A major turning point of social justice in sport happened this summer after the shooting of Jacob Blake because teams in the NBA, WNBA, MLS and MLB, plus Naomi Osaka, walked out of their respective competitions. Some people only saw an inconvenience of not getting to see professional athletes perform — pushing back on the athletes’ decision by telling them to “focus on playing and not on politics.” In a sense, viewers wanted athletes to keep going for the sake of entertainment despite the weight of the physical, mental and emotional toll of constant racial unrest and injustice towards the Black community amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Athletes across multiple sports reiterated on multiple national platforms that they are people — Black people and allies who are more than just objects for entertainment. This time, however, no fines or penalties were handed out. Leagues and many fans listened and supported the athletes as human beings who are not immune from what is going on in the world. What a difference time can make. “Black Lives Matter” is painted on the courts of WNBA and NBA games. Athletes are wearing patches, masks and shirts that have things like “Black Lives Matter” and “Vote” printed on them. Osaka wore a different mask each day she competed during the US Open. Athletes are kneeling. Leagues and the rest of the world are watching, listening and talking.
My previous articles have mentioned a key point about diversity, equity and inclusion: it is not enough to get diverse people into the space; they must be able to stay in the space, too. Why? What is so important? How do we do that? I propose that we look at team culture. Team culture, as many know, are the shared beliefs, attitudes, values and behaviors the team embodies. As you read this, I encourage you to pause for a moment to think about a coach who has created and lives out a team culture you admire — in real life or in movies. Those examples we’ve seen and experienced often resonate on a deeper level with us (our values and beliefs) and influence our attitudes and behaviors when we go to be part of our own respective teams. Based on the good, strong team cultures we’ve seen examples of (or even been part of), we are better equipped to create positive, strong team cultures ourselves. However, there are times when the attitudes and behaviors of a culture do not accurately reflect the values and beliefs presumed to be upheld within a space.
I think an important question to ask about team culture is that once it is established, does the culture adjust based on the present team? Often, it is the attitudes and behaviors that must adjust accordingly so that the values and beliefs can truly be lived out in the team. For example, if a team’s value is honesty and a newer player shares a truth that is then met with backlash, the attitudes and behaviors may need adjusting to truly uphold the value of honesty. Teams can thrive that much more when the culture of the team can adjust and evolve based on the people there and not solely based on the system in place. When people know they belong and have support, successes happen (and I’m not referring to winning games and records).
Early last year, Medium shared a post about the Top 5 Workplace Diversity Statistics. The article basically shares that workplaces that are diverse have higher revenue, have more leaders in innovation, make better decisions, have higher job acceptance rates and outperform competitors when they are racially and ethnically diverse. Based on this, I do not advocate that we should be running a lacrosse team like a business. What I do suggest is that we pay attention to the data gathered from the business world to guide us in understanding why it matters so much to have a team culture that encourages diversity and is inviting for diverse populations to stay in those spaces. The five statistics here (and many others found from business statistics shared online) all communicate the same thing: diversity makes spaces better.
If I were to imagine some statistics for diversity for the sport of lacrosse, it would probably look something like this:
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Diverse lacrosse teams have higher retention rates of players and coaches.
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Diverse lacrosse teams collectively have more access and opportunities in life.
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Diverse lacrosse teams make better choices and have stronger team culture.
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Recruitment acceptance rates of players are higher in diverse lacrosse teams.
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Diverse lacrosse teams (of competition age) produce higher performing athletes than their competitors when they are racially and ethnically diverse.