Hitting a Home Run With the Complete Compete Sports Diversity Team

Spring is in the air and what a wonderful time for growth! As we look forward to our 2023 Compete Sports Diversity Membership Conference in St. Petersburg, Florida I am reminded of the hard work and dedication the Compete team has put forth to support our vision and mission.

And when I say the Compete team, I don’t just mean Compete’s team members. I always include our sports diversity leaders, member organizations, corporate, travel and community partners in the phrase “Compete team.”

Members like ally Arion Herbert (who will be featured in our Summer of Pride Issue), who volunteered to helm our Executive Committee. And to North Carolina Sports Association (NCSA) for its commitment to support and attract more diverse sports organizers to the state and to CAN Community Health that has stepped up and supported so many of our sports organizations. Together, we absolutely are making change happen!

This year’s Conference truly took a village to build and organize. I am grateful to our COO, Connor Shane for taking the lead in organizing this year’s Conference. I am also grateful to Visit St. Pete/ Clearwater, Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board, The Tampa Bay Rays and MollyTommy for being our premier event partners.

But beyond that, I am grateful to you, our members for recognizing the need for Compete and supporting what we do. We are deeply honored you have chosen to prioritize our IDEAL Principles of Inclusion, Diversity, Equality/Equity, Acceptance and Leadership. Like I just said, it takes a team.

For those of you who are unable to join us in St. Pete, please know you will be missed. And for the rest of you, we will see you all soon. •

Eric Carlyle, SDLT, CEO • HE | HIM CEO | DEI ADVOCATE eric@competenetwork.com