A lack of diversity in sports leadership positions has always been in full view, but it’s come into sharp focus now. There is a sense the time has come to actually implement structural, tangible change. This time feels different.
It’s been three years since Colin Kaepernick was sidelined by the National Football League for taking a knee in protest of police brutality and the systemic racism that emboldens it.
The former San Francisco quarterback was publicly vilified by even the president of the United States for daring to speak out against something he saw as wrong.
But today, in the wake of the tragic death of George Floyd at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer in May, and the months of global protests that have followed, more and more people who are Black, Indigenous or persons of colour (BIPOC) are raising their voices against systemic racism and the institutional problems associated with it.
Many feel their message is now being heard.
“There’s still a lot of racism here. There’s still a lot of bias here. And there’s still a lot of work to be done to fix that,” said UBC Okanagan men’s basketball coach Clayton Pottinger. “I think the whole George Floyd thing is a catalyst. And you know it’s on us. People of colour and our Caucasian allies really need to roll up our sleeves and keep the momentum going so that these conversations just don’t get lost again.”
As part of the discussion, CBC Sports undertook an investigation into the lack of racial diversity among the leadership — presidents, general managers, coaches and other positions of authority — in sports leagues and organizations.
The numbers are stark. Out of hundreds of such positions in the North American pro leagues, including the NHL, CFL, WNBA, MLB, NBA and NFL, anywhere from 80 to 90 per cent of them are filled by white people, even though in almost all of those leagues BIPOC athletes represent a large portion of participants.
The same is true within Canada’s national sport organizations, and across the 56 athletic departments in universities who compete under the banner of U Sports, the national governing body of university sport in Canada.
WATCH | Canadian sport organizations say more must be done to address leadership inequality: