.com/news/lightning-start-all-black-forward-line-against-panthers/c-324556208.
Ethan Carrion
ReplyDeleteRace was never at the forefront of my mind when watching sports growing up. Watching sports, it seems that most teams have a decently diverse roster. In basketball and football, most of the athletes are black. According to Statista, 58.9% of NFL players are black. (Statista) Furthermore, sports like soccer and MMA have quite a diverse cast, with Asian, Hispanic, black, and white athletes making up fairly representative parts of their teams. In terms of efforts to promote racial equality, I will be focusing on soccer as it is what I am most familiar with.
The issues in soccer, like many sports I believe, is not in the diversity of the team; it is about getting the fans to accept all members of the team. Being a sport that is played globally, soccer has a natural advantage when approaching issues of race and ethnicity. They have run a number of campaigns such as the “Stop racism. Stop violence.” campaign run by the FIFA organization. (FIFA.com) Despite the efforts made by these campaigns, racism has still been a consistent issue in soccer. For example, an appalling act that has become an embarrassing tradition for some soccer fans is to throw a banana at players of color while they are taking a corner kick (the time they are physically closest to the fans). This behavior is typically accompanied by racial slurs and other inappropriate language. I do believe that when it comes down to the athletes, sports organizations have been successful creating racially fair teams, though I question if this is purely due to good intent and not because of athletic ability.
One egregious example of what fans are capable of, was after England lost the Euro Finals in a penalty shoutout to Italy. According to AP, 3 players Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho, and Marcus Rashford were held responsible by fans and received a disgusting amount of racist abuse. (AP) Ignoring the fact that these 3 players were not exclusively responsible for the loss, there is no excuse for that kind of behavior from fans. Sports fans certainly have a race issue to deal with, but it appears to me that this is more of a reflection on the overall racial climate rather than sports fans specifically.
DeleteOne area that I do believe race is a grander issue than anywhere else, is in management. Despite the racially difference teams that are often put forward on game nights, most management in sports is white. In “In 30 Years, Little Progress for U.S. Sports Leagues on Leadership Diversity”, an article by Gillian R. Brassil, it is shown that only 3 out of 12 head coaches were people of color while the other 9 were white. This is in spite of the fact, that 119 out of 144 players were people of color. (New York Times) It's even worse when broken down on a social level, most coaches in sports are former athletes or at least are related to a former athlete. Since most of the athletes are people of color, yet most of the management is white, this shows a disproportionate hiring of white former athletes into managerial positions as opposed to athletes of color. Let me now remind you that this statistic is white people compared to all other races, not just black or Hispanic people.
Citations:
Gillett, R. A. (2021, October 13). Racism in sport: Why it comes to the surface when teams lose. The Conversation. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://theconversation.com/racism-in-sport-why-it-comes-to-the-surface-when-teams-lose-164413
Brassil, G. R., & Lutz, E. (2020, December 23). In 30 years, Little Progress for U.S. sports leagues on leadership diversity. The New York Times. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/23/sports/diversity-coaches-sports.html
Sharp, W. (2021, February 8). What percentage of NFL players are black? Sports news. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://www.sportskeeda.com/nfl/what-percent-nfl-players-black
Harris, R. (2021, June 11). Booing of anti-racism gesture reinforces need to take a knee. AP NEWS. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://apnews.com/article/europe-soccer-race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-euro-2020-62e45ae326f719a3c86cbb99df683a80
Stop racism. stop violence. FIFA launches FIFA+ to bring free football entertainment to fans everywhere. (2020). Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/organisation/media-releases/stop-racism-stop-violence
Emily Sweeney
ReplyDeleteProfessional sports organizations have been attempting to promote diversity and inclusion, particularly related to race and ethnicity and although this creates some forms of positive change, there are still many changes that need to be made in order to create a more inclusive and diverse environment in professional sports. Michael Rueda states in a Forbes article, “In professional sports, some leagues have taken more progressive and innovative approaches than others, implementing more than surface-level efforts, drawing input from across their leagues, and supporting individual player efforts on inclusion, and other issues ranging from social justice to civic engagement” (Rueda). Examples of this are also discussed by Rueda in the article where he says, “The WNBA, for example, is a leader in diversity and inclusion, with inclusive representation seen across the league, including team ownership, front office leadership, and coaching. In 2021, the WNBA received top scores for racial and gender hiring practices among professional sports leagues from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida, which issues an annual Racial and Gender Report Card” (Rueda). The WNBA has been a leader in creating a diverse and inclusive environment in all aspects of the league, however coming from the world of women’s sports inclusion and diversity is tackled in a more direct way than that of the professional men's sports.
Throughout men’s sports, the success of diversity and inclusion attempts have not been very successful, especially in the NFL. One example of this would be through the Brian Flores lawsuit in which Flores was alleging racism in hiring practices within the NFL. One of the supposed actions taken to increase inclusion and diversity in the NFL was the “Rooney Rule”. According to an NFL Football Operations article, “In 2021, the NFL approved changes [to the Rooney Rule] requiring every team to interview at least two external minority candidates for open head coaching positions and at least one external minority candidate for a coordinator job. Additionally, at least one minority and/or female candidate must be interviewed for senior level positions (e.g., club president and senior executives)” (NFL). At first glance this may seem like a way for more minorities to get opportunities and get through the door, however many did not see this as a positive rule and took it in a more discriminatory manner, making the effort for inclusion and diversity unsuccessful. Kevin Van Valkenburg discussed this in an ESPN article by stating, “Horton was defensive coordinator for the Titans in 2014-15 and interviewed for the team's head-coaching job. Lawyers said he was given a "completely sham interview done only to comply with the Rooney Rule and to demonstrate an appearance of equal opportunity and a false willingness to consider a minority candidate for the position” (Valkenburg). Many saw this in the same lens as Horton. Yes, the minorities will now have a chance at an interview, but they are being seen as an interview that checks off a box, rather than one that is taken seriously which is not a successful change in diversity and inclusion.
DeletePromoting diversity and inclusion in coaching, management, and ownership is a difficult feat, but more can definitely be done. One thing that is feasible is adjusting the Rooney Rule and the mindset surrounding it. Although this rule essentially forces teams to interview minorities, there should be some form of training in order to ensure that every interview, even the ones that are a minority interview to be in compliance with the Rooney Rule, is taken with the utmost seriousness and consideration as to not make the minority candidate feel like they are -just- the minority candidate and -just- a box being checked off rather than a candidate being interviewed based on their talents and experiences.
DeleteWorks Cited
The Rooney Rule. NFL Football Operations. (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://operations.nfl.com/inside-football-ops/diversity-inclusion/the-rooney-rule/
Rueda, M. (2022, January 28). Can professional sports offer diversity and inclusion insight for all industries. Forbes. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelrueda/2022/01/27/can-professional-sports-offer-diversity-and-inclusion-insight-for-all-industries/?sh=5c63b5b2719f
Valkenburg, K. V. (2022, April 7). Steve Wilks, Ray Horton join Brian Flores' lawsuit against NFL, teams, in alleging racism in hiring practices. ESPN. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/33690172/steve-wilks-ray-horton-join-brian-flores-lawsuit-nfl-teams-alleging-racism-hiring-practices
Gage Kilborne 1
ReplyDeleteRace, diversity, and inclusion have been a big issue in today's society in recent years in the sports world and teams, leagues, and media companies have made strides to improve this problem. The big league that has done an outstanding job in this issue is the WNBA, they are considered the most diverse league in the United States with racially and genetically diverse employees throughout the teams (Rueda). This makes a lot of sense since it is the largest female professional sports league in the United States and they still do not receive equal media recognition. The league further stood out in protest against racial discrimination and police brutality by honoring Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, two black people who died for no good reason.
These efforts that the WNBA has made the league more successful and gain recognition of the sport during the 25th anniversary of the league. The WNBA signed a deal with Amazon Prime to cover games during the regular season and postseason, they were also planning on increasing the players' salaries in 2020 until the novel coronavirus changed plans (Lemire). Even with the pandemic taking place, the WNBA has done a tremendous job using their court and facilities as stages to get their voices out. This was a big thing that WNBA CEO Cathy Engelbert wanting to change when she took over the league, she became focused on the demographics of the league and its fans and has done a great job with expanding it within the two years she has been CEO (Lemire).
Gage Kilborne 2
DeleteThe big thing that can still be done to promote diversity and inclusion in coaching, management, and ownership comes down to the male sports. Male sports do a great job with publicizing the problems that are going on with today's society but they don't do a great job with doing it themselves. Majority of the athletes are black, while the owners, coaches, and management staff are predominately white, which makes the format look like another form a slavery (Brassil). This is something that definitely has to change because if leagues want sports fans to follow in their footsteps, they have to be the ones that put their first foot forward on these issues.
To sum it all up, there has been great improvements with society and accepting people for who they are, but in the real world it is still dominated by the white man and nothing has really changed. There have been leagues that have tried to step in and save the problem but they kind of get pushed to the side or underappreciated. This is the big issue that has to change if the world wants to be at peace with this conflict.
Gage Kilborne 3
DeleteBrassil, Gillian R., and Eleanor Lutz. “In 30 Years, Little Progress for U.S. Sports Leagues on Leadership Diversity.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 23 Dec. 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/23/sports/diversity-coaches-sports.html.
Lemire, Joe. “WNBA Exhibits Growth, Diversity in Its Silver Anniversary Season behind Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.” WNBA Shows Growth in Its 25th Year Behind Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, Sporttechie, 30 Sept. 2021, https://sporttechie.com/wnba-exhibits-growth-diversity-in-its-silver-anniversary-season-behind-commissioner-cathy-engelbert.
Rueda, Michael. “Can Professional Sports Offer Diversity and Inclusion Insight for All Industries.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 28 Jan. 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelrueda/2022/01/27/can-professional-sports-offer-diversity-and-inclusion-insight-for-all-industries/?sh=423cc45a719f.
Scott, Jelani. “NFL Expands Rooney Rule Ahead of 2022 Season.” Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated, 29 Mar. 2022, https://www.si.com/nfl/2022/03/29/nfl-expands-rooney-rule-include-women-required-one-minority-assistant.
It seems as if professional sports have been made aware of the discrimination that lies within their organizations but what they are doing too about it, is not all that effective. A lot of sports with nonwhite athletes are being coached and hired by the white people in positions of power. In 2020, the NFL had updated their interview standards to “require teams to interview at least two nonwhite external candidates…for head coaching vacancies” (Brassil & Lutz). It is sad that rules as such need to be implemented and updated just for the interview process. Race and ethnicity should not factor into the hiring of employees by any means but because nonwhites being passed on for job openings more often for a white candidate has become awkwardly apparent. In my opinion, it is embarrassing to have to have certain rules such as the Rooney Rule. The Rooney Rule requires NFL teams to interview ethnic minority candidates for certain roles like head coaching jobs. This rule was implemented to mean well, and it has increased the amount of minorities in coaching positions but is it really providing the equal opportunities we think it does? Some people think that the rule shouldn’t exist at all because it leads to what can look like just filling the quota for the rule only because they must. It has been said “that many minorities receive only token interviews for these jobs simply to satisfy the rule” (Marczi). It is clear that this rule is not working out in the best way possible to give deserving minorities a chance and any rule like this one in other organizations. There is a huge discrepancy among the amount of the number of athletes that are nonwhite versus their support system within the sport. Leagues like MLS have been implementing different policies to advocate for diversity ‘including its Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, representatives from Black Players for Change, an independent organization of more than 170 MLS players, coaches, and staff and SCORE, a collective of Black former MLS players. I think that MLS has the right idea when it comes to inclusion and promoting diversity. As a sport that is loved around the world, it is nice to see the effort they are taking to make a difference compared to interview standards that do not promote inclusion and diversity well at all.
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DeleteBrassil, Gillian R., and Eleanor Lutz. “In 30 Years, Little Progress for U.S. Sports Leagues on Leadership Diversity.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 23 Dec. 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/23/sports/diversity-coaches-sports.html.
Marczi, Matthew. “Co-Creator of Rooney Rule Thinks Name Should Be Removed: 'Mr. Rooney Deserves Much More'.” Steelers Depot, 12 Apr. 2022, https://steelersdepot.com/2022/04/co-creator-of-rooney-rule-thinks-name-should-be-removed-mr-rooney-deserves-much-more/.
Rueda, Michael. “Can Professional Sports Offer Diversity and Inclusion Insight for All Industries.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 28 Jan. 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelrueda/2022/01/27/can-professional-sports-offer-diversity-and-inclusion-insight-for-all-industries/?sh=56714830719f.
Diversity and inclusion will always be an important aspect in the world we live in not only in the workforce, but in professional sports as well. Over the years we have seen a significant change in professional sports promoting diversity and inclusion namely after George Floyd. However, some sports in particular like hockey, unfortunately, have a long road to go. As a hockey fan myself I have seen the ways they go about trying to promote diversity and inclusion but they only do it when they are supposed to. For example, having different theme nights once a year during that appreciation month, celebrating things like Gender Equality Night, Black History Celebration, Person’s with Disabilities, or Pride Night, not all year long like they should be. The team I root for unfortunately does not have any diversity among it’s staff or players in race and that also goes for most of the NHL. They are all white men most of them not from America, however, most hockey players are not from America. In the article The Privilege of Play: Hockey’s racist and affluent culture still hasn’t changed by Lila Bromberg she explains the lack of diversity in the NHL with only 42 Black and Indigenous players of color that only adds up to 5.7% in a striking comparison to that of the NBA, NFL, AND MLB with numbers ranging from almost 40%-83%. “Whenever J.T. Brown, a forward on the Minnesota Wild volunteers at programs to teach children how to skate he is always immediately met with the same question. “Do you play hockey? You Play hockey” (Bromberg). These children don’t mean anything by it however, they are just genuinely confused because they rarely see any black players playing hockey and that is ehat needs to change. It is sadly ingrained in the sport of hockey that there is that lack of misinterpretation.
ReplyDeleteOver the years the NHL has improved their promotion of diversity creating the Hockey is for Everyone Diversity Task Force launched by Bryant McBride the NHL’s 1993 vice president of business development and commissioner Gary Bettman. McBride made an effort to reach put to Willie O’Ree the first black player in the NHL where they helped to bring players of color together by donating equipment to those who didn’t have the opportunity to play because of money. It is going to take a while for things to change and it surely won’t happen over night. It is not only up to the NHL, but up to the entire sport of hockey to expand and diversify.
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ReplyDeleteThough some efforts may have not been as successful as others, the NFL expanding the Rooney Rule has taken a step in the right direction. According to the article NFL Expands Rooney Rule to Include Women, Required Hiring of One Minority Assistant by Jelani Scott “the league expanded the rule to include women as part of the external minority candidate interview pool that now stipulates all 32 clubs must interview at least two women and/or persons of color when seeking to fill prominent positions to comply with policy” (Jelani). The NFL hopes that this will give women more opportunities that they hadn’t received before while also encouraging identification and development. Not only was the Rooney Rule expanded but the league took extra steps to change the minimum requirement for external minority candidates instead of having one they will now have two for all general manager/executive of football operations positions and coordinator openings. More recently all 32 teams are required to employ either a women or person of color to serve as an offensive assistant (Jelani). As much as this may be helping the league to promote diversity and inclusion, in my opinion I feel as though in a way it is forced. I feel like diversity and inclusion should not be something that is forced and it should happen without a thought. The fact that we have to put these measures in place in order for people to feel and be included is nonsense and it shows where the world is right now in terms of growth and understanding and it doesn’t look so good, still.
ReplyDeleteThere is still a bunch of room to grow among leagues throughout the professional sports world. However, such attempts need to be multifaceted. There needs to be multiple initiatives taken not ones that are just one- off efforts. In a fact sheet done by Sports Psych Works and APA Division volume 5: Supporting the Athlete in Society; Issue 1: Diversity and Inclusion in Sport, they talk about supporting the athlete from the very beginning. Encouraging coaches and players to learn about each other’s cultural backgrounds, lives and interests outside of athletics is the most important first step (APA Divisions). Taking yourself out of the sport to take the time to learn about your players is so important. You have to understand their world before they can step in to yours. Allowing for open communication from everyone so everybody can have a say in decision making. One thing I would like to see is players who are of a different race or ethnicity planning something for their teams to do to help learn about them. Not something created by their team which doesn’t do a lot at the end of the day. Hearing from those who have lived through these tough times in their life because they have experienced it is something I would like to see in the future whether it be having a team lunch or dinner eating food from their culture or a team outing etc. We have a long way to go but I believe one day we will all become educated enough to understand that diversity and inclusion isn’t something that should be forced, it should happen naturally.
Bromberg, Lila. “The Privilege of Play: Hockey's Racist and Affluent Culture Still Hasn't Changed.” Yahoo! Sports, Yahoo!, 29 Sept. 2020, https://sports.yahoo.com/the-privilege-of-play-hockeys-racist-and-affluent-culture-still-hasnt-changed-140255916.html.
Scott, Jelani. “NFL Expands Rooney Rule Ahead of 2022 Season.” Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated, 29 Mar. 2022, https://www.si.com/nfl/2022/03/29/nfl-expands-rooney-rule-include-women-required-one-minority-assistant.
“Diversity and Inclusion in Sport - APA Divisions.” Apadivisons.org, Apr. 2017, https://www.apadivisions.org/division-47/publications/sportpsych-works/diversity-inclusion.pdf.