At the young age of 29, Bianca Smith is set to make history in March by becoming the first black woman in history to be an on-field coach in the Major League. Breaking barriers, the Red Sockxs announced Smith as a new Minor League coach for the upcoming season.
Her inspiration to work in the sport began as an undergraduate student at Dartmouth where she played softball and club baseball for two years. During this time she was asked to be the team manager for Dartmouth’s Baseball team and served in this role for two more years.
Seeing no female role models on the field as coaches, she first aspired to become a general manager. She worked towards this goal by taking a master degree in Business Administration in Sports Management. It was not until she served as a graduate assistant and director of baseball operation for Case Western University that she was inspired to follow the career path of becoming a coach.
Smith is breaking barriers in the sports world, but why has it taken so long? Women in the sports industry are rather scarce. However, this has not slowed Smith down as she is hoping to continue to break norms and inspire other women to do the same. This supports the ideology of the Feminist theory and is helping us move towards a society where women are viewed equally in the sports industry. Smith said that she did not see herself as a role model before she was hired but is now proud to be someone a girl can look up to. However, she does not want to put a limit on what women in sport can accomplish. Smith’s end goal is still to become a general manager but for now, she is happy to see where the next step takes her.
Maddy Earl
Sport, Not Games ⚽ 