“You are more than your sport” – Inaugural ‘Athletes Unite Conference’ Empowers and Equips Young Athletes in Atlanta
Written by Kési Felton
If you know of more upcoming community events geared towards empowering Black youth and young adults happening near you that you’d like to cover or see covered on Stories by Better to Speak, email stories@bettertospeak.org!
Behind the Conference – Classye’s Story
Classye James, founder and CEO of Shakeout, was a D1 collegiate athlete positioned for a professional basketball career until a career-ending injury forced her to retire at 22.
“I had the support of my parents but they didn’t understand how the end of athletics for me was kind of like a death – a death of who I had identified as for the majority of my life,” James said. “I was fortunate to get a great job after I was no longer playing and I then just turned the pain I went through with my career-ending injury and life after sports into like my purpose and my passion and decided to create an organization that would pay it forward to the athlete community.”
Classye James (Pictured center) Promoting Shakeout’s Athlete Apparel brand. Photo source: Shakeout Llc.
This led to “the genesis of Shakeout” – a consulting and staffing agency that supports athletes in achieving success after sports. Almost four years later, James decided to create the Athletes Unite Conference – inspired by conferences she had attended throughout her professional career, including “Grace Hopper, which is the number one technology conference for women across the world, and… AfroTech which is the number one tech conference for minorities in tech.”
“I was so inspired seeing that community come together and I was like I need to create something like this but for athletes…I realized there's a whole community of us that are struggling and we need a safe place to talk about life after sports and rally around each other to support one another throughout our journey as we're making that transition.”
The inaugural Athletes Unite Conference took place on July 15 and 16, 2022, and brought together more than 350 current and former athletes at Downtown Atlanta’s Marriott Marquis hotel. Sponsors included Alley-Oop Youth Basketball, The Dreamville Foundation, Game Changers Foundation, and the National Basketball Players Association, among other companies and organizations.
Our main takeaways from the conference speak to the power of confidence, community and commitment for athletes envisioning a life of success beyond sports. Keep reading to hear more of what we learned.
There’s a Wealth of Diverse Opportunities Beyond Sports
In addition to doubling as a career fair that included over 20 sponsors and companies tabling with recruiters, many of the sessions covered the importance of being intentional in one’s career journey – by taking advantage of opportunities, networking, finding mentors, and – most significantly – being open to the diversity of long-term opportunities out there beyond sports.
Many of the recruiters and panelists were themselves former athletes who spoke to not only the challenges in pivoting their career or navigating life beyond or after sports but also the skills gained from athletic journeys they later realized prepared them well for their careers.
Classye added: “I think a lot of us as [young] athletes dream and aspire to become professional athletes whether that's overseas or in the States but that's not the reality for the majority of us. Even if we do go pro it's really important to understand that there is life outside of our sport and so I think that they can have a lot of reprieve in looking at someone that’s speaking on stage and seeing something in that speaker that they have within themselves. Whether it’s ‘Okay, I see someone that looks like me that’s on stage or has similar interests and look at how successful they are and they didn’t go pro. So whether I go pro or not, I still am hopeful for what my life will become after I'm no longer a collegiate athlete.’”
Attendees received encouragement to “lean into curiosity, be comfortable with what you don’t know, ask questions, read everything and lean on others to learn and grow.”
An audience member even shared a common saying of Classye’s with fellow attendees: “If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.”
This spirit of encouragement extended to conversations on the importance of cultivating a diverse group of mentors, embodying the qualities of a good mentee (ie. passion, clarity in your vision, flexibility, reciprocity, authenticity, initiative), and building your career horizontally – or alongside your peers who are working towards similar goals.
The ‘Women In Sports’ Panel at the Athletes Unite Conference 2022 – Including Panelists (From Left to Right: Esther Wallce, Lacee Carmon Johnson, Sydnee Walker, Margaret Anne Olecki, Morgan Weinbrecht, and Katrina Clayton.
In a discussion on women in sports – which included panelists like Esther Wallace, creator of women’s streetwear brand Playa Society; Sydnee Walker of The Collaborative; Lacee Carmon Johnson of AceD Coaching; and Katrina Clayton, Player Engagement Manager for the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) – panelists urged young women athletes to not be afraid to speak truth power when advocating for themselves in their careers: “Look around the room and hold people accountable for what they said they were going to do or help you with.”
For those going the route of building their own table rather than taking a seat at existing ones, there were panels on raising capital for your startups, and plenty of examples of current and former athletes who forged their own paths, businesses and careers – many leveraging skills and connections they gained as athletes.
Similarly, many panelists and speakers highlighted the possibilities of taking ownership of your identity, platform and the opportunities available to current and former athletes.
The most notable advice panelists and speakers offered to attendees was to first know and understand their inner why, strengthen their confidence, and be intentional with how they represent themselves online: “Appreciate the power of social media,” said Mike Grace, former basketball player and now Associate Attorney.
This particular theme of the conference was timely as it aligned with the one-year mark of the launch of the NIL market – referring to the name, image and likeness sponsorship and promotional deals now available to collegiate athletes under the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The policy has allowed student-athletes access to new opportunities for compensation beyond a scholarship, which upended a limitation put in place by the NCAA under the rule of “amateurism,” since July 2021.
“Many have argued that the NCAA’s longtime prohibition on athlete compensation produces an interracial wealth transfer from Black football and basketball players to white coaches, administrators, and athletes in other sports,” reported Global Sports Matters. “A recent study estimates that Black athletes in the Power 5 conferences are losing approximately $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion a year – an amount that raises uncomfortable questions for schools and college sports leaders that have committed themselves to racial justice and equity.”
New opportunities for young athletes to build their resumes, brands and financial acumen bring a greater need for information sharing and education. Primarily so young athletes – particularly young Black athletes, women athletes, and athletes of other marginalized identities – can leverage financial opportunities and succeed in an industry where the reverse – gender pay inequity and exploitation of young and Black athletes – has historically been true.
Learn More: What Brittney Griner's detention in Russia tells us about basketball's gender pay gap
The conference included a specific session on NILs – in which panelists like Mike Grace, alongside Ashton Keys of Athlytic and Rakeem Vick of R3vel & Vick Sports and Entertainment, discussed the power of financial and contract literacy when navigating NIL opportunities.
“Athletes [are among] the few who see dreams realized at a young age,” said Vick about the power and potential that young athletes hold for success and impact if given the proper tools, resources and support.
Moderator Bri Cassidy, Director of NIL Education at Opendorse, also brought to attention the unique opportunities that NILs have granted young women athletes to gain notoriety, establish financial independence and move the needle toward gender equity in sports more broadly – a major step up from the equal opportunities brought on by Title IX, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
“This is just the beginning” for Shakeout’s Athletes Unite Conference.
For those looking to get in on the next Athletes Unite conference, the Shakeout team does have plans for future annual conferences! In the meantime, click here to learn more about Shakeout’s offerings for athletes preparing for success in life beyond sports.