YOUTH SPORTS EQUITY INITIATIVE

Increasing the number of black and brown coaches in our community.

Our Impact

We are increasing community involvement and sport participation nationally among Black and Brown adults with a focus on parents and community members, so their kids can reap the benefits of playing sports.

We combine our expertise with community members to build on their capacities and bring their opportunities to life. Centering communities helps us create connections and challenges our thinking to ensure youth sports are not racialized, and that communities of color are equally resourced in the benefits youth sports provide: improved quality of life, education, health, and wellness.

The vision that inspires our efforts

OUR APPROACH

Our goal is to remedy the negative impact systemic racism has on many youth athletes, coaches, and community members who believe access to high-quality youth sports is a right all kids deserve. Our work is to dismantle inequitable systems that continue to impact the communities where we partner and to work to achieve racial justice and removing barriers for Positive Coaching Alliance to reach as many neighborhoods as possible. We are building public trust by creating meaningful recommendations for change to conditions that hold inequities in youth sport in place in order to bring youth sports in Black and Brown neighborhoods up to par with what has historically and to this day exists in often white, privileged neighborhoods.

We are addressing racial equity and social justice in Black and Brown communities by listening to local leaders of color with whom we partner, learning about their experiences, and providing the platform and resources to co-create a Sports Equity Agenda that works best in local neighborhoods. A keystone to our efforts are taskforces — proven practices for community engagement — that we are creating in regions where we work.

Our Mission

about the youth sports taskforce

The first step in launching the Racial Equity and Access in Youth Sports Task Force has been to build community stakeholder ownership of a sports equity agenda by establishing a task force composed of members of the sport, youth services, municipal, academic and business communities, including after-school education leaders (K-12), youth sports professionals, government leaders, community stakeholders, minority business leaders, and professional athletes.

Piloted in Oakland, California the task force works to build community ownership of strategies that create more racially equitable youth sports opportunities and increase the number of Black and Brown coaches trained in youth development.

The task force’s key deliverables include:

Define a vision of what sports equity looks like for the community.
Identify root problems that are barriers to sports equity.
Define the types of data and other information necessary to determine appropriate strategies to achieve the vision.
Establish strategies and benchmarks of success.
Determine resources necessary for implementation.

If you would like to get involved with the Racial Equity and Access in Youth Sports Task Force contact Robert Marcus, PCA’s Chief Community Impact Officer at [email protected].

Roundtable Reflections

RACIAL EQUITY AND ACCESS IN YOUTH SPORTS TASK FORCE MEMBERSHIP

Antonio Davis (Co-Chair)
Retired NBA Player

Chen Wick-Kong (Co-Chair)
Program Manager, Department of Expanded Learning
Oakland Unified School District

Nicholas Williams
Director, Oakland Parks and Recreation and Youth Development

Tyson Ross
Professional Baseball Player

Abby Hussein
Board Member, 100 Black Men

Francisco Navarro
Commissioner, Oakland Athletic League

Ay’Anna Moody
Director, Social Impact
Warriors Community Foundation

Matthew Grant
Director of Sales & Sports Marketing at The Clorox Company

Lamont Robinson
Commissioner, Oakland Athletic League

Karen Gonzalez
Director of Community Engagement & Experience
Oakland Roots

Ty-Ron M. O. Douglas, Ph.D.
Associate Athletic Director for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging
University of California, Berkeley

Tamara Sabella
Program Director
Greenway Golf, Corica Park

Jordan Ferrell
Oakland Roots
Head Coach and Technical Director

William Chavarin
Director, California Interscholastic Federation

Courtney Johnson Clendinen
Chief Programs Officer
Girls Inc. of Alameda County

Shawn Granberry
CEO, Hip Hop TV

Sheri Sam
Retired WNBA Player

Brad Driver
Director, Partner Advocacy
Sandler Partners/ USTA NorCal

Marcus L. Strother
President and CEO
MENTOR California