Happy New Year and welcome to Last Week’s Wins #15!
There have been some really cool things going on around the sports world. A couple recent highlights include Becky Hammon becoming the 1st woman to coach an NBA team and Lewis Hamilton being awarded knighthood by the Queen of England.
Also, the Washington Football Team has never missed the playoffs! For my Ravens fans out there, I hope you are as excited as I am for this Sunday’s redemption game against the Titans and 2,000 yard rushing leader, Derrick Henry.
However, the first days of 2021 also came with rising COVID cases, postponed Premier League matches, and the giant elephant in the room that is the current American political climate.
The days, weeks, and months ahead will certainly have challenges, but they will also present opportunities for positive action and change.
I wish you the best of luck in 2021 and look forward to continuing this journey. Thanks for reading and sharing!
WINS THIS WEEK
Student-Athlete Chloe Mitchell Capitalizes on NIL
Oakland Roots Pledge $15K to Common Goal
Kyrie Irving Pays Tuition for Nine HBCU Students
WHY THESE WINS MATTER
STUDENT ATHLETE CAPITALIZES ON NAME, IMAGE, AND LIKENESS
Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) is always a hot topic. States have been drafting and passing legislation that would allow for student-athletes to be compensated for their NIL over the past few years. The US House of Representatives even presented bipartisan support for a federal NIL oversight bill in September 2020.
In October 2020, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) passed an amendment to the NAIA Amateur Code that would allow student-athletes to receive compensation.
Freshman Volleyball player at Aquinas College in Michigan, Chloe Mitchell, is making a push to capitalize on her NIL. The student-athlete and DIY enthusiast has over 2.7 million TikTok followers and is known as the “She-Shed” girl.
Chloe is working with Playbooked, an NIL advisement organization that she founded, to build partnerships with potential sponsor brands like Bloodline Golf and Delta Putt.
She partnered with the two organizations during her DIY golf course video below.
Chloe’s monetization raises a few discussion points and questions that should come up over the next few years. These include:
How will this deal impact future NIL legislation?
What does this say about the potential influence of non-Division I athletes?
Will TikTok and Instagram be more valuable than standard commercials?
What opportunity gap will form between athletes of different socio-economic backgrounds?
Please comment your thoughts below or feel free to reach out and chat!
OAKLAND ROOTS CONTRIBUTE TO COMMON GOAL
Back in Last Week’s Wins #3, I wrote about Common Goal, an organization that brings athletes together to pledge a percentage of salaries towards fighting social inequality. Mostly European athletes have been excited to participate and the movement is starting to build a global presence.
The first American organization recently joined the movement. Oakland Roots Soccer Club, a USL Championship soccer team founded in 2018, pledged $15,000 to Common Goal during their final day of Roots Week of Justice Fund Giving.
This soccer team, who pull in game crowds of 4,500, has a strong history of creating solutions for societal issues.
"Common Goal holds us accountable to our own idea of allowing for our actions to speak louder than words." - Edreece Arghandiwal, co-founder, CMO - Oakland Roots SC
Oakland Roots supported the Black Lives Matter movement throughout the summer with diverse storytelling and video call discussions. In response to COVID, the club utilized its community presence to distribute meals and PPE.
The club also operates Project 510, which is essentially a practice squad and youth development academy that now partners with over 30+ clubs in Oakland.
This organization is authentically trying to make a difference. From the front office, to the players, to the back room staff, it is clear that positive social change is always at the forefront of Oakland Roots’ decisions.
KYRIE IRVING PAYS TUITION FOR 9 STUDENTS AT LINCOLN UNIVERSITY
Kyrie Irving and the KAI Family Foundation awarded 9 HBCU graduating seniors in Chester County, Pennsylvania with tuition relief.
This initiative was part of the foundation’s 11 Days of Giving in December. This is not the first instance of Irving being actively involved in supporting the next generation and local communities.
In 2018, Kyrie Irving funded the renovation of the gym, locker room, weight room, and study lounge at his high school alma mater.
In March 2020, Kyrie provided 250,000 meals to families in need during the onset of the pandemic.
In the summer, Kyrie also pledged $1.5 Million to support WNBA players who were forgoing their season due to concerns with health or social justice.
Kyrie has been controversial for some, but there is no question about his intentions with these initiatives. Our mission at Win-Win-Win is to promote actions like these taken by Kyrie and other athletes like Santonio Holmes so that they garner the attention they deserve and influence others to make positive changes.