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Sherri Coale addresses team’s goals for increased inclusion
By Joe Buettner
Transcript Sports Editor
Sherri Coale begins her 25th season as Oklahoma’s head coach in less than a week.
Barring any changes, the Sooners will host Houston at noon next Wednesday in front of a capacity-reduced Lloyd Noble Center.
The program’s season opener comes amid the COVID-19 pandemic and follows an offseason that included multi-racial and -generational protests of police violence against Black Americans in all 50 states.
In the wake of those protests, Coale and her program faced accusations of racial insensitivity from several former players, some of whom transferred out of the program and some who did not.
Wednesday, for the first time, Coale publicly addressed questions about those accusations.
The episode began when former Sooner guard Gioya Carter publicly responded to a tweet about the Oklahoma football program’s unity demonstrations
and accused Coale of making racially insensitive comments when she was a player.
“I wish I knew what it felt like to have a head coach at OU like this but instead my 4yrs there was filled with comments like ‘You guys act like it happened to you,’” tweeted Carter, who played at OU from 2013-17. “’If y’alls long braids hits one of my players in the face,’ as if the ppl in braids weren’t her players.’” As more former players came forward in support of Carter’s claim, Coale was quick to apologize in a written statement.
She said the accusations were “disheartening” and it was clear she “unknowingly caused harm to people” she cares about.
During Wednesday’s Big 12 coaches conference call, Coale gave an update on the steps her program has taken since Carter’s original post, saying it’s been a chance for her and the team to grow.
“I think every day and every situation gives an opportunity for learning, improvement and gaining information,” Coale said. “That’s what we’ve done and continue to strive to be better in all ways, for all kids and provide an environment that is rich in opportunities to learn, expectations and in teaching. And we’ll continue to do that.”
Coale said the Black Lives Matter movement has become a topic of discussion with her current players and all recruits. It’s difficult to ignore as a social movement that has impacted college and professional sports.
The NBA and WNBA had “Black Lives Matter” printed on their courts for their respective postseasons, as well as social justice statements on the backs of players’ jerseys.
End zones in the NFL also feature social justice statements, including “End racism” and “It takes all of us.”
“BLM” was stamped on Nationals Park’s pitching mound for the Washington Nationals’ Opening Day game against the New York Yankees in July.
The Big 12 Conference has released a series of public service announcements, “You See Us Differently,” and OU has started its own social justice initiative, “Sooners For Humanity.”
Coale committed herself to increasing “awareness of and appreciation for diversity, equity, and inclusion in all its forms,” in her original statement, released Aug. 30.
She shared a similar sentiment Wednesday as her program’s first game rapidly approaches.
“What we strive to do is create an environment that is healthy and instructional for all,” Coale said. “And when we have missed that point we want to go back and address that and try to do that better and try to learn from that as we move forward. … I think all of us, if we look realistically at ourselves, have not been anti-racist enough.
“We didn’t know what that was years ago, so it’s continual evolution of seeing every individual player for who they are, the circumstance they come from, the culture that’s so important to them, celebrating that and wrapping our arms around them in an environment that is inclusive for all.
“That is the goal.”
By Joe Buettner
Transcript Sports Editor
Sherri Coale begins her 25th season as Oklahoma’s head coach in less than a week.
Barring any changes, the Sooners will host Houston at noon next Wednesday in front of a capacity-reduced Lloyd Noble Center.
The program’s season opener comes amid the COVID-19 pandemic and follows an offseason that included multi-racial and -generational protests of police violence against Black Americans in all 50 states.
In the wake of those protests, Coale and her program faced accusations of racial insensitivity from several former players, some of whom transferred out of the program and some who did not.
Wednesday, for the first time, Coale publicly addressed questions about those accusations.
The episode began when former Sooner guard Gioya Carter publicly responded to a tweet about the Oklahoma football program’s unity demonstrations
and accused Coale of making racially insensitive comments when she was a player.
“I wish I knew what it felt like to have a head coach at OU like this but instead my 4yrs there was filled with comments like ‘You guys act like it happened to you,’” tweeted Carter, who played at OU from 2013-17. “’If y’alls long braids hits one of my players in the face,’ as if the ppl in braids weren’t her players.’” As more former players came forward in support of Carter’s claim, Coale was quick to apologize in a written statement.
She said the accusations were “disheartening” and it was clear she “unknowingly caused harm to people” she cares about.
During Wednesday’s Big 12 coaches conference call, Coale gave an update on the steps her program has taken since Carter’s original post, saying it’s been a chance for her and the team to grow.
“I think every day and every situation gives an opportunity for learning, improvement and gaining information,” Coale said. “That’s what we’ve done and continue to strive to be better in all ways, for all kids and provide an environment that is rich in opportunities to learn, expectations and in teaching. And we’ll continue to do that.”
Coale said the Black Lives Matter movement has become a topic of discussion with her current players and all recruits. It’s difficult to ignore as a social movement that has impacted college and professional sports.
The NBA and WNBA had “Black Lives Matter” printed on their courts for their respective postseasons, as well as social justice statements on the backs of players’ jerseys.
End zones in the NFL also feature social justice statements, including “End racism” and “It takes all of us.”
“BLM” was stamped on Nationals Park’s pitching mound for the Washington Nationals’ Opening Day game against the New York Yankees in July.
The Big 12 Conference has released a series of public service announcements, “You See Us Differently,” and OU has started its own social justice initiative, “Sooners For Humanity.”
Coale committed herself to increasing “awareness of and appreciation for diversity, equity, and inclusion in all its forms,” in her original statement, released Aug. 30.
She shared a similar sentiment Wednesday as her program’s first game rapidly approaches.
“What we strive to do is create an environment that is healthy and instructional for all,” Coale said. “And when we have missed that point we want to go back and address that and try to do that better and try to learn from that as we move forward. … I think all of us, if we look realistically at ourselves, have not been anti-racist enough.
“We didn’t know what that was years ago, so it’s continual evolution of seeing every individual player for who they are, the circumstance they come from, the culture that’s so important to them, celebrating that and wrapping our arms around them in an environment that is inclusive for all.
“That is the goal.”
