III. The Solution
Rooney Rule
In 2002 former attorneys Cyrus Mehri and Johnnie Cochran co-wrote a particularly troublesome report, “Black Coaches in the National Football League: Superior Performance, Inferior Opportunities.” The report led to the development of a diversity committee by then NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue. The Rooney Rule requires NFL teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operations. The rule was established in 2003 and is named for Pittsburgh Steelers’ owner, Dan Rooney. Rooney serves the chairman of the league’s diversity committee. The Rooney family has long been viewed as inspiration as the Steelers organization has a long history of giving African-Americans opportunities to serve in leadership roles. The rule was established to ensure minority coaches, specifically African-Americans were considered for high-level coaching positions (Cohn 2013).
Minority Opportunities Athletic Association
The Minority Opportunities Athletic Association (MOAA) is comprised of minority professionals serving in athletics. The organization was formed out of concern for a lack of diversity in sports. The Association was formed in 2000 as a non-profit organization and holds annual conventions, developed a resource center that creates programs and supports diversity, conducts research for athletic problems as well as providing postgraduate scholarships for ethnic college graduates who plan on pursuing a graduate degree in athletics administration (MOAA Homepage).
College Football Makes Small Strides
Ty Willingham (former head coach at Stanford, Notre Dame, and Washington) along with former NFL coaches Dennis Green and George Seifert have aligned to create the Level Playing Field. The Level ...
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...e penalties for schools that do not interview minorities (O’Toole 2009).
VI. Conclusion
The diversity issue within America’s most popular game is apparent. Both the NFL and FBS are at an all time high in terms of revenue and viewership while the opportunity for minorities to coach at these levels has become a significant issue especially in collegiate football. Lack of proper awareness and prejudice beliefs are the core of the problem. The NFL has taken many steps to help improve the issue, while college football is beginning to realize the problem they have in hiring procedures. Many people believe the sports are turning a corner, others continue to believe they are far from resolving the issue. Whatever notion one takes in this matter it is clear that both sports suffer from a major lack in diversity when it comes to the face of their franchises and programs.
Ethics is a big part of football today, and how each team is different when
As a result, in the world of sports and recreation, sport managers still face one of the most important issues that deal with racial diversity (Smith & Hattery, 2011). It has become an important practice for sports managers to manage racial diversity (Rich & Giles, 2015).
ESPN writer Jeffri Chadiha claims the NFL is getting too “soft.” He also compares the NFL to the “pansy league”. Jeffri expresses his frustration with the NFL innovating the
Van Rheenen, Derek. "Exploitation in College Sports: Race, Revenue, and Educational Reward." International Review for the Sociology of Sport 48.5 (2013): 550-71. Print.
Title IX was the stepping-stone for mergers and sports, but immediately after the merging took place, women were fully discriminated against. When men and women's sports combined, it opened new administrative positions for women, but what these women found were that they were constantly being pushed down to the bottom of the pile, to the least authoritative positions. Men were the head coaches, and the head of the physical education departments Men organized the teams schedule for the season and organized practice hours. Also, "male sexist attitudes ensured that male rather than female athletic directors and heads of physical education departments were almost automatically appointed to direct merged departments" (Hult p.96) This male over female preference continued right up to today. As of 1992 there are more men in administrative sports positions than women.
Robinson, J., Peg Bradley-Doppes, Charles M. Neinas, John R. Thelin, Christine A. Plonsky, and Michael Messner. “Gender Equity in College Sports: 6 Views.” Chronicle of Higher Education 6 Dec 2002: B7+.
Tiffany Patterson argues “College football players are already receiving scholarships to pay for their tuition and it is unfair to other students who are juggling between jobs and school.”(Patterson) Although college football players work hard at playing football, it is unfair to other students who are not receiving scholarships and having football players paid will be even more unfair. According to Lauren Horne, the lead author of Bleacherreport, says “College football players cost universities and colleges lots of money and paying them will put the universities in even more financial debt. Universities and colleges spend about $42 million on football players who, except for an elite hundred, will never play in the NFL.”(Horne) Colleges are already have finance issues and if they pay all the players, their trouble will get worse. Rick Burton, the professor of sports management at Syracuse University explains “Student athletes who go to college are already receiving a fair amount of pay by receiving an education”(Burton) The athletes are being compensated for their time on the football field by the professors giving them an
This argument has reached its peak of debate when Northwestern University football players planned to form a union in order to receive some form of representation. Northwestern quarterback, Kain Colter, started this movement when he reached out to the President of the National College Players Association, Ramogi Huma. He said, “This is about finally giving college athletes a seat at the table. Athletes deserve an equal voice when it comes to their physical, academic, and financial protections” ( Farrey). Huma filed a petition to the office of the National Labor Relations board on behalf of the players of Northwestern. Besides this being the first move towards a labor union in college sports what’s important is that the athletes of Northwestern are not seeking unionization due to mistreatment by Northwestern. According to Colter, “The school is just playing by the rules of their governing body, the NCAA.” Also, this isn’t about just helping players at Northwestern. Colter expressed how he wan...
The National Basketball Association is the most popular professional basketball league in North America; it is also the most popular professional basketball league in the world. The National Basketball Association (NBA) is one of the most diverse businesses in the world, which was the deliberate plan of former NBA commissioner David Stern. The NBA was once an all white and male dominated league, now through years of an aggressive effort to diversify the organization the NBA is now one of the shining beacons for diversity, tolerance and acceptance in the workplace. Former NBA commissioner David Stern spearheaded and put into action on the best examples of creating and cultivation opportunities for success based on merit. “When David Stern steps down as NBA Commissioner in 2014, among the legacies he will have created is an era in professional sport when leagues and teams hired the best people possible. He embraced the moral imperative for diversity while helping to show the other leagues that diversity is also a business imperative. The evidence for the NBA’s continued commitment to racial equality is seen in the strong grades in the League Office and in many key areas on the team level.”(Lapchick, R.) To fully understand the transformation of the league we will cover the history of the association, team diversity, league diversity, the NBA diversity initiative, and current diversity issues.
The NCAA prides itself as an organization dedicated to safeguarding the well-being of student-athletes and equipping them with the skills to succeed on the playing field, in the classroom and throughout life. In order to ensure that participants are students first and athletes second the NCAA has specific rules pertaining to athlete amateurism. The requirements prohibit contracts and tryouts with professional teams, salary for participating in athletics, prize money, and representation by an agent. (Amateurism) These rules not only limit the freedom of the player but also put the player at risk of being taken advantage of due to the lack of a players union and illegality of employing an agent. Other aspects of the NCAA’s rule book have been under scrutiny as well. Marc Edelman, Professor of Law at Baruch College, wrote in his treatise: Why the NCAA’s No-Pay Rules Violate Section 1 of the Sherman Act that courts are now beginning to overturn certain rules that are deemed anticompetitive. This development is important because according to the Sherman Act “Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherw...
The advantages that college athletics bring to a university’s metaphorical table are numerous. Promoting positive character development, creating and endorsing unity, and supporting college experiences and traditions just scratch the surface of the deep impact that athletics have had and continue to have on higher education. The important influences that college athletics carry with them are unquestionable, even to opponents of college sports. Critics will always have their views, facts, statistics and reasons on why college athletics should be taken off a positive pedestal or even completely banned. No system or organization is flawless and will always come with a few hiccups along the way. But despite those, college athletics will always remain an integral and a valuable part concerning their role in higher education.
It has taken many years for women to gain a semblance of equality in sports. Throughout history, women have been both excluded from playing sports and discriminated against in sports. Men’s sports have always dominated the college athletic field, but women were finally given a fighting chance after Title IX was passed. Title IX, among other things, requires scholarships to be equally proportioned between men and women’s sports. Although this was a huge gain for women, gender inequality still exists in sports today. An example of this persisting inequality can be seen when looking at men’s baseball and women’s softball. In college, baseball and softball are both major NCAA sports. It is widely accepted throughout today’s society that baseball is a man’s sport, and softball is a woman’s sport. Very few people question why the two sexes are separated into two different sports, or wonder why women play softball instead of baseball. Fewer people know that women have been essentially excluded from playing baseball for a long time. This paper will focus on why softball has not changed the way women’s basketball has, why women continue to play softball, the possibilities and dynamics of women playing baseball with and without men, and the most discriminating aspect of women being banned from playing professional baseball.
Over two decades have passed since the enactment of Title IX, a federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in federally funded education, including athletics. As a result of Title IX, women and girls have benefited from more athletic participation opportunities and more equitable facilities. Because of Title IX, more women have received athletic scholarships and thus opportunities for higher education that some may not have been able to afford otherwise. In addition, because of Title IX the salaries of coaches for women's teams have increased. Despite the obstacles women face in athletics, many women have led and are leading the way to gender equity.
Wiggins, David Kenneth, and Patrick B. Miller. 2003. The unlevel playing field: a documentary history of the African American experience in sport. Urbana: University of Illinois Press
Long, Howie, and John Czarnecki. "The Coaching Staff in American Football." Football For Dummies, 4th US Edition. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Jan. 2014.