On the Challenges Facing Black Football Players and Women’s Basketball Players
I have had the privilege of getting to know some amazing Black athletes through my research and teaching over the last several years. What I have learned about their journeys through the college sports industry is often not reflected in the mainstream media, which tends to focus as much on academic struggles as athletic achievements. The Black football and women’s basketball alumni I interviewed not only achieved at high levels academically and athletically, but they did so while facing numerous hurdles as Black athletes at predominantly White schools (PWIs), often without the support and mentorship they deserved.
The Division I Black football players and women’s basketball players came from diverse backgrounds—some from private high schools that were predominantly White, some from predominantly Black Title I high schools, and others from mixed-race public high schools. However, they all shared a few things in common, including their love for their sport and their drive to succeed in everything they did. They all intentionally chose to attend a PWI over a historically Black college and university, where they would have been integrated into a supportive community that was invested in their holistic development. They were determined to earn a degree from a top university where they would navigate environments with people who didn’t look like them—a skill they knew would help them later in life.
At their PWIs, most of the athletes faced different forms of stereotypes, microaggressions, discrimination, or overt racism from coaches, teammates, classmates, faculty, and people in the community. Many described feeling unsupported by their coaches and athletic departments, who prioritized their athletic success over their holistic development and mental wellbeing. Even without this support, they felt empowered to push through, drawing support from their teammates, family and others in their community. This support helped them develop essential capital to navigate their experiences at a PWI, resist against discrimination, and aspire to succeed on and off the field.
The Black athletes in my research entered their PWIs with different levels of academic preparation, as some were more motivated by their academic goals than others. Those with higher academic identities had an easier time finding the people and resources on campus who could help them develop outside of their sport. These mentors were often caring faculty members, pastors, advisors, or assistant coaches. Although some were fortunate to find mentors who cared about their holistic development, others did not. When the game was over, those without mentors or opportunities for holistic development left their institution without a sense of belonging and feeling less prepared for what came next.
As Division I sports continue to become more transactional with revenue-sharing and NIL, institutions must invest more resources into the holistic development of their athletes, including the Black athletes who make up the majority of their revenue-generating teams. One of the former football players summed up the greatest challenge about being a Black athlete: “The most challenging thing about football … breaking the stigma of like, I am more than an athlete, like, I will not shut up and dribble, like I have a voice, I have a mind, I have a vision, I have a goal, I have a viewpoint. And you will respect it the same way you will respect someone else.”
Debbie Hogan, PhD
Assistant Director, School of Social Work Doctoral Program
Adjunct Professor, Lynch School of Education and Human Development
Boston College