Former Olympic athlete, parent of college champion aim to diversify professional sports business
AUSTIN, Texas - Since 2020's racial reckonings, there have been shifts towards more diverse hires, but there’s still work to do, according to members of the Texas Black Legacy Foundation, headquartered in Austin.
According to research from the University of Central Florida, in professional and collegiate sports, the ratio of people of color working as coaches and players is disproportionate to those in c-suite business offices like those of the CEO’s, vice presidents and general managers.
Darrell Pierce and Carlette Guidry-Falquay serve on the board of the Texas Black Legacy Foundation, the Austin organization looking to make sure young athletes who end their sports careers at high school graduation have opportunities to continue in the sports industry as decision makers and business leaders.
Pierce and Guidry-Falquay have a long history in sports.
"I am a two-time Olympic gold medalist, and I am also a Lady Longhorn from the University of Texas at Austin. I competed in track and field there for four years," Guidry-Falquay says shyly. She won gold medals in both the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games.
"I am a parent. I have three daughters. One is a volleyball player and former champion for UT women's volleyball, here in Austin, Texas and now she is a starting middle for Georgia Tech," Pierce says. "She has two twin older sisters, one works for the NFLPA in Washington, D.C. and her sister works for the Barclays Organization in New Jersey."
The two met when Guidry-Falquay taught Pierce’s daughter in track. Several years later, they’re on a mission to make sure the athletes you see on fields and courts aren’t the only area where people of color are largely reflected in the sports industry.
"The field, the court, the track does not reflect what's happening from a corporation from an operations perspective," Pierce says.
"Maybe they're not [continuing] on the field, on the court, on the track, but they still have that love of that sport," Guidry-Flaquay says. "They can contribute in the aspect of being maybe a sports doctor, going into sports management, sports law, managing athletes."
Data from the 2022 Racial and Gender Report Card published by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport shows in the MLS, MLB, NFL, NBA and WNBA collectively more than 80 percent of the league presidents and CEOs identify as white.
"It is about legacy building, and teaching young people regardless of where you start, it doesn't have to be where you finish, and so [Texas Black Legacy Foundation] is providing that platform and entree and access to understand this multibillion dollar business and the type of careers that you can create from it can be above and beyond anything that any individual have ever dreamed about," Pierce says.
The two say they’re focused on making sure their work helps reverberate equity through the industries that have brought them so much joy, direction and fulfillment.
For information on connecting with the organization visit TexasBLF.org.