Lack of Diversity in Management & Coaching in Sports

In recent history it has been evident that some of the most popularize sports in America have been dominated and overran by African American and other minority athletes. In turn when the coaching and management positions in sports are analyzed and broken down, the number of minority coaches and managers in sport are almost non-existent and have been since those sports organization became established. In 2006 Blacks made up about 14% of the population, 12% of all college enrollments, and nearly 24% of all collegiate scholarship athletes. In some major sports, such as basketball and football, blacks make up a great percentage of athletes participating. In 2005 over 55% of all collegiate athletes on football scholarships were Blacks and about 62% of all collegiate athletes on basketball scholarships were Black and this is out of the NCAA’s 328 Division I schools. Despite the large number of Black representing the athletes in collegiate sport, the percentage of African Americans in coaching and administrative position were very small. In 2005 roughly 7% of all head coaches of men’s teams at the nation’s largest universities were black and only 6.5% in women’s collegiate sports. The numbers are even smaller in the big-time revenue generating sports such as basketball and football. Just to give a breakdown of these percentages, there were only 3 head football coaches at the NCAA’s 119 D I-A schools. What tends to help the racial lines seen been athletes on the field/court of play and the people who are in the position of power. One thing that helps alleviate this barrier is the number of minority assistant coaches in position. The percentage of minority assistant coaches in collegiate sports are far greater that of head coaches in power. It seems that it’s expected to for a white man to be in power and for blacks and other minorities to be in assistant roles that it’s become normal in sports and unquestioned. The authority of white head coaches is often

Cited: Anonymous, . (2006/2007). Black Teams, White Coaches: Racial Inequality in Coaching of College Sports. Journal of Black in Higher Education, 1(54), 36-37. Greenlee,. (2000). NCAA Report Finds Little Diversity In Sports Administration. Black Issues in Higher Education, 1. Nordlinger, J. (2003). Color in Coaching. National Review, 55(16), 25-26. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.