Athlete Ally, with the support of Adidas, will host its third annual Athlete Activism Summit next month for Pride, bringing together LGBTQ athletes, coaches and sports administrators, along with community supporters.
The three-day event is designed to build community, particularly amongst Athlete Ally chapters and members, as well as chart a course moving forward to advance LGBTQ inclusion in sports.
Athlete Ally founder Hudson Taylor said the summit is a natural extension of the work the organization does building a network of chapters and support across college athletics. Taylor was a successful college wrestler at the University of Maryland.
“Any time you start building community, the next question is how do we sustain it,” Taylor told Outsports. “And one of the answers is that we need to get together and see each other and hear each other.”
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The summit has previously been held at the University of Miami and the University of Washington. Due to the support of Adidas, which Taylor says makes the whole summit possible, they want to make sure to host the event at an Adidas school. This year is at the University of Louisville.
“Adidas made the summit a possibility in a recurring way,” Taylor said.
He points to three key takeaways he hopes participant receive. Part of the summit is about strategizing about mass actions, where attendees discuss what issues and strategies can most impact their campus. That is distilled through a lens of working together to advance a cause.
Another key takeaway for attendees is bridging the gap of information and communication between professional athletes and college athletes. Particularly with the evolution of NIL, he sees this as increasingly important.
The last is the takeaway Taylor mentioned first, and that is the ever-important pursuit of community.
“First and foremost that you’re not alone in this work,” he said. “A lot of kids come to the summit not having a community of peers, of other institutions that they see as ready, willing and able to navigate the challenges coming their way.
Just building the bonds of connection of people in attendance. The wisdom we’re trying to impart already lives in the room. it’s our job to help them share that wisdom with each other.
“If there’s an issue one campus is facing, chances are someone in the space has already gone through it and can help navigate it.”
The 2024 Athlete Activism Summit takes place at the University of Louisville, June 27-30. To find out more about the 2024 Athlete Activism Summit, you can visit their website. Registration closes soon.
