“Why Not Me” Continues To Expand For Young Women In Sports…

One of the great honors I have had in my career is learning from those on the way up. Maybe it is labeled “teaching” since I have been in the front of the class in programs like Columbia, Fordham, and as a guest at schools like George Washington, Montclair State, Drexel. American, NYU and elsewhere, but it is really me who gets to learn from those in the room as much I can ramble on about lessons I have learned.

One of the areas that I have always loved even more so sometimes than the college level is at the high school level. I was lucky enough for five years to do a three-week class in Columbia’s High School program on sports business (the class has been discontinued), and I was also asked to start, and then grew, a two week class for The School of the New York Times, which also was discontinued, but a host of other summer programs have cropped up (including this new one by my colleagues Mary Scott and LeslieAnne Wade in NJ this summer). Seeing and listening to these eager young people, and even more importantly, seeing where these professionals have ended up (and continue to check in) is more gratifying and exciting than almost anything else I do. I feel like they are my kids even today, and love following their rides to heights we could not have even imagined.

I was reminded of this joy and the opportunity several times this week, first when Mary Scott was honored for a lifetime achievement award by the Sports PR Summit in DC, and then in listening to the women competing in Final X at Prudential Center, a showcase where some of the greatest names for Olympics future in wrestling will be on display. It has been an honor to work with BTS over the years as these events, staged in places ranging from Madison Square Garden to Grand Central Terminal to Times Square, have literally raised millions for wrestling and education programs across the country. Without BTS, countless lives may have missed the opportunity they have received to expand their bright futures.

Of note in the BTS mission is girls wrestling. Without the doggedness and determination and attention to detail, girls wrestling at the high school level probably would not exist in many cities, and to see how much women’s wrestling has grown and continues to expand on every level, is a real testament to how opportunity can be realized when you have everyone aligned. That resoonance was amplifies again when Columbia announced the formal launch of its women’s collegiate wresting program this past week, creating yet more opportunities for women in the sport.

I mentioned this to these young women this week, and I told them a story that resonates with me every day. There was a young girl, the only girl, in that class, and I asked her at one point why she was there. I will never forget what she said.

“I loved playing sports growing up, it was the only thing that my dad and I connected over. When I got to high school things got really competitive and I hurt my knee and didn’t play as much. One day we were at a baseball game, and I was looking around and felt sad that it was all guys who seemed to get jobs. My dad turned to me, and he said…you love sports, you are super smart, why can’t YOU be a general manager someday. And that’s why I am here. It’s what my dad and I love.”

Today, almost a decade later, things are improving and very different, but still not that easy for diverse communities in sports. However, I am excited about the future as I see people who are super smart…Jessica Berman and Micky Lawler, Kim Ng and Mary Wittenberg, Laura Dixon and Kyra Barry and countless others, getting and executing tremendous opportunity and doing it with joy and innovation and inclusion for all.

It made me smile even more when one of the young women on Wednesday at the conference turned to me and said, “I want to be Jessica Berman someday.”

A job, a name, an opportunity that didn’t exist not too long ago.

Now one last point of emphasis. This cannot be done in a silo. The growth of the best people for jobs happens together, genders and backgrounds working together. It has to be done together. I am lucky enough to have worked with many influential leaders who happen to be women in my career as I have men, and I learn from both. It’s not one or the other.

It’s one. Together as a business.

Sadly, I have lost touch with the young woman who told me the story of her dad. She went on to Indiana University and probably has a kick ass job somewhere now. However there have been others, including these young women this week, that keep the torch not just glowing, but getting bigger, and that made me very happy.

Let’s keep learning and growing together. We win when the pie, with all its ingredients, keeps getting bigger.