February 2016

 by Leon Mann

The Good, The Bad And The Challenge For The NBA

Leon Mann at NBA Allstar Weekend in Toronto

Leon Mann at NBA Allstar Weekend in Toronto

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the lack of black leaders in British sport. Then I jumped on a plane, landed in Toronto for NBA Allstar weekend and expected to find a league that didn’t have such issues. 

 

I was in Toronto for a series of meetings in my role as a sports consultant and also as a founding member of the Sports People’s Think Tank. NBA Allstar weekend provided the perfect opportunity to take in a humungous event and reach out to contacts.

 

The first event in my diary was the NBA Africa Luncheon. Opening the event was the Toronto Raptors General Manager, Masai Ujiri, a Nigerian born in London. Ujiri welcomed delegates from across the globe to Canada and set out why Africa was important to him, his team and the NBA. He would maintain a strong presence across my weekend featuring on TV coverage and standing front, back and centre at any function worth being at. 

 

I sat at the luncheon mesmerized by the incredible work taking place across Africa, where our very own Luol Deng – of the Miami Heat – and the recently retired Pops Mensah Bonsu, have played pivotal roles by attending coaching clinics and putting forward ideas. In fact, it was Deng who suggested the historic NBA game in Africa last summer. These initiatives are led by Amadou Fall, a former basketball player from Senegal who is a Vice President of the NBA. Another leader.

 

After taking in the speeches and panel discussions featuring Rwanda President Paul Kamage, NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver, and NBA legend, Dikembe Mutombo, I was introduced to Michele A Roberts, the head of the players union. We didn’t speak for a long time, but just a few minutes in Roberts’ presence confirmed everything I had read about her. A strong leader.

 

There were black leaders everywhere – but I wasn’t surprised. 70% of the NBA’s players are black, so it stands to reason that there should be strong senior representation across the sport, right? Well, not quite. 

 

My journalistic instincts kicked in and I wanted to know how many General Managers and Head Coaches came from the black community. And I was shocked to read that at the beginning of the NBA season, just seven of the 30 NBA coaches were black and Ujiri was one of five executives across the league. 

 

In relative terms, what I had seen during my time in Toronto was inspirational. Black leaders – visible and prominent. But as I settled back into the London time zone, on my return, a friend sent me a link to clip of an NBA pundit calling for the Rooney Rule. 

 

My response was mixed. The NBA clearly face similar challenges of black under representation in senior leadership positions to us in Britain – and, despite some success, they are still fighting for equality.  But I cannot help but take inspiration from that – the fight must continue until genuine equality is reality.

*This column first appeared in The Voice Newspaper.

in Uncategorized 0 comments
 by Leon Mann

Will Black Leaders In Sport Stand Up?

Dame Heather Rabbatts is one of the few black leaders in sport

Dame Heather Rabbatts is one of the few black leaders in sport

Leadership. Following scandals at FIFA and the IAAF it’s importance in the governance of our sports has been under the spotlight like never before. 

It’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot recently. More so, I have been hoping we will soon see a wave of black leaders in sport to come to the fore.

I was recently asked to help judge a fantastic initiative, Sport Industry Next Gen, in partnership with Barclays. The objective was simple – to identify and then support 28 leaders in sport under the age of 30.

Other judges included entrepreneur, Sir Keith Mills, communications expert and writer, Alastair Campbell and Maggie Alphonsi, the former England women’s rugby captain.

There was only one black leader among the final 28 participants, Hugh Woozencroft from BBC Sport, but despite this, the group was pretty diverse – with good numbers of women and other ethnicities. And it was encouraging to see a decent social mix too.

All the leaders showed off a great range of impressive skills across the day – and I left with optimism about the pool of people we could well see in positions of significant power one day. But who will join them and help bring some much needed diversity, and representation from the black community, to leadership roles in British sport?

Lord Herman Ouseley, Dame Heather Rabbatts and Tessa Sanderson are long standing leaders from our community within the administration of sport, and in recent years Jason Roberts, Denise Lewis, Jason Gardener and Donna Fraser have emerged as part of the most recent generation of decision makers and influencers. It is now vital that others – who may not be sports stars – seek leadership opportunities to ensure our communities voices and experiences are prominent and powerful.

And guess what? More diverse leadership is proven to help business, so everyone benefits.

We shouldn’t forget that many who would have been leaders today, were prevented by racism and discrimination, and did not have the opportunity to take positions they should have.

Our generation and the youth today still face challenges, but we must try and grab leadership opportunities where we can if we are to truly influence the future of sport, and encourage others from our community to aspire to lead too.

*This column first appeared in The Voice Newspaper

in Uncategorized 0 comments