Black volleyball student-athletes open up dialogue by sharing personal experiences at Montana
6/29/2020 3:19:00 PM | Volleyball
As a head coach I am responsible for creating a culture of inclusivity on my teams. This is not just a values alignment or decision; this is a responsibility and a requirement. I am a leader, an educator and a mentor to young women.
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As a white person, I am responsible for educating myself. I am responsible for doing the work. Whether you are just beginning this process or have been doing it for some time, if you are not able to examine the ways that race, class and gender have shaped your identity and your access to power then you have no business being in leadership. Â
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As a program, Montana Volleyball is responsible for living our values. Montana Volleyball stands with Black Lives Matter. Montana Volleyball works to foster and support inclusive and safe environments for all identities. The coaches and student-athletes who make up our program are going to make mistakes and we are going to own those mistakes. We have created, and will continue to create, spaces for difficult conversations.
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When you attend a Montana Volleyball match, you are supporting an anti-racist, anti-homophobic, anti-transphobic and anti-sexist culture.
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Accountability requires vulnerability. We must be willing to ask ourselves: What is my part in this? Then we need to own that part and we need to act.
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Montana Volleyball stands with black women. Their voices need to be elevated and heard.
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Capri Richardson (2011-15) on her experience at UM:
ÂI constantly felt that I needed to prove myself by working the hardest, going the fastest and being the most strategic. Even after receiving awards and recognition from the Big Sky Conference, it seemed like it was never enough for me to be understood or accepted by my teammates. Over the span of four-and-a-half years I went into nearly every practice putting on an armor of extra confidence, which grew to be somewhat limiting and unnatural. It felt like my every question, comment or movement was being scrutinized, as evidenced by the snickering or bewildered looks I would receive. And this would happen behind the back of a coach, and at times, even in front of one. Thankfully, I found refuge in the fact that through my UM Dance classes and the Black Student Union, I did not have to constantly maintain a guarded disposition. By finding spaces where I felt I could be myself and accepted for it, I was able to unharness those layers and recharge before reengaging on the volleyball court. Ultimately, I am thankful for the opportunity to attend and play for UM, and for the lifelong friends and mentors I gained while there, such as coach Allison Lawrence. I know that the challenges I faced and had to overcome only paved the groundwork for other black women to be recruited and to be better received and accepted by their teams. It's a process that requires organizational shifts in culture, and I'm proud to have helped shift it and will continue to help from a distance.
Ashley Watkins (2016-19) on her experience at UM:Â
Â"During my time at the University of Montana I was one of a handful of black women who were part of the athletics department. While I made many great relationships. I never felt as if I was able to fully be myself based on fears that I would not be accepted. For much of my career I felt like I needed to fit into a mold that was not always me. While I had amazing mentors in every coach that I had during my time at Montana, I did not have someone I could always talk to about the struggles of being a black woman in a predominantly white university, city and state for that matter. There were times when I was met by micro aggressions, misconceptions, and derogatory and demeaning language. The University of Montana was, and still is, a place where I hold much pride in having attended. I received an education, had the ability to play the sport I love at a high level, as well as make lifelong friends. For that I am extremely grateful. I want every person, and especially black female student-athletes, to be able to carry that same pride in Montana without having to include or put an asterisk beside that pride. I am committed to helping push this conversation along in any way I can. If there is any place capable of nurturing these conversations, an institution of higher education like the University of Montana is that place."
Amethyst Harper (2019-present) on her experience at UM:
"Coming from a very diverse state and family, I was not sure what to expect when I finally decided to come to the University of Montana. When I first told my dad that this was the place I wanted to further my volleyball career and education, he was instilled with this sort of instant nervousness. We had so many conversations of what to do and what not to do, and what is and is not OK to say. There haven't been many black women in our athletics department, and, honestly, I'm so excited to help use my platform to hopefully help more black women feel comfortable in athletics at the university. We have the opportunity to create more diversity. During my career, I have personally run across comments such as being told that I only jump high because I'm black, or that I gain muscle easier and faster because I am black and that is why I am strong, despite all of the hard work I have put in to be where I am today. These types of stereotypes are very common, but honestly are ignorant assumptions because those things come down to your family genetics and how hard you train, not the color of your skin. Living with all sorts of stereotypes is like walking on eggshells every day because there is this constant stigma held over our heads. We as black women have to watch what we do, what we say, how we react and how we show our successes. I am excited to continue the work of the black women who have helped this program in so many ways. I love the university and have so much pride for the Griz. I will help in any way that I can to keep this conversation going. Our voices deserve to be heard, and I am very proud to say that the coaches of the volleyball program have our backs. I'm so happy to have the opportunity to be a part of this program and can't wait to see what the future holds. This is just the beginning. There is so much we can do as a program, university, and community to help, so let's do it."
