On Thursday, the 21st of April we interviewed our 5/6th grade PE teacher, Luis Hernandez. He has experience in female sports due to him being a coach of middle schools and high school girls’ teams. Luis has been coaching the girls for a few years now and he gave us some information on how girls’ sports are treated differently than men’s sports.

Luis told us that immediately after switching to coaching girls’ teams, he notice a huge fan difference. Boys noticeably had way more fans than girls by a lot. He said that this is because when girls play basketball it’s a lot more fundamental whereas boys players are more flashy. In recent years, it has gotten way better. As a middle schooler, I came to support our middle school girls’ volleyball team was coached by Luis. In the interview, he states that he noticed that there were many more fans than before. He went on to say that Our generation is starting to make a difference that is becoming noticeable. Our volleyball team did really well and as a school, we did a great job of supporting them. Even though our school’s athletics program isn’t the greatest Luis is always motivated to coach and I am truly inspired.

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We interviewed our 5/6th grade PE teacher, Luis Hernandez. He has experience in female sports due to him being a coach of a few middle school and high school girls teams. Luis has been coaching the girls for a few years now and he gave us some information on how girls sports are treated differently then men’s sports.

Luis told us that immediately after switching to coaching girls teams, he notice a huge fan difference. Boys noticeably had way more fans then girls by a lot. In recent years, it has gotten way better. Recently, our middle school girls volleyball team was coached by Luis when he noticed something. There were so many more fans than before. Our generation is starting to make a difference that is becoming noticeable. Our volleyball team did really well and our fans did great to support them. If we keep the fans numbers going up, we will make a change.

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On Friday, March 4th 2022, Henry, Nazir, and I interviewed a former NBA Hall of Famer and All-Star, Chris Bosh. Chris Bosh had 11 out of his 13 seasons as an all-star showing just how good he was. He played for the Toronto Raptors and with and the Miami Heat with well known NBA stars Dwayne Wade and LeBron James. We interviewed him due to his knowledge of what the basketball industry is like behind the scenes. Him having a big role in the NBA gave him knowledge of what its like off camera that he shared with us/

One thing we heard from Chris Bosh was how it felt to be a Hall of Famer. He stated it gave him a lot of respect and recognition. He also stated he believed people will start making big changes to sexism in sports in coming years. Lastly he thinks the wage gap will change due to our generation wanting to make a change. Overall, this was an outstanding interview and everyone that was there was so really excited to meet him. We got to say our thanks and that we enjoyed watching him play in the NBA.

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On Friday, February 25th, Henry, Nazir, and I interviewed well known agent, Leonard Armato. Leonard Armato founded Management Plus Enterprises, and has been working for equal pay for men and women in sports. He was a great interviewee due to his knowledge of the sports industry and experience working for change in the gender pay gap. His most well known accomplishment in sports is how he started the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour. This was the first Beach Volleyball League and Tournament. This is so prominent in the gender pay gap because he made sure that prize money was equal for men and women. This was really revolutionary for making a change in the pay gap.

Something we, as a group, learned about in this interview was how if you want to make a change, you can’t let anything stop you. Mr. Armato really proved this because in the start of his career, people didn’t believe in him so he convinced them to not pay him for a month and then decide if they wanted to keep him as an agent. Also, even though the gender pay gap wasn’t recognized as much, Leonard still decided to make the pay equal in volleyball. This shows how if we put our mind to something, we can do it.

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On Friday March 4th 2022, Nazir, Casey, and I interviewed a former NBA Hall of Famer and All-Star, Chris Bosh. Chris Bosh played in the NBA for 13 seasons being selected all star 11 of them. He played for the Miami Heat with Dwayne Wade and LeBron James. The reason my group interviewed him wasn’t because of his experience on this topic, it was for his experience. Him having a big role in the NBA, gives him a lot of insider information on the sports industry and had a few answers that we hadn’t heard before.

One thing we heard from Chris Bosh was what it was like to be a Hall of Famer. He said it gave him a lot of respect not even for that title but just because of who he is. He also said he thinks all Sexism in women’s sports will come to an end soon. Lastly he thinks the wage gap will change because of the current and incoming generations. Overall, this was a great interview and everyone that was there was so happy to see him. After our interview we got to speak to him about how much we were waiting to tell him that we were big fans.

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On Friday, the 4th of March our group was honored to meet with Chris Bosh. Chris Bosh is a 2x NBA champion and 11x All-Star. Chris Bosh has been working to fix this so women can be paid equally in professional sports.

Bosh mentioned that he believes that later on down the road woman will receive equal pay. He also talked about what it’s like to be an athlete and how women have to work twice as hard to be where they are. He told us players like Chris Paul and LeBron James are players that are really fighting for change. It was very crucial to speak to a former professional athlete who understand the issue we are studying.

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On Friday February 25th, Nazir, Casey, and I interviewed Leonard Armato. Leonard Armato is currently the founder of Management plus Enterprises or MPE, and has made a change in the Gender Wage Gap. We decided to Interview him because of his experience in the sports industry and his general experience in the Gender Wage Gap. He has made many changed in sports but one of the biggest ones is how he founded the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour. This was the first Beach Volleyball League and Tournament. The reason this has to do with the Gender Pay Gap is because he made the Prize money for both Genders equal. This may not sound like a big deal but this was part of the first big step towards fixing the Wage Gap.
Nazir, Casey, and I learned a lot in this interview. Something we learned in this interview was if you really want to change something you have to really work for it. Leonard experienced this when he decided to not get paid for a month to prove he would be the best for his job. Also when he realized how poorly female Athletes were being treated in sports he made the league with equal prize money because he wanted to do everything he could to make a change. This helped us get a better view of what we can do.

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On Friday, the 25th of February my group was honored to meet with Leonard Armato. Leonard Armato, a sports agent, and entrepreneur is most known for representing NBA stars Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. His career includes creating the Golden Boy and Dunkman sports marketing brands for Oscar De La Hoya and Shaq. Leonard studied law and founded Management Plus Enterprises to combine his interests in the legal field and sports media.

Leonard told us that when working in the sports industry he realized how much women were mistreated in sports. Ever since this realization, Leonard has been working hard to fix this issue. Leonard even created a volleyball league that brought men and women together under one roof, with equal prize money and equal media exposure on television. Leonard has said “I’ve spoken a lot about inequality in sports when it comes to gender. Men’s sports in our society are given so much more exposure, credibility than women. So with beach volleyball, when we made prize money equal for men and women and made TV time equal for men and women, I think that was a big step. In the Olympic Games, women’s beach volleyball gets a good
audience and people love watching it.”

When interviewing Leonard he told us his experience when trying to make a change. He told us that when he made the suggestion about the beach volleyball league he received backlash. We learned that people in the sports industry can be very cruel towards women. It was important to speak to someone who worked in the sports industry and has experience with the issue we are studying and shared great information.

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We met with Felisa Israel, who worked as the entertainment manager for the Phoenix Mercury for more than twenty years, a successful entrepreneur, and a huge inspiration for many young females around the nation. We asked her several questions and she hit the bullseye.
We learned a lot, such as how difficult it is to be female in a male dominated industry. Also, we learned how even though she had no experience in working in the sports industry, she took the job with Phoenix Mercury and became one of the most successful women in the sports industry. She made a change in how people view hip-hop by having the Mercury dance team dance to hip-hop and dress like rappers. People began to love this and without her, I don’t know where the dance/music industry in sports would be today.

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On February 11 2022, Nazir, Casey, and I interviewed Felisa Israel who is a part founder of the WNBA team, Phoenix Mercury. We were very fortunate to be able to interview her and collected a lot of information. The reason we decided to interview her is because of her experience having a big role as a female in a male dominated industry. She had a lot we were looking for and was able to thoroughly answer our questions. We learned more about problems in the industry and more information about gender integration and why a lot of things are like they are in the sports industry to this day. She told us some things about how we can help fix issues with the gender pay gap. I personally had a connection when she mentioned why men and women don’t play together. I am a athlete and I think this applies in different sports but I understand what she was coming from and what she was trying to tell us. We are very thankful for her going out of her way to help us on our project.

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On Friday, February 11th, our group had the privilege of meeting Felisa Israel. Felisa Isreal was a founding member of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury. Felisa informed us that when she was offered the opportunity to start a team in a completely new league, she jumped straight in.

When starting the team it was her job to make the team presentable to fans. Felisa stated then when going to see NBA games live the first thing you see are videos of the team from the past. She had none of this and worked very hard to get the team where it is today. This team has been very successful in winning the western conference title six times and won the championship three times.

Felisa told us that she believes individuals should be compensated for their abilities, and that you either have them or you don’t. As a result, many good WNBA players should be compensated more than some bad NBA players. Felisa also mentioned that she has invited dance groups to NBA and WNBA games for halftime shows due of her dancing expertise.

It was incredible to meet her and hear directly about what it was like to be a powerful woman in a male-dominated sports sector. We learned a lot about her work background and how the Phoenix Mercury came to be. It was a fantastic interview!

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Yesterday, I presented with my social justice group, about our topic. We had many articles on the issue of the gender pay gap and how women get treated as athletes. I was very confident while presenting because I worked very hard on the slideshow. My group did a fantastic job collaborating. I believe it’s important to note that the lowest-paid player in the NBA gets paid 925,000 yearly and they don’t even get playing time 90% of the time. However, women who are star players and give it their all every day get paid 100,000-200,000 yearly.

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Today, my group presented an overview presentation on our SJ topic. I was very ready because I had done a lot of work in the slideshow and was ready to present it to my class. Our group did really well together and while I was collecting information, I learned a lot. Here is my personal reaction from our presentation.
I believe it’s important to the sports industry that they recognize how women get treated as athletes. As a male athlete I recognize this. It’s a real problem in our society and I am willing to do whatever to make a change.

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Today, my group presented an overview presentation on our SJ topic. I think we did really well as a group and we worked very hard. We talked a lot about the statistics of the pay gaps and how drastic they are. Something I learned was how “Stephen Curry makes 262,000 for every 2 quarters he plays in a NBA game while the highest paid WNBA player Taurasi Diana gets paid 222,000.” This really shocked me and a lot of others in the class. Something else that shocked me was how WNBA auto corrects to NBA.

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