Tracy J. Chappelle 
For two minutes and forty-eight seconds, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr delivered an impassioned plea ahead of the NBA Conference Finals. On the very day of the Uvalde massacre that left 19 children and two teachers dead, Kerr demanded change.
“In the last 10 days we’ve had elderly black people killed in Buffalo, Asian practitioners killed in Southern California and now we have kids murdered in school,” Kerr said, slamming his open palm on the table in front of him. As his voice was shaking, he asked, “When are we going to do something?”
This viral moment has sparked a wave of protests across the sports world – from the NBA to Major League Baseball, from the NWSL to the WNBA. And everywhere in between. As the NBA Finals between the Warriors and Boston Celtics resume on Friday, the players remain persistent. They showed up to warm-ups and press conferences wearing orange shirts that read “end gun violence”, keeping reform top of mind on one of sport’s biggest stages.
This cycle is not new. Athletes have been using their platforms to protest social injustices and drive change for decades. In the world of women’s sport in particular, athletes have been making this kind of call to action for a long time – athlete demands have even led to significant changes in recent years.
Hours after Kerr’s impassioned call, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics had a media blackout during their post-game media availability. The team’s Natasha Cloud spoke to reporters, calling on fans listening to write to their local politicians demanding change, echoing a similar call to action made by the team in 2020.
“This game doesn’t matter,” Cloud said. “The [21] lives that were lost today due to senseless gun violence in Texas at an elementary school – we are talking about our children who are not safe to go to school and our government is still not enforcing sensible gun laws. It is not a question of depriving people of their rights to bear arms. It’s about putting in place sensible gun laws, so this doesn’t happen again.
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Several WNBA and NWSL teams, which are mid-season, also wore orange shirts on Wear Orange Day to raise awareness of gun violence.
In women’s sport, progressive agendas have become the norm. In many modern cases, athletes now hold their own organizations accountable.
It was the Atlanta Dream players who helped Reverend Raphael Warnock unseat incumbent Kelly Loeffler in the 2021 Georgia Senate runoff election. Loeffler was a co-owner of the team at the time. She publicly condemned the Black Lives Matter movement and urged the WNBA not to support player protests on the field. Players quickly showed up wearing “VOTE WARNOCK” shirts to games.
What’s unique about professional women’s teams is that fans join players in putting pressure on misbehaving organizations. During the 2021 NWSL season, fans brought signs to games that made specific demands — like paying players a living wage, protecting players from abuse, and even selling a team to its minority owner.
The reality is that protest and change is a mainstay of women’s sport. This is because, in the past, a girl or woman simply playing sports was a form of protest in itself. Like in 1967, when Kathrine Switzer became the first woman to run the Boston Marathon, even as a race director was filmed trying to throw her out of the race in a now iconic photo. Or in 1973, when 90 million people saw Billie Jean King defeat Bobby Riggs in the battle of the sexes.
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There are countless examples in the history of women’s athletics like this, and even more stories that probably still remain unknown. And if history proves it, when women demand change, they get it – hopefully these last demands are met.
Women & Sport is a new NorthJersey.com column dedicated to female athletes from recreational league level to college and pros. If you have any advice on a North Jersey athlete that should be noted in the column, regardless of age or age, please message me at [email protected]
Melanie Anzidei is a reporter for NorthJersey.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @melanieanzidei
