Teams Conference Extends Partnership With Compete Sports Diversity

Northstar Meetings Group and Compete Sports Diversity have renewed their agreement for a three-year term to host Compete members to attend the TEAMS Conference & Expo, both to conduct business specific to the group as well as for individual event organizers to meet with destinations, venues and suppliers interested in LGBTQ+ sports events. Beginning with TEAMS ’23 in the Palm Beaches, October 2-5, the agreement will provide meetings services and networking opportunities for members of Compete Sports Diversity and will feature Compete’s second annual “Person of the Year” award during the SportsTravel Awards luncheon on October 4.

The Compete Sports Diversity Council, a group with more than 150 member organizations, reaches 250,000 leaders, athletes and fans. Its mission is to bring together leaders, athletes, fans and professionals to further sports diversity. It accomplishes that by creating a platform based around Compete’s IDEAL principles of Inclusion, Diversity, Equality/ Equity, Acceptance and Leadership to connect, educate, empower and inspire mission-driven LGBTQ+ and allied sports and community leaders, sports organizations, nonprofit groups, tourism partners, corporate partners and athletes through membership, media and event platforms.

Under the agreement, TEAMS will offer meetings and appointments with the organization’s qualified event organizers and discounted registration for the organization’s members who are not event organizers. It will also provide a platform to announce Compete’s “Person of the Year” award, recognizing an influencer who has demonstrated commitment to advancing diversity, equality/equity and inclusion in sports. Last year, Compete recognized Greg Lee, CFO of the Arizona Cardinals at TEAMS ’22 in Oklahoma City.

“We were excited to have the members of Compete Sports Diversity with us at TEAMS ’22. Their active participation in every aspect of the event last year demonstrated the vitality of the industry segment they represent,” said Jason Gewirtz, vice president of the Northstar Meetings Group Sports Division and executive editor and publisher of SportsTravel.

“We’re delighted that the TEAMS Conference & Expo will serve as an annual meeting place for the members of Compete to connect with each other and the hundreds of other sports-event stakeholders for whom TEAMS is a must-attend event.”

“TEAMS produces one of the largest sports tourism conferences each year and Compete is proud to be a part of it by partnering with Northstar Meetings Group,” said Eric Carlyle, Compete CEO. “Together we can make a big impact and reach a broader, more diverse audience.”

“Northstar Meetings Group is an industry titan and I have had the pleasure of working with them for years in various roles,” added Connor Shane, COO of Compete. “Their dedication to inclusive spaces and diversity in sports is unquestionable. It brings me great joy to capitalize on our partnership to strategically combine their resources with our DEI education standards and vast community.”

The TEAMS Conference & Expo, organized by Northstar Meetings Group, is the world’s largest gathering of sports-event organizers and the destinations and venues interested in hosting their events. Since 2018 TEAMS has been the exclusive home of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s SportsLink and NGB Best Practices Seminar. The National Congress of State Games has also held its annual symposium in conjunction with TEAMS since 2016. •

BY EMMA CARLSON, M.L.S.,

Deana Garner, SDL, Joins Compete Sports Diversity’s Leadership Board

Deana Garner, SDL, Arizona State University’s (ASU) Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Deputy Title IX Officer, recently accepted an invitation to become a member of Compete Sports Diversity’s Leadership Board. This follows on the heels of last fall’s powerful partnership between Compete and Garner to hold a Compete Sports Diversity Summit on Women in Sports and Events held at ASU.

Hired by ASU Athletics in 2015 as its senior woman administrator and senior associate athletic director, Garner’s current role at ASU ensures that student-athletes, staff, coaches and Sun Devil administrators behave in ways that align with the NCAA’s DEI and Title IX standards. Additionally, she also oversees all 26 sports as senior associate AD.

An athlete who played club soccer and softball (although she says she wasn’t very good), she attended Dillard University, an HBU in New Orleans and later earned a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Indiana University School of Law at Indianapolis in 1991. Garner began her legal career as a deputy prosecutor with Indiana’s Marion County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in its Domestic Violence Unit, eventually becoming the supervisor.

From 1996-1998, Garner worked as staff council for the Indiana Gaming Commission, teaming with Indiana law enforcement to conduct background checks on Indiana Riverboat occupational licensees. She also drafted rules of play for table games and assisted the Commission in the review and approval of riverboat gambling-related activities that were marketed and offered to the public.

When the NCAA moved to Indianapolis in 1999, with her gambling policy experience and knowledge, Garner accepted a position with the NCAA’s Enforcement Services Agent, Gambling and Amateurism Activities department where she provided education regarding NCAA gambling policies to student-athletes, coaches and administrators.

Following her nine years with the NCAA, Garner moved to New York City in 2008 to work for the NFL in their Securities Department. Working with all 32 NFL teams (more than 1,600 players) around the NFL, she was primarily responsible for implementing and coordinating educational programs for NFL players and staff. In 2014, Deana partnered her background in law enforcement and educational programming to organize and lead the NFL’s Domestic Violence education efforts.

Wanting to broaden her work within athletics beyond professional football, ironically it was through her NFL experiences with then vice president of Football Operations, Ray Anderson that led Garner to apply at ASU in 2015. Today she acts as VP of Arizona State University Athletics.

One of her current goals is to implement sports diversity leadership training, a service offered by Compete, into ASU athletics for coaches, staff and student-athletes. Referring to herself as a mentor rather than a teacher or coach, Garner also actively promotes Compete Sports Diversity, noting that Compete is doing work many people and organizations throughout the greater Phoenix area need to know about. •