GOAT GOAT GOAT MoreThanACheerleader
WOOTEN is an athlete, a woman, a daughter, and a dope human
JADA
The Kitchen (Women’s Sports Section)
Culture Diary
What If?
Real Talk From The Editor
When I had the idea for this magazine, I knew I had a great idea on my hands. I also knew that it might be a tough sell to people. The majority of people are used to consuming sports in only one way. Being hit over the head with stats that they don’t really care about and now being in the analytic era? Forget it.
That’s why I created this lane that no other sports publication is in. A Black-owned sports magazine that brings socioeconomics and sports together. A magazine that hardcore sports fanatics, casual sports fans, and non-sports fans can enjoy. All the issues drove that socioathletic genre that I created and I couldn’t have been more thrilled. But sometimes, I didn’t quite each issue encapsulated my full vision. It's no one’s fault, I just didn’t feel it constantly. They were still great though, don’t get it twisted. But this one, the SZN 1 finale? Yeah, this one did it. Accidentally, the theme of this issue is humanity. All I’ve wanted to do or, mainly what I’ve wanted to do, is show a different side of sports and the athletes from a variety of different lenses. Getting people to understand that sports isn’t simply mindless entertainment for YOU to escape reality. They are people too and they go through ups and downs as well. Money, fame, attention, and clout don’t take away from any of that nor should they.
When the cameras are off and our attention is diverted elsewhere, they are just like us. They’re parents, caregivers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and so on. They deserve sympathy like we do because being an athlete will be a footnote in their life. That is what they will be known for but it isn’t who they are. This train of thought is just a piece of where GOAT comes in. Which makes this the perfect issue to come out on Jackie Robinson Day.
As SZN 1 comes to a close, expect more of the same but better from GOAT in 2025. Stay up and stay real. Oh, and shout out to Emmitt Ashford.
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But Still, Women’s Sports Rise
Words by Jemesia Jefferson
Women’s sports have always been captivating. The firsts have been first. The records have been set, broken, and then set again. The viewers were glued to their devices while live audiences yelled with giant posters wearing team merchandise, hoping the moment would last forever Yet, the mainstream media and investors alike haven’t acknowledged the hype is real. They haven’t decided that women’s sports are worth the investment. They haven’t accepted how much these women have changed the game. The reason for this is simple – misogyny– but let’s start from the beginning.
BoSports have been around since the nineteenth century but they were originally only for men. Once larger societies realized women’s bodies were stronger than initially expected, more opportunities to play sports became available. In the 1920s, women were officially given access to participate in the Olympics. Fast forward 30 years and American women are etching their names in the history books. There was Wilma Rudolph who overcame polio and then won three Olympic Gold medals in Track & Field. Then, Tenely Albright won 5 US Championships and became the first American woman to win an Olympic Gold medal in figure skating. Soon after, in the late 1960s, Billie Jean King turned pro and won her first Grand Slam.
Despite women competing at high levels across international lines, most American girls and women were left out of sports during this time. It wasn’t until after Title IX passed in 1972 that girls and women began to have equal opportunities to participate in sports. Title IX ended sex-based discrimination in schools or programs receiving federal funding. This changed the game immediately. High schools created sports teams for girls while colleges and universities offered more sports scholarships to female athletes. I would even argue it opened the door for professional women athletes to receive more endorsements.
This marked a turning point in women’s sports history. The girls and women could finally enter the building that held the proverbial seats and table and decided to make good use of it.
With newfound support, women began their ascent into sports history. In 1971, the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded to give women college athletes the chance to compete for national championships. Popularity for women’s collegiate sports grew and led the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to take over collegiate athletics for men and women.
In 1982, the NCAA had its first-ever women’s national championships for basketball and soccer where Louisiana Tech and the University of North Carolina (UNC) won respectively. The popularity of basketball and soccer didn’t stop at the college level; it propelled itself to the pros.
Top image: all the amazing women IN sports media
Bottom image: from left, Elle Duncan, Andraya Carter, Chiney Oguwmike
The 90s brought an Olympic gold medal for women’s basketball in 1996 and World Cup championships (1991, 1999) for soccer paving the way for the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and several professional women’s soccer leagues that would eventually become the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) that we see today. It also brought major endorsement deals for women; Mia Hamm became Nike’s first women’s soccer athlete while Sheryl Swoopes earned the first signature shoe for women’s basketball.
Time rolled on and women kept winning. Venus and Serena Williams put tennis in the national spotlight. The University of Connecticut (UConn) women’s basketball team made Storrs, CT the basketball capital of the world. UNC dominated in field hockey. Katie Ledecky (swimming), Allyson Felix (sprinter), Misty MayTreanor (volleyball), and the US women’s 5x5 basketball team couldn’t stop winning Gold medals. Despite women’s sports being filled with success, media attention was limited. Women’s sports received little to no prime time TV access and general public support waned.
The world seemed to move on but it didn’t stop the athletes’ dedication to their craft or inspiring young girls to pursue sports. They were destined to create the next leaders who would change women’s sports and it finally happened.
In 2021, Sedona Prince, a former basketball player for the University of Oregon, posted a TikTok video about the differences between the men’s and women's national championships. The differences were staggering; men had full weight rooms, a variety of food options, and “March Madness” branded swag while the women had a corner full of free weights and pre-packaged meals.
The general public was outraged, forcing the NCAA to take a hard look at the gender inequities across men's and women’s championships. Kaplan, Heckle & Fink (KHF), the law firm the NCAA hired to audit all 85 national championships, published a two-part report outlining the disparities across the events. KHF concluded that the NCAA prioritized the DI Men’s Basketball championships because it was their main source of revenue and had no system in place to ensure equity across sports.
By definition, misogyny is a hatred or prejudice against women. Many people think misogyny is limited to explicit acts like using slurs or excluding women from spaces. (Yes, not giving girls and women the opportunities to play sports or win at the highest level pre-Title IX was misogyny.) However, misogyny includes quiet, systemic, and implicit behaviors too.
It's adding women’s sports to your wheelhouse without consideration on how to make it accessible or equitable as the NCAA did. Or it’s forcing women to accept inadequate professional facilities while expecting championships on the WNBA level. It’s offering women less TV time and money despite averaging more viewership than certain male sports like ESPN has done.
Simply put, misogyny in sports is expecting girls and women to provide value before receiving opportunities and resources freely given to boys and men.
Since the incident in 2021, the NCAA and ESPN were forced to make some changes. For example, ESPN put the entire women’s tournament on their networks. This led to increased viewership and attendance across college basketball and the WNBA. This incident shifted women’s sports in other ways too.
Online spaces like “W Twitter” and r/NCAAW connected sports fans across the globe. Former athletes joined podcasts and did interviews to share stories of trials and triumphs. Interests in other sports like volleyball, softball, and soccer popped and new and improved professional leagues have taken the stage. There’s even an All Women’s Sports Network (AWSN), created by Whoopi Goldberg, that streams women’s sports 24/7 across 65 countries. Major networks like ESPN and CBS have not widely discussed these amazing changes, but the shift prevails.
Until our society makes radical changes, misogyny will still exist but it won’t last long as an underlying excuse to not invest in women's sports. Every expectation has been exceeded. These women are winners, likable, and have larger brands and followings than men in similar positions. The trajectory for women’s sports is already at rocket speed and “the powers that be” will lose out on money if they continue to turn a blind eye.
If you don’t believe me, look no further than the Women’s National Football Conference (WNFC) or Unrivaled. The WNFC is a semi-pro tackle football league going into its sixth season. In 2024, their founder, Odessa Jenkins, was able to raise one million dollars in one round of funding and stated the company has experienced 100% year-over-year growth from apparel sales. On the other hand, Unrivaled revealed to Front Office Sports that the company “nearly broke even” in year one. The 3x3 full court basketball league’s dedication to meeting player’s needs on and off the court made them destined for success.
As I said at the beginning, women’s sports have always been captivating; they just need the investment and equal attention to prove it.
Jeremy,
I ain’t gon hold you bro, I didn’t think I’d be doing this Not because you were a bad player or anything because you weren’t But honestly, it’s the braids because why? Nah but for real, you have one of the more unique stories in sports Going from being undrafted to signing with the (Golden State) Warriors and barely playing, then playing in China, and then the ride of a lifetime with the (New York) Knicks
Even though you went undrafted, when you signed with the Warriors, you became the first American of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to play in the NBA. And maybe it didn’t matter to you because you were just trying to make your mark in the league and establish yourself. But it mattered, bro. It mattered.
Not many athletes have a period of time with their name attached to it And if they do, that period is longer than 2 weeks But for those 15 days of Linsanity, your impact on Asian culture was immeasurable As a Black man watching your run, I thought it was cool and I was happy for you (except when you dropped 38 on my Lakers) but I didn’t understand the impact Then I watched the “38 At The Garden” HBO documentary and saw and understood the cultural impact that your success had on the Asian community.
Yes, Yao Ming entered the NBA in 2002, and he was incredible. All-Star, All-NBA, and every bit of the dominant force he was projected to be. But Linsanity was different. Maybe because you were American-born and there was no language barrier? Maybe because your run happened in the biggest media market in the country instead of…Indiana? No disrespect to Indiana. But the Linsanity run seemed to be the perfect storm that life sometimes offers some of us.
Will there be an effect from this where there is an uptick in Asian-American players in the NBA? It’s still too early to tell. But the impact you had with Linsanity doesn’t have to be found there, Jeremy. The impact is multi-layered. It’s in this diary entry. It’s in the aforementioned documentary. It’s in the Linsanity name you trademarked. It’s in your Knicks jersey STILL being a top seller in this decade. It’s in the fact that for a two-week period in the best basketball league in the world, you, an undrafted American-Taiwanese player was among the best and most influential in the league. You did it bro. Much respect.
What if...the 1994 MLB Season wasn’t
interrupted bya strike?
Worker unions have been the foundation of this country's labor force since it was colonized. As American sports leagues were getting started in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the thought of the players as employees was not a thought at all. Athletes in the early days of MLB, the NBA, and the NFL were just playing the game to be playing it. There was no money in it for the athletes, it was mainly for the love of the game.
But as capitalism started to rear its ugly head, the team owners and front offices started to see the athletes as property and not human beings with rights. So Players' Associations started: the NFL in 1956, the NBA in 1954, and the MLB in 1953. However, MLB wasn’t recognized as a labor union until 1966. Once labor unions were entrenched, a contentious relationship started between the unions and the leagues.
Lockouts and strikes would pepper various sports leagues throughout the 20th century but they usually got resolved so that some of the season could be resolved and a champion could be crowned. But in 1994, that didn’t happen for Major League Baseball.
Talks between MLB and the MLBPA were nasty and distrustful all year and it didn’t look like it would get better any time soon. The 1994 season did happen amidst the labor talks and it went all the way until August! But on August 12, 1994, the unthinkable happened and the rest of the season was canceled. Playoffs included.
Fans were pissed, players were pissed, it was akin to a balloon deflating, and just like that, baseball in 1994 was done. The repercussions of that strike affected so many teams and players like the Montreal Expos, Tony Gwynn, Matt Williams, and….Michael Jordan and the NBA. Yes, that Michael Jordan. So let’s explore how life would’ve been different as we know it if the 1994 MLB season had fully finished.
Tony Gwynn:
Ted Williams, the iconic Boston Red Sox left fielder, was the first player in baseball to finish the season hitting over .400. Josh Gibson, the Negro League superstar, did it two years later hitting .466 but that became revealed just a year ago. So for decades, Williams was the standard barrier for that mark. In 1994, San Diego Padres right fielder Tony Gwynn, one of the game’s all-time best hitters, was creeping up to being the next member of the .400 club.
On August 11, Gwynn was hitting .394 with just under a month to go in the regular season.
Gwynn finishes the month of August hitting .388. The Padres opened up September with a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates and Gwynn goes 10-15 in the series. ESPN had a Gwynn tracker that updated you, for better or worse, about Gwynn’s chase for history.
Halfway through September, Gwynn hit a bit of a slump, no pun intended. During a 12-game stretch, the Padres star goes 13-48 for a batting average of .270. That didn’t help his cause at all. Gwynn stood at .365 and interest started to wane. Then a series against the National League-leading Astros came around and Tony. Gwynn. Couldn’t. Miss. He finishes that series going 12-12. And over the next six games, Gwynn hits 11-18 and is sitting pretty at .399 with THREE games left in the season. Talk about theater.
Ted Williams made it out to Colorado, where the Padres were playing the Rockies in the season finale to see Tony Gwynn break his long-time season batting average of .406. With the whole world watching, Tony Gwynn reminded everyone why he’s the best pure hitter in the game and why he’s a future first-ballot Hall of Famer.
In game one, he goes 4-4, in game two, he goes 2-4, which at this point has him at .400. But he needs at least three hits to get to .406. Gwynn just hits two home runs and a double, nothing too big, nothing too flashy *insert sarcasm*. Those RBIs (runs batted in) proved to be the difference and he did it. His batting average on the year stood at .407 and he stands alone. Until 2024, when Negro League stats are counted but that wouldn’t happen for another 30 years.
The Montreal Expos:
Depending on your age as you read this or how big of a baseball fan you AREN’T, your pretty damn surprised to learn that there was a professional baseball team in Montreal. Or Canada, period.
*whispers* there’s a team in Toronto too. The Blue Jays…
But anyway, yes, the Montreal Expos! They were having their best season EVER. During the summer of 1994, they had a 46-18 record and a World Series push, if not a berth, seemed imminent. As of August 11th, they had a 9-2 record putting them at 74-40 and they were just getting started. They finished August with a 12-6 record making them enter September at 86-46 and already having clinched a playoff berth. 100 wins seemed like a formality but how far past 100 would they go?
The Expos opened up September with seven straight wins putting them at 93-46 and keeping hope alive for 116 wins tying the all-time record. But then, they hit an uncharacteristic 9-game losing streak which put the all-time wins record out of reach. 93-55 isn’t bad plus they clinched the No. 1 seed in the brand new wild-card era in the MLB Playoffs.
The Expos finished the season 102-60, the best record in the majors and in team history. The MVP candidate duo of right fielder Larry Walker and left fielder Moises Alou were hitting the cover off the ball all season. Walker hit .315 with 29 HRs and 112 RBIs and Alou hit .330 with 39 HRs and 105 RBIs.
In a five-game series, Montreal played the Cincinnati Reds, the first-ever wild-card playoff team in the NLDS. But it was more like a three-game series because Cincinnati got swept and it wasn’t particularly close. The Expos outscored the Reds in three games 24-6. Next up, the Houston Astros and the showdown all baseball fans were hoping to see between the top two teams in the National League record-wise. Three NL MVP candidates (Walker, Alou, and Houston’s Jeff Bagwell) were gonna go at it to see who’s going to the World Series.
The series went seven games as expected with the deciding game in Montreal. It was a back-and-forth affair that had the game tied at 4 going into extra innings. Expos first baseman Cliff Floyd was at the plate with two on and two outs and a trip to the World Series resting on his bat. He swung on a 2-0 count (two balls, no strikes) and the ball was gone.
A three-run home run and the Montreal Expos were in the World Series! They were expected to face the New York Yankees in the Fall Classic but the Chicago White Sox upset them in the ALCS in 6 games. The fanfare wasn’t the same but the teams didn’t care nor should they have. The Expos and White Sox faced off with the Expos winning in 6 games and bringing the second World Series title to Canada and the third consecutive one overall.
The impact of the Expos’ 1994 championship was immediate. It showed that baseball could thrive in Canada and two more teams were added; the Vancouver Beavers and the Calgary Cannons. These three events in the 90s would change the culture of baseball in Canada and beyond.
Matt Williams:
The summer of 1998 is well known as the Great Home Run Chase. Chicago Cubs right fielder Sammy Sosa and St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Mark McGwire engaged in a home run chase to break New York Yankees legend Roger Maris’ single-season home run record, 61. The chase captivated the country’s attention turning Sosa and McGwire into superstars.
In 1994, San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Williams was on a trajectory to break Maris’ record with 43 home runs by the time the season ended abruptly in August. But since the season keeps going in this scenario, Williams had 47 remaining games to hit 19 more homers. Doable? Certainly. But it wouldn’t be easy at all which shows why this record has been so difficult to break. It’s one thing to hit home runs in the flow of a game but a completely different thing to hit them on command just to break a record.
Also, the Giants were in a chase for the league’s first-ever playoff wild card so the home runs would be meaningful.
At the end of August, Williams finished with 49 home runs setting up for an epic September and a media chase that wouldn’t make Williams’ pursuit easy. And a new challenger entered the chat for the home run race too. Williams’ teammate, Giants right fielder Barry Bonds. He entered September with 48 home runs and now, the media had a story.
The Giants' first three series in September are against the Atlanta Braves, the Florida Marlins, and then the Braves again. In those 9 games, Williams hit 4 HRs bringing his total to 53 and Bonds hit 5 HRs, bringing his total to 53. An all-time home run chase between two teammates in a playoff race? How can you not be romantic about sports?
With 19 games left, both sluggers have 9 HRs each to hit. In the next three series, the Giants face the Padres, the Astros, and Cubs. Bonds hit three homers against the three opponents bringing him to 56. Williams only hits two homers bringing his total to 55.
Then, a tragic moment strikes. In a game against the Reds, Williams was rounding third heading home and collided with the Reds catcher and seemed to suffer a serious knee injury. Later it was revealed that Williams tore his ACL and would be out for the rest of the season and probably next season leaving his home run chase done and ending at 55 home runs.
So now it’s up to Bonds to make history. With seven games left and six home runs to go, all eyes are on Bonds. He hits three more in the final two games against the Reds and he has 58. Some people are crowning him already as it seems inevitable that Bonds will be the regular season home run king. He’s sitting on 60 home runs with the last series of the season against the Dodgers. ESPN and every sports and news media outlet descend on Dodger Stadium to see history.
The pressure was immense and every Bonds at-bat had all eyes on him. Everyone had their cameras out with the flash on. But….60 is as far as Bonds went. He had hits, pop flies, strikeouts, and walks but no home runs. Looks like that magical summer of 1998 was still in play.
Michael Jordan:
If you didn’t know, Michael Jordan used to play baseball. Yeah, THAT Michael Jordan. Matter of fact, he left basketball just to do it. Some thought it was a publicity stunt, some thought it was a way to honor his slain father in the summer of 1993, and some thought it was him escaping gambling bookies. That last one is a real thought too.
But in any event, Jordan left basketball at his peak and decided to play for the Chicago White Sox. So he started from the ground up and signed a minor league contract with the club on February 7, 1994. Of course, he didn’t do well from the jump because he was transitioning to an entirely different sport. But like great athletes with legendary work ethic do, he got better. Month by month.
The numbers weren’t impressive (hitting .202 with 114 strikeouts and 11 errors committed) but he also stole 30 bases and in the Arizona Fall League improved that batting average to .252 but before he could really improve, the MLB strike hit and his baseball dream was done. But if the MLB strike never happens, Jordan will keep playing and improving and… never return to the NBA.
In the Arizona Fall League, Jordan’s numbers improved across the board. He upped the batting average to .265, he added 10 home runs, 45 RBIs, 20 doubles, 9 triples, and 35 SBs. As the improvement increases, the media begins to stir up the pot about when, not if, Jordan will return to basketball. He’s asked about it ad nauseum going into 1995 but he refuses to acknowledge the questions.
In February, Jordan announced he’s sticking with baseball and declared he’ll make the White Sox Opening Day roster out of confidence. The sports world is shocked and most are in denial. The greatest basketball player ever is really doing this….baseball thing for good? With a full offseason this time, MJ really gave baseball an honest try and his Spring Training numbers reflected so. He hit .290 with 15 HRs, 40 RBIs, 13 doubles, and 5 triples and he made the Opening Day roster just has he predicted.
Jordan was the starting right fielder for the Chicago White Sox and it looked surreal to see him out there. But there he was manning right field at Comiskey Park and leading off while the Chicago Bulls were figuring out life without him for good. Jordan had an impressive first year in the majors, being voted as an All-Star starter (even though people said he was voted simply because he’s Michael Jordan) and won AL Rookie of the Year, the oldest player in the majors to win it.
MJ played baseball until 2000 all with the White Sox. He made 4 more All-Star teams, won a batting title, and a Gold Glove, led the league in stolen bases twice, and had two top-five MVP finishes. The White Sox made the playoffs three times with him but never to the World Series. In his huge absence, the NBA was wide open. The Seattle Sonics won their second title in 1996, the Utah Jazz won their first-ever title in 1997, and the Orlando Magic started their dynasty by winning three titles in a row from 1998-2000 led by Shaquille O’Neal and Grant Hill.
Michael Jordan eventually had his jersey retired by the Chicago Bulls and had a statue built outside of the stadium. Also, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998 while he was still playing baseball. In 2007, his number 45 was retired by the White Sox.
Without all these hypothetical situations, things still ended up okay for most parties. Except the Montreal Expos who ended up being moved to D.C. and renamed the Washington Nationals. Baseball hasn’t returned to Montreal and there aren’t signs that it will. Player-wise, Tony Gwynn was a first-ballot Hall of Famer before his unfortunate passing in 2014. Matt Williams was inducted into the San Francisco Giants Wall of Fame and managed in the majors in two different stints. Michael Jordan? You know how things worked out for him. But it’s always fun to wonder what if…
Empower. build. create.
the homeless world gives the humanity in sports we’ve been seeking
Sports are a very polarizing thing throughout the world. We all marvel at elite athletes and the things they can do in their sport of choice. They’re the closest thing to comic book superheroes that we have in real life. The way an athlete can dunk, kick a ball, throw a football, ice skate, hit a ball incredibly far, and shoot a three is something that leaves us regular citizens in awe.
But then the money. As the legendary urban poet, Christopher “Biggie” Wallace once said, “The more money you make, the more problems you get” . As more money got into sports and the athletes' salaries became increasingly grandiose, fans’ anger began to get louder and louder. Calling athletes overpaid and claiming they’re only playing for the money and not the love of the game. And going to games in PERSON nowadays? Damn near a mortgage payment.
It looked as though sports and morality and ethics went together like oil and water for the most part. But it seemed that Mel Young and Harald Schmied found something different. Over some beers, which is how the best ideas in the world get created, the two were discussing their experience at the International Network of Street Papers in Austria. The INSP is a nonprofit org designed to combat poverty and homelessness.
Young and Schmied enjoyed their time there but didn’t like that there weren’t more people there who had experienced homelessness. But instead of going online to slam the org, they decided to become the change they wanted to see. So using the the main global game (soccer/futbol) as the vehicle, the goal is to gather people around the world experiencing homelessness and get them to instead experience community and work with others to attain a goal. No pun intended.
The friends co-founded the organization in 2001 and two years later, the first Homeless World Cup took place in Austria and a dope sporting event that included empathy and kindness was on its way. Of course, there are rules and regulations for this event.
Participants have to be older than 16 years old and cannot have participated in any prior tournaments from the org. Participants have to be homeless at any point after the previous year’s tournament. So if someone was homeless after the 2008 tournament and did not participate in any of the events from 2003-08, they are eligible to play. Humans who are in drug and/or alcohol rehab or asylum seekers can also qualify as well.
As far as the actual game is concerned, those rules are simple. Four players on the court, per team, at a time. There are four players on the bench giving a total of eight players per team. Each game is 14 minutes long with each half being, obviously, seven minutes.
Top: Celebratory image from the inaugural Homeless World Cup in 2003
Bottom: image from the 2008 Homeless World Cup in Melbourne, Australia
The Homeless World Cup isn’t just about soccer, though. The organization truly does try to combat, if not eradicate homeless completely. HWC keeps statistics on the participating countries to see how they can help the homeless communities there. Also, you might have asked how homeless people manage to make it to various countries for the HWCs annually. It’s a damn good question. So here’s how that works.
Teams are invited by the HWC Foundation and they must be Full Members. As a Full Member, there must be a football-for-development program that happens year round and they have to get participants who are experiencing homelessness and/or are marginalized economically or socially. The financial burden of flights, team kits, practices, and all that, falls solely on the member. Upon signing up, they sign a three-year renewable partner agreement. Lastly, they are the sole member that represents that country and is responsible for getting a team to the HWC.
A Full Member is not a single person but an organization that works in conjunction with the Homeless World Cup.
Homeless World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2010
For example, in Canada, the name of their organization is the Canadian Street Soccer Association, in Nigeria, the name of their organization is S.G. - Youth For Development Centre, and in Japan, the Diversity Soccer Association and so on. There are 68 Member Countries currently and with 193 U.N. member countries, there is room to grow.
But past all the rules and how it works, is the impact of the Homeless World Cup on all those who have participated. It’s because of them that this event even happens and why it means so much.
Jonathan Torres, who played for Team USA in the 2024 HWC, was coming back from Seoul, Korea (site of the 2024 Homeless World Cup) back home to New York. On his way back, he found out he’d have a quick layover in Texas. That was significant because he was going to be able to meet his sister whom he’d never met before.
Torres was separated from his mom as a child and never knew where she or his siblings were. He always wanted to find and meet them but just didn’t have the resources to do so. While he was applying for his passport to go to Seoul, he found an ancestry website that gave him the opportunity he’d dreamed of. Through there, he found his second cousin, they connected on Facebook and he then found that one of his sisters lives in Texas.
The same state where he just so happened to be making a connecting flight to go back home was where he had an opportunity to meet his sister for the first time. They only met for five minutes but that five minutes probably felt like an hour. And he also found out that his mother is still alive and living in El Salvador and he set up a reunion for her. Without the Homeless World Cup that he participated in, none of this happens.
Great stories of the athletes from their various HWC experiences flow like water from a faucet. There is Linnet, a 25-year-old Zimbabwean woman who played on the men’s team as their goalkeeper. Their BACKUP goalkeeper. And played so well, she ended up winning Best Goalkeeper in the men’s competition in 2024.
Algin Mawani is an Indonesian man who was born with HIV and had to endure a tough life with a disease he didn’t knowingly contract. Living with HIV and being homeless isn’t easy. Just one of those situations isn’t easy for someone to live with. After years of participating in the selection process, Mawani finally made it onto the Indonesian team for the 2024 HWC. As someone who has been stigmatized twice over, he now has his chance to be a part of a team and a community that sees him as a teammate, a friend, and a human.
The Homeless World Cup is one of the rare sporting events, along with the Special Olympics, which uses sports as a vessel to show that all people are somebody. They deserve to have a sense of community and belonging just as much as people who have homes to live in. In times when it’s hard to believe in anything pure and kind anymore, the Homeless World Cup gives that reassurance that it’s okay to believe in a true purpose and unrequited acts of kindness all through sports.
Homeless World Cup in Mexico City in 2018
Miss Understood
You know Jada Wooten from the hit Netflix show Cheer. And that’s the problem.
Questions by Andre Brown
Words by Jada Wooten
It’s fascinating how being in the public eye can make random people feel like they know you. They see outof-context clips of a person usually designed to drive a larger narrative and viewers and onlookers fall for it hook, line, and sinker. So they either love you or hate you with nothing to, logically, base it on.
When season two of the hit Netflix show, Cheer, debuted in January 2022, many fans, there from season one, thought they were getting another look into the world of the cheer team from Navarro College in Texas. And they did. They also were introduced to Navarro’s main rival, Trinity Valley College, and their dynamic leader, Jada Wooten.
From the jump, she showed dedication, passion, intensity, a strong voice, and an unwavering belief in herself that her teammates fed off voraciously. All solid attributes right? Except that somehow had her painted as the “big bad”, the villain, and viewers ate it up and let her know about it. On social media, of course, not in person because….keyboard warriors.
But she’s not mean, she’s not evil, she’s not an asshole. She’s kind, and giving, and wants to leave cheerleading in a better place than she found it. And on top of all that, she understands the assignment as a public figure in this crazy world and accepts it gladly. But, enough for me. Time for you to hear from her yourself.
How did your cheer journey begin?
“Well, it started at a young age and I was inspired by my sister who was in high school. I’m not sure if I was even in pre-K yet but I would watch her practices and eventually join in around three years old and that started my whole journey. I definitely loved it! I was intrigued by all the tumbling for the most part. I was told a story that at one of my sister’s practices, they were practicing backhand springs and I just ran out on the mat and threw one myself outta the blue! So I guess you can say I had the passion from that point going forward.”
You once spoke about a mental block that you had in mid-air. Simone Biles, famously left the Olympics because of a similar situation, how common is that in the cheer/tumbling/gymnastics world? And how did you deal with it the first time it happened?
“It’s unfortunately very common. There aren’t many people who haven’t had some sort of mental block. Personally, it knocked me off of my feet for a while. I was really in a rut for a little over a year. Ultimately, someone reached out to my mom to suggest a coach who is really familiar with mental blocks in the world of tumbling.
So I traveled to New Jersey to work with him and in a matter of two days, I was throwing the skills that I hadn’t thrown in two years!
So that boosted my confidence but not that much to where I thought I was going to be on a team again but I still took a necessary risk. And that following year, I moved to California, was on a team (California All-Stars) and got back to it.
What got me out of it was a change of scenery, working with different coaches, being in an empty gym, and a lot of patience and dedication (laughs). It’s really easy to just give up with mental blocks and just avoid the skill that might be affecting you but I wanted to get back on my feet as soon as possible and be the best that I can be and the passion for the sport really fueled that. What caused the “twisties”, for me, was that I was tired of falling on my neck over and over again to the point where my brain just cut it out and forced me to not do it anymore.”
On Cheer, you were shown as a passionate leader of people who would inspire in any way possible. Where did that come from for you, was that from your mother or a combination of both?
“I think both, for sure. When I got back on my feet from my tumble ‘block’, my brain kind of rewired itself from thinking about being in this sport for fun to something I am really good at and having something to prove. When my mental block transpired, I lost all the confidence in the world. I thought I wasn’t good anymore, I didn’t feel that I could come back nor did I feel supported by the gym I was training in.
Maybe because they weren’t equipped to deal with someone going through that at the time. I’m not sure, I don’t want to speak ill of them at all. But ultimately, that led me down a road where I built up courage and effort to genuinely care about the success of my team. And finally proving to myself that ‘I can do this’.”
Now, outside of Torrance Shipman and Isis, you’re one of the known faces of cheerleading. Does that feel like a burden or a blessing to you?
“A blessing, without a doubt! Because I don’t feel that many people are blessed with that opportunity for one. And two, to be one of the main characters (on Cheer), for lack of a better word, and to see it on screen and see how others see me.
Hearing stories from other people about their situations and experiences in cheerleading, which are very similar to mine, put things in a different perspective for me. I thought I was just producing cool clips and routines for people, but those same people were saying my personality and drive for cheerleading were coming through, which was immensely rewarding.
I love the sport and my teammates with whom I go through things. But to know that I’ve impacted people outside of knowing them? That just means a lot.”
Coming up in the tumbling/cheerleading world, was there an athlete (in that field or not) who you looked up to? And why?
“I would say in my earlier days, there were people that I admired for their talents. But as far as someone that spoke to me on a personal level? No one comes to mind. I wish I did but….I really inspired myself! (laughs) My family helped with that. They helped build my confidence and when I was starting to believe them, that lit my own fire because of all the personal battles I had gone through in cheerleading. So I thought, ‘Why don’t I just trust and believe in myself and see where that takes me?’
Now if I’m THEIR favorite athlete, that’s a bit weird (laughs). It’s hard to put into words. People that I have encountered in public, I converse with them and get to know them a little bit and it’s weird because I feel like I’m a normal person. So if I’m able to be that normal person and impact someone, it’s so rewarding. I’m just grateful that I can speak to one person or hundreds or thousands.”
I know you hear it all the time, “cheerleading isn’t a sport” and it’s tired. IF you chose to have time that day, what would you SHOW, not say, to the ignorant people who say that?
“I would bring them through one of Trinity Valley’s practices, for sure. I would show what kind of high-caliber training we do in the gym. Because we (cheerleaders) train just as hard, if not harder, than any other sport. I’ve done track and lacrosse and excelled in those.
But the most challenging for me has always been cheerleading; mentally, physically, and emotionally. It’s a sport surrounded by perfectionism! So all these athletes are coming together with that “gotta be perfect” mindset and that’s tough.
Striving for perfection throughout your whole cheer life, and I say ‘life’ because sometimes you’re spending more time with your coaches and teammates than your own family. You’re working with and being around these people for the majority of your life. So that’s where the emotional and mentally challenging aspect comes in.”
Some athletes see themselves as role models, and some don’t. Do you see yourself as that, especially to Black women? How or how not?
“Absolutely. And mainly because I would listen to what my teammates would say about me, whether on or offscreen because I wanted to impact the people around me. I wasn’t just doing this for me or to unnecessarily rub it in anyone else’s face to whom I tried to prove things.
I wanted to show that I earned the role and position that I had on the team. So if there was a certain way I had to act then so be it But people got a chance to see how I interacted with my teammates in all facets as a human being, not just a cheerleader. That’s when I began to feel like a role model.
And then as a Black woman, you know, Black people are stereotyped to be very athletic and stigmatized where we have to fit societal norms. Like, how many Black people are there in cheerleading that are being loud and taking up space? Not many. So in that case, I feel like a role model for Black people as well.”
If you were the sole commissioner of cheerleading, nationally, what are the five changes or rules you would make?
“I would start with a governing body because there isn’t one in cheerleading, an Athlete Bill of Rights, certified coaches, standardized score sheets, and giving athletes a voice.
As far as the Athlete’s Bill of Rights goes, it would be for protection, mental health, and not being able to remove athletes from a team without due process. This means they can’t threaten your spot on the team without just cause. There have been times when cheerleaders have been taken off the mat and want to cheer elsewhere where they can actually participate as part of the team. But the gym won’t release them because they’re simply being petty.
Cheerleading lacks a lot of safety measures and measures that will make the overall sport better for all athletes involved.”
What was your first thought when Gabrielle Union came to your defense?
“I was FLOORED! But also, overwhelmingly grateful yet the sentiment left a knot in my throat. Because I knew during filming, and I told a lot of my coaches this, people were either going to love me or hate me, no in between. And me being a person of color, I didn’t think too much about it from that aspect. But when the show came out the backlash started because I was…taking up too much space, having this strong personality, and all that. Now, I wasn’t the only one taking on that kind of personality on the show yet I was the only one being scrutinized for it.
So when she shouted me out to defend me, it just made me feel so grateful and gave me a sense of acceptance. I love her for that and will forever appreciate her for that gesture. It changed the tone and narrative surrounding me a little bit.”
I see you’re a cheerleading coach now. What other great things do you want to do with cheerleading as your life continues?
“To continue to travel the world and spread the knowledge and discipline of cheerleading. I still have goals that I want to accomplish in the sport and eventually, I would like to branch out but not any time soon.”
You’re Georgia-raised and you’ve lived in Texas, which state has the best food?
“Definitely The Wooten residence! For! Sure! My family can throw it DOWN. My dad’s wings are a big one, any meats for sure. The Christmas dinners, the Thanksgiving dinners pop off! Crab legs, seafood, nothing ever misses! I’ve had food everywhere but nothing compares to the home cooking I get.”
If you were putting out an album and only had six features, which artists would those features be?
“It would be a mix of different genres! I love oldhead music but I’m gonna go with The Game, Joseph McFashion, Kendrick Lamar, Michael Jackson, GloRilla, and Motley Crue!”
What movies make you cry every single time you watch them?
“Without a doubt, any movie that features a father figure who’s going through a rough time or who passes away, I will BAWL my eyes out! I usually avoid them. It’s been this way since I was a little girl (laughs) and I don’t know why! Like The Pursuit of Happyness? I avoided that movie for YEARS. I eventually did watch it but I either didn’t finish it or never watched it again.
But with comfort movies, I love Pirates Of The Caribbean and Avatar.”
Which cities/states/countries are on your travel bucket list?
“Japan, South Africa, I’m going to Europe this summer so that will be off my bucket list, specifically The Netherlands and Norway. I’m going to Germany and France for sure on my trip. I’ll have time in between countries, so hopefully I can check out the two aforementioned places while I’m out there.”
What are some of your favorite TV shows that you’re currently watching?
“Dexter, various anime shows, specifically Attack On Titan and Demon Slayer, Game of Thrones, top tier, and then Grey’s Anatomy.
AB: What did you think about the way Game of Thrones ended? Because I watched it and was severely disappointed.
I was disappointed. And I didn’t read the books, my mom did so in talking to her I found out that the events in the books and the show didn’t match up and that just made it a bit worse for my views on the final season.”
Thank you,