After taking a commanding 2-0 lead in the 2009 NBA Finals, Los Angeles Lakers Shooting Guard Kobe Bryant was asked if he was happy with what his team had accomplished thus far. In response, Bryant uttered the now famous phrase, “The job is not finished.” In many ways, Bryant’s words could be used to described the mindset of Major League Soccer’s first Chief Engagement and Inclusion Officer, Sola Winley. By the time he had taken the position in 2021, the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at the University of Central Florida released its annual Major League Soccer (MLS) Racial and Gender Report Card. The league received “an A+ in racial hiring and a B in gender hiring.” While those marks reflected well upon the league, Winley took the position with a goal that extends beyond a letter grade, but rather reflects the inclusivity of the game and “empowers everyone to be the best they can on and off the field.” Three years into his tenure, the MLS is in good standing when it comes to diversity, inclusion and empowerment. While there is still work to be done regarding diversity among the coaching and managerial ranks, the MLS was home to players from 81 countries across six continents last season. Furthermore, nearly 3o% of the league’s players identify as Black, pushing the game further into communities where it has not been previously. This Juneteenth, the MLS and Black Players for Change worked together to celebrate Juneteenth by helping bridge “the racial equality gap in soccer and society.” As part of this effort, the two parties collaborated with Adidas to release special “I Am #19” shirts and launch “Generations” campaign, led by US men’s national team defender Miles Robinson. As the MLS, Black Players For Change and Adidas continue to push for diversity, Sola Winley chopped it up with Def Pen to talk all things soccer, Juneteenth and inclusion.
In an article written by Andscape’s William C. Rhoden, you said, “It can cost $3,000 on average to play travel soccer, and that’s not including the cost of travel.” As you start to reach out to underrepresented communities and expose more people to the game, how is the MLS working to break down some of those barriers and help bring more communities to the game of soccer?
As a league, I think its one that’s one of the [biggest] issues for us to figure out. And, it’s not just soccer that’s expensive in this country, right? Sports leagues [and] you sports participation is expensive. It’s a $30 billion industry. I’m not sure how you grew up. We were poor growing up and there’s no way my parents could have afforded paying the types of fees that folks have to pay today, let alone travel. I was fortunate that there were organizations that supported us, helped out [and] chipped in, but that’s not a [long-term] strategy. So, we recently rolled out a youth sports program called MLS GO. [People can visit] MLSGO.com if they want to learn more. We [also] have a scholarship fund. It’s not the [entire] answer, but it is part of the solution. Every MLS team has academy for exceptional athletes and those academies are free. We have invested tens of millions of dollars in our academy system, [totaling more than] $100 million over the last decade. [Moving forward], we have to continue being strategic about how we’re going to break down barriers and allow more kids to participate. This is the work that we have to do over the next several years, quite frankly. [We want] to think through what a more comprehensive, intentional [and] targeted strategy is going to be, [so we can] expose communities that have traditionally been underserved by soccer in the United States and let them know that this is a sport that welcomes them. This is a sport that they cannot only contribute to but excel at as well.
I definitely know the feeling. After middle school, I earned a scholarship that allowed me to attend an affluent boarding school in Connecticut called Choate Rosemary Hall. Coming from a middle class home, I never felt deprived of opportunities because my Mom, Dad and later, step-Dad, worked very hard to make sure my brother and I had everything we needed. But I did notice there were a lot of sports like lacrosse, hockey, etc. that I hadn’t been exposed to either because of a financial barrier or not feeling welcome in those spaces.
With that, I wanted to mention another quote that I came across while preparing to speak with you. In the press release announcing your hiring as the Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, you said, “I am humbled to be Major League Soccer’s first Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, and look forward to building on and amplifying the important work that has already begun across the league.” Three years into this role, how do you feel that you and your team have lived up to that statement and where do you feel like you still have room to grow?
I’d probably say the same thing today and I feel really good about the impact and the work that we’ve done up to this point. We approach every day with that same spirit, right? We’re here to serve. We’re here to have an impact in people’s lives. The work that we put out into the world matters, so we need to be inclusive of people’s interests and experiences. As a league, I expect us to lead where can and have a voice in the global soccer marketplace where and when it makes sense for Major League Soccer. I think [it’s] evident [that we’re working towards those goals] by looking at some of the partnerships we’ve been able to form with Black Players for Change and the Major League Soccer Players’ Association. We also recently rolled out new on-field anti-discrimination policy in concert with those two partners. So, I feel really good about the work that we’ve done and will continue to do so.
Switching gears slightly, one way I’ve seen the game of soccer and MLS break into new territory is through the intersection of entertainment, specifically Hip-Hop. Mario “Yo Gotti” Mims is a member of the D.C. United’s expanded ownership group. Christopher “Smino” Smith Jr. recently headlined St. Louis CITY SC’s first free CITY Block Party.
Music is the universal language. It flows through us all, so when culture and sport come together, soccer can be found at the epicenter of that intersection and will continue to be found there for the next several years here in the U.S. What’s even more special is that each subculture brings special to the larger soccer culture that unites us. If you look at Latin soccer culture or Black soccer culture or European culture, you’ll find they each bring a unique flavor.
I have three sons, the youngest of which is three years old. When I brought I soccer ball into the house for the first time, I just put the ball down and he just started kicking it. In that moment, you realize why soccer is played around the world. At that age, it doesn’t require hand-eye coordination, right? It’s just a natural human emotion and activity that we all can share. He was just walking and kicking a ball. So, there’s something inherent and relatable about soccer that comes through music, food, soccer kits, etc. Then, each country and culture takes it and makes it unique to them. I find that to be really fascinating because it’s not a traditional American sport, right? So, America has exported a lot of sports around the world and I think you’ll see some of the flavor of American sports globally. But here, we’re importing a lot that culture here that we can actually uplift. I think that’s what Juneteenth represents, right? How do we authentically, uplift, share and communicate messages that resonate not only with Black audiences, but with audiences around the world?
Thank you for that seamless segue at the end there. Barring a Dallas Mavericks comeback, the NBA won’t get to play on Juneteenth this year. The NFL doesn’t get to play on Juneteenth. The NHL doesn’t always get to play on Juneteenth. As Sola Winley, the MLS Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity, what does Juneteenth mean to you personally?
Yesterday, I was reading an article about one of the last living descendants of slaves and it talked about how he didn’t even know that his relative was one of the last slaves who was notified and freed in 1865. [The descendant] had lived 50 plus years without this information and when they discovered it, I think they felt more connected to their ancestry and the perseverance they exhibited. It said something interesting in the article [about] slavery being behind us and we need to sort of move on. It wasn’t dismissive of [slavery], but it was a reflection of where we are in this moment of time. So to me, Juneteenth is another day and another moment for us to recognize how far we have come, not just as Black people, but as people who call the United States of America home. [Juneteenth is about] the struggle we all experience trying to live up to the aspirations of what democracy and America represent, not just to its own citizens, but to citizens around the world. Juneteenth is another powerful reminder of not only Black contribution to human progress, but to America’s contribution to human progress and the struggle that it takes to live in a world that’s free of racism, discrimination and hate. That doesn’t come from policy change. That comes from each and every one of us looking inside of our own heart and discovering who it is that we want to be as human beings.
We’ll end with a question about the rich diversity of the league and how it’s continuing to grow. As of last season, there players representing more than 80 countries across six different continents in the NLS. After looking at that factoid, I also read an article written by Richard Lapchick at ESPN called “The MLS Racial and Gender Report Card.” In the article, Lapchick writes, “Commissioner Don Garber’s MLS league office once again performed strongly, with an A+ in racial hiring and a B in gender hiring. The MLS league office has the highest percentage of people of color among all men’s professional sports leagues.” That article was written two years before you secured you joined the MLS, but I was wondering how you would grade the MLS and where do you see it going as we celebrate Juneteenth?
Like most leaders, I am always striving to improve. At the same time, Major League Soccer had done a significant job of improving up to the point that Richard wrote that article. Subsequent to that point, I think that we have room to continue to grow and I think we’re in that same range. Less than being tethered to a letter, I think it’s important to be objective and honest with one another. Absent that respect and objective, it’s hard to change in any strategic way. But if you are objective and you can look one another in the eye and say, “We’ve done great over there, but we can make some progress here.” Intellectual curiosity and objective honesty are two of the most important variables to organizational success, let alone organizational change. Absent that, you’ll have an organization that’s static and Major League Soccer is anything is anything but static. It’s a very entrepreneurial organization, less than 30 years old. It continues to break record records for attendance and our fan base continues to expand. The best player on the planet is even playing in our league. [Our growth speak to] the fact that we have built a foundation and culture of excellence that empowers everyone to be the best they can on and off the field. That’s a recipe for success, so we need to continue to do the things that we’re doing well and challenge ourselves in the areas that call us to be better.
