Black men and women make up a small percentage of head coaching positions in college running. Here’s why it’s important to strive for an inclusive team environment regardless.
In a time where running safety measures differ based on demographic and running clubs in many areas can be largely white, the story of Black NCAA athletes can feel similar: We’ve long understood that in this sport, just like in many other aspects of our lives, our experiences will be different from our non-Black peers’ experiences.
“The sport is very different from other sports, there’s kind of a low entry point in terms of finances, geographic locations, etc.,” Lananna says. As an assistant coach at Dartmouth College, his first big coaching position, he mostly recruited nationally for a program that also had high academic requirements, as did Stanford. But Oregon, with its reputation as a school that develops future U.S. champions, had a more global approach.
A Black coach himself, Holloway says when guiding his athletes through a multitude of sprint, distance, and field events, he keeps in mind that you’re coaching a human and not simply a performance machine. Cheryl Donald, a licensed marriage and family therapist based in New York City, reinforced the value of Black representation and visibility within the running community. She is a founding member of, which is a bimonthly social series that helps Black women runners in the New York metropolitan area to mingle.
As a seasoned coach of the Florida Gators—Holloway has 12 NCAA Division I National Championships and has coached numerous Olympic medalists—he thinks that white coaches can support Black athletes, and athletes of varying backgrounds, by not only opening their ears to listen but also opening your eyes to watch.
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