Women in Sports Law Conference:
I attended the Women in Sports Law Conference at the Staples Center in Los Angeles last week and was lucky enough to be in the presence of four successful women who have transitioned their law careers into the sports world. During a panel discussion with these women, I learned about how they have propelled their positions to the highest levels in the industry working in capacities such as: Immigration law with a focus on international athletes, defending sports teams, agent work, and general counsel representation. As a law student hoping to be in their shoes some day, I attended this conference with specific questions in mind: “How did these women get to where they are today, and what did they do during law school to set themselves up for a career in sports?”
What was discussed and what stood out to me instead was the audience’s curiosity with how women “felt” or were treated in what is predominately a male-saturated career. The women responded saying that the fight between knowledge of the sports industry is what really sets you apart. As one panelist noted, “other people in the office may have been talking about a fantasy game in the kitchen one morning, and when I walked in there and started discussing players as well, people turned around, gave me a look, and then adjusted, and we all moved on with the discussion.” Like women aren’t allowed to play fantasy?
Another panelist described her interactions with men in the office based off the assumption that women are weak and fragile. When she would leave for client meetings, she was forced to bring other men along who acted like “body guards” with an assumption that she needed “protecting.” This to me, and to most people in the room, shed light on the unconscious bias in how people assume that women are weaker than men.
The panelists agreed that these assumptions are some of the few true stereotypes in a sports career: not whether you are a man or a woman and if you are capable of being involved in sports, but that it is often surprising when a woman does have knowledge of the industry.
Maybe gender doesn’t matter, but women in sports banding together to fight the social barriers with knowledge of the sports world is what truly translates and defeats these day to day stereotypes.
Edited by Leigh Ann Skaggs
