Athletic Directors Helping to Empower Under-represented Groups

Challenges other than a global pandemic raced across the United States in 2020. That May, violent protests related to racial injustice occurred throughout the nation. Those events, much like ones in previous years, revived the flame that has cast a light on the neglect experienced daily by minorities and women.

Roles of influence, such as those associated with education-based activities, are among areas where corrective measures are so dire. Equipped with a diverse, empowered athletic department, athletic administrators and coaches have the ability to connect cultures and reduce implicit bias. Oftentimes, minorities and female students may feel isolated, under-represented or mistreated. Consequently, lower graduation and higher dropout rates may follow.

The diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) work of the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) and the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) received renewed energy last year when it recruited athletic directors Jeremy Schlitz and Anthony Thomas to address empowering under-represented groups in a workshop at its National Athletic Directors Conference (NADC) in Denver.

“Research has demonstrated that administrators of color can help close access and opportunity gaps for students of color while being vital to the well-being of students of all races and gender,” reported Schlitz and Thomas. “When an athletic department is diverse, students of color and girls see themselves represented and identify with them as role models. A diverse athletic department not only supports a student’s academic and social and emotional outcomes, it can lead students to consider becoming athletic administrators and coaches themselves.”

Schlitz, the director of athletics and operations at Madison (Wisconsin) Memorial High School, and Thomas, the director of athletics at the Francis Parker School in San Diego, California, adopted a friendship while developing their presentation.

“Presenting on this topic brought two perspectives and experiences together. I’ve always believed that you don’t have to have lived the experience to take an active role in these things,” Thomas said. “I think we are able to provide attendees with strategies that they can take back into their own communities and their own buildings and put some things into place that that can help them achieve goals centered around opening up your mind about how we can attract and hire women and people of color in these positions.”

Despite their ascent in the profession from the differing backgrounds of California and Wisconsin, Thomas and Schlitz both maintained the belief that opportunities can be made available if everyone in the high school community does their part.

At the time of Thomas’ arrival at Francis Parker, the school had only one female head coach. In order for the student-athletes of his programs to meet their potential, Thomas strongly believed they needed to “see someone that looked like them in a position of authority.”

“When you get to a position of where you have an opportunity to be a decision-maker, you have to really be intentional in your acts on what you want to try to do,” Thomas said. “I met with my one female coach and other female administrators on our campus to get their thoughts. I was very intentional in laying out a plan that we were going to hire women when opportunities arose.”

Schlitz’s foray into athletic administration began 10 years ago with many of the same issues as those experienced by Thomas. A focal point of his efforts was initially to put female leaders in positions to succeed.

“I’ve now got 10 of my 13 head coaches for girls programs as women. Just seeing the growth of our female sports compared to other schools without those numbers provides us with the immediate reinforcement that doing this type of work is so impactful for the kids,” Schlitz said. “Increasing those leadership opportunities has become a true passion because of what I saw as the outcomes for the kids when they got to see that type of thing happen.”

Based on the experiences and research of Thomas and Schlitz, it’s through personal journeys that prospective athletic directors and coaches want to get into the profession. The duo reported the following recruitment and retention factors could prove helpful in getting the necessary support: experience; mentoring; new resources; explicit, intentional and unapologetic communication regarding inclusive culture; development of new pools to draw from through outside, diverse networks; development of a succession list of talented minority and female coaches; and a willingness to take chances on coaches early in their careers.

Becky Moran was in attendance for the workshop presentation by Schlitz and Thomas. Moran, who recently transitioned from her role as an athletic director in Illinois to the NIAAA staff as assistant executive director, was among the under-represented groups at the center of the workshop’s discussion. Albeit a difficult, uncomfortable conversation that many individuals fear having, she said it’s one that ultimately will help all athletic administrators become better at their jobs.

“Historically, education-based activities have been a platform where you see more inclusivity. But I think as you look at coaches and staff, you don’t always see that,” Moran said. “Be willing to step into that space and have a difficult conversation. Put yourself in that space and do that work. The more you do it, the easier it becomes. I think we avoid things sometimes because they’re difficult. Use the voice that you have inside of your space.”

In the wake of the unrest two years ago, Thomas found value in engaging with other athletic directors of color in California. However, access to others couldn’t be received as easily as he hoped. In response, Thomas took an active approach, co-founding the National Organization of Minority Athletic Directors (NOMAD). The organization was created for the purpose of mentoring athletic directors who are of color or female, helping them navigate the challenges they may encounter during their careers.

“Although I wasn’t happy about the lack of info available, I’m happy that it happened because it led me to taking an active role in our state organization,” Thomas said. “I spoke at our last conference and got great feedback. None of that happens without having the friends, partners, mentors, the co-conspirators as I call them, to help uplift and help keep it going.”

Since its launch, NOMAD has grown to more than 450 members nationwide while pursuing its mission to provide minority and under-represented athletic directors in secondary schools with a professional organization that wants to support and develop them in their roles. NOMAD also seeks to provide those groups with resources, such as mentoring, idea sharing, networking and leadership development.

Throughout its emergence, Thomas has received increasing opportunities to speak around the country at meetings with his fellow athletic administrators. With each of those speaking engagements, Thomas said he felt an openness and desire to pursue change.

“The attendees asked questions. I wasn’t in an empty space, that’s for sure,” Thomas said. “There was – dare I say – a hunger to learn how we do this. Jeremy helped me present in a way that was going to allow people to hear me and not feel like they were threatened in any way. I think it’s important when you have these conversations that you simply have the conversations, layout data and layout real life scenarios. Those are all things that kept the presentations and the conversations open.”

NOMAD and organizations like it do not limit membership to minorities and women. As Thomas noted, it also takes allies like Schlitz and other white males to join and have conversations on such challenges to work toward improved practices.

“Anthony discussed how in history minorities and women have had to ‘play the game’ to get to different opportunities and positions. From my role as an ally, it’s more about blowing up the existing system,” Schlitz said. “I’m fortunate enough to be in a place where I can do that, or at least push that envelope. There is a definite white male dominated system in place in education and education-based athletics that we have to challenge and break down if we want it to survive and evolve.”

Schlitz, who became a teacher right out of college, was merely an aspiring golfer when he was asked to also be the varsity girls golf coach. Through that coaching experience, he said he learned how the girls didn’t feel as equal support compared to other programs – an experience that also reminded him of his own youth, watching his father coach a girls basketball team.

“Becoming a parent and learning from my now seven-year-old daughter further supported many of those things,” Schlitz said. “We have to listen to the people that haven’t been impacted and partially destroyed by the system we are forced to live in and learn from that youth voice. I think that’s probably where I’ve gotten the most energy from. Now having my own children, I am seeing the world through their eyes and am trying to hopefully impact change and make it a better place for them.”

According to Moran, the NIAAA’s progress with DEI includes having its own committee evolve from that of an ad hoc to a full standing committee. She added that the association had already been very intentional in “looking through the lens of diversity” when selecting individuals for work relating to its committees, courses and workshops.

At the NADC, the NIAAA also offers attendees the opportunity to engage at its diversity social. The event, which provides a discussion space for athletic directors from all backgrounds, adopts a mindset that Moran hopes to pursue moving forward by collaborating with groups like NOMAD.

“We’re all NIAAA members, and we’re all doing the same work in our schools. How can we all support each other,” Moran asked. “I think that’s really the focus going forward. We can be intentional with the things we’re doing by partnering with groups like that. They can provide us support and understanding that we don’t have by providing a lens we can’t see through.”

“I am hopeful our audiences are learning how we can’t get to the finish line unless we take specific, intentional steps and bring others with us,” Schlitz said. “We’re continuing to build a foundation by being present, looking through the lens and asking how to approach the inequity that we see. We have to continue to show people that it’s safe; it’s good to be vulnerable. It’s what we’re going to do to make what we do as good as it can be for the students we serve.”