By admin

April 2022
Courtesy of The Washington Post, an article on other leaders who broke through racial barriers in their respective sports: Every April 15, Major League Baseball goes to great lengths to honor Jackie Robinson on the anniversary [...]
Via Stadium Talk, a look at the most influential social activists in sports history: Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s decision in 2016 to not stand for the national anthem as a protest against the [...]
Via SI.com, an article on how regimes have been using sports to burnish their images or distract from their problematic behavior for centuries: Competitive sports are built on the concept of fair play, which helps explain why [...]

By admin

April 2022
Via The Harvard Gazette, a report on how ex-pro soccer player Justin Morrow, founder of Black Players for Change, focuses on raising diversity in leadership roles: The son of an African American police officer and an Irish [...]

ABOUT

MORE THAN A GAME

Refusing to “just shut up and play,” more and more athletes are stepping off the court, the field, the pitch, or the ice to leverage their voices and platforms to push for social change. This blog - More Than A Game - is a forum dedicated to the inspirational convergence of athletics, politics, leadership, and social change.

Muhammad Ali. Billie Jean King. John Carlos and Tommie Smith. Maya Moore. Colin Kaepernick. Megan Rapinoe and the United States National Women’s Soccer Team. Francois Pienaar. LeBron James. These are but a few of the accomplished athletes who have also demonstrated leadership in sports and social change, contributing to movements such as Black Lives Matter, the Civil Rights movement, anti-war protests, gender equality, LGBTQ rights and other critical issues.

But the role of athletes in leadership and social change is not limited to the pages of history books, nor is the connection between sports and social change only driven by individual athletes and teams. Inspirational organizations like Athlete Ally, Peace Players, Grassroots Soccer, and others are using sports as a way to pull people together behind a common cause, to bridge divides or to promote public health today.

Whether you are an athlete yourself or have never picked up a ball, More Than A Game will provide a forum to learn about brave athletes, teams, and sports-related organizations which exercised their leadership to foster a better understanding of social causes, advocacy, and changemaking for important causes throughout history.