MORE THAN GOALS

MTG Book Club: Arthur Ashe - A Life, written by Raymond Arsenault (2018). This biography chronicles the life of the pioneering tennis player as he broke the color barrier in men’s tennis and went on to become an influential activist in the civil rights movement. After Althea Gibson became the first African American to win a Grand Slam title, Ashe followed her footsteps and became the first Black man to win the most prestigious tennis title. He won his first title at the US Open and followed it up with the Australian Open and concluded his three wins at Wimbledon. But before these monumental wins, Ashe had to deal with the restrictions of the Jim Crow era. Beyond his achievements on the court, the book explores who Arthur Ashe was outside of an athlete. We learn about different sides of him such as his activism, business, philanthropy and role as a public figure. How he championed education and sportsmanship, fought against the apartheid regime in South Africa and worked towards racial equality. This biography includes more than one hundred interviews and gives a look into the life of one of the most important African American athletes in history 📖🎾 > Written by @jamaljamma

The words of Dr. Harry Edwards. The sociologist and activist has spotlighted the experiences of African American athletes and how sport can influence society. In this interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Dr. Edwards tells how international sports can be, if used right, a political stage with a large influence. It can set the stage to raise awareness to social issues which can create discourse and influence society on a larger scale 💡

Change Makers – Allyson Felix’s Maternity Rights Campaign; Pressured Nike to Revise Its Contracts for Pregnant Athletes When Allyson Felix, one of track and field’s most decorated athletes, challenged Nike’s treatment of pregnant athletes in 2019, it birthed a movement within sports. As a six-time Olympic gold medalist and one of the most marketed athletes under the brand, Felix’s stand against the athletic sportswear giant marked a turnaround moment for women’s rights in sports. The controversy started when Felix, then pregnant, was renegotiating her contract with Nike. Despite being one of track and field’s brightest stars, Nike offered Felix a 70% pay cut and would not guarantee in writing that she would not face performance-related pay cuts during pregnancy and post-childbirth recovery. “I wanted to set a new standard,” Felix wrote in her powerful New York Times speech. “If I, one of Nike’s most widely marketed athletes, couldn’t secure these protections, who could?” The courage of Felix to speak out, along with other athletes, brought attention to one very disturbing aspect of sports—treating pregnancy as“the kiss of death” for female athletes. The irony wasn’t lost on Felix, who called out a disconnect between Nike’s inspirational“Dream Crazier” campaign and how it actually treated female athletes. “There are thousands of other female athletes who represent Nike who don’t have that same protection.” Felix’s advocacy paid off in the end. In the face of public outcry and congressional inquiry, Nike announced a new maternity policy in August 2019, promising to guarantee sponsored athletes’ pay and bonuses for 18 months around pregnancy. “Our voices have power,” Felix exclaimed when Nike made those changes official. “Female athletes will no longer be financially penalized for having a child.” The ripple effect didn’t stop at Nike, as three other major athletic apparel companies subsequently added maternity protections for their sponsored athletes. Felix, who later signed with Athleta, proved that athletic excellence and motherhood aren’t mutually exclusive she returned to competition and won her tenth Olympic medal as a mother. Written by @ayantomiwaa >

The First Woman to Break the 100-Wicket Barrier in T20Is Greatness doesn’t require gender, and Anisa Mohammed knew that before the world caught on. Born in Sangre Grande, Trinidad and Tobago, and raised in Maraj Hill, Coalmine, cricket wasn’t something she discovered it was in the house. Her parents, Imtiaz and Leela, both played the game, and they made sure their children did too. Anisa, her twin sister Alisa, and twin brothers Ashmeed and Ashmeer were introduced to the sport early, long before any of them knew where it would lead. From the beginning, Anisa had one target: become the number one bowler in the world. That clarity never left her. At a young age she was already leading, captaining the MAAAD Rangers a club her family put together to give neighbourhood kids a place to play and be seen. She made her international debut at 14 in an ODI against Japan. Five years later came her T20I debut against Ireland. In 2016, she became the first cricketer male or female to take 100 T20I wickets, a record that said everything about how long and how hard she had been at it. “Twin,” as her teammates call her, collected her share of recognition along the way. T&T Women’s Cricketer of the Year in 2003, 2008, and 2010. At the 2011 inaugural T&T Spirit of Sports Awards, she was named most consistent performer, breakthrough athlete, and was honoured for a record-breaking performance three awards in one night. In January 2024, at 35, she stepped away from international cricket. But not from the game. She intended to keep playing for the Trinbago Knight Riders in the WCPL, and made her position clear on what comes next. “I am available for whatever position CWI or TT would like me to help out with. I think I am experienced enough to help these young players get to the level they need to be at. Whenever they are ready for me, I will be available.” > Written by @thesportfeministgirl

The Only Woman to Win Major International Volleyball Titles for Cuba and Italy Taismary Agüero grew up in Yaguajay, Cuba. She will tell you she owes everything to the people who raised her there. She carries that with her still. Born on March 5, 1977, in the province of Sancti Spíritus, she picked up a volleyball at eight. Two years later she was at the Cerro Pelado Training Center in Havana. By 1993, at sixteen, she was MVP, Best Setter, and Best Server at the Junior World Championship. Cuba’s senior team came calling immediately after. Cuba ran a 4-2 system setters who also attacked which meant Agüero had to set, spike, defend, and serve at world-class level simultaneously. She trained with the men’s net at 243 centimetres. At nineteen, she won gold in Atlanta. Four years later, gold again in Sydney. One of the greatest generations women’s volleyball has ever seen. The rewards never matched the sacrifice. In her own words: when she was named best player of a tournament, Cuba received $20,000. She received €2,000. She had a family in Sancti Spíritus she wanted to support. In the summer of 2001, at the Montreux Volley Masters in Switzerland, she made her decision. One night, she left. Her mother knew nothing only a letter waiting in Havana. She had always been the quietest on the team. Nobody expected it. That, she said, was exactly why she did it. In Italy she rebuilt everything with the same determination Cuba had given her. She won the European Championship in 2007 and again in 2009, named MVP both times. The foundation was always Cuban. Then came Beijing 2008. Her mother was dying at home. Every visa application was refused. She tried via Germany, via France, via anywhere. She never made it. Her mother’s final words were that Tai should stay and play. She did. Inside, she wasn’t there. She returned to Cuba for the first time to visit her mother’s grave. In 2021, she was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame the only player to win major titles representing two different national teams. Asked if she would do it again, she didn’t hesitate. Many times over.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ > Written by @_kingval14_

Sandra Tavares Pires Nascimento and the Historic Gold That Opened Doors for Generations Before their names were written in history, Brazilian women in sports didn’t wait for doors to open they built their own. They held them wide for the next generation and carved paths through walls no one else dared to touch. Sandra Tavares Pires Nascimento is among the women whose courage became the blueprint for every woman in volleyball. Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1973, Sandra began playing volleyball at 11, taking four buses each way to training twice a day before dropping out of university to chase the sport full-time. That sacrifice built a champion. She transitioned to beach volleyball in the early 1990s, won AVP Rookie of the Year in 1994, and quickly established herself as a force on the international circuit. In 1996, she made history. Partnering with Jackie Silva at the inaugural Olympic beach volleyball tournament in Atlanta a Brazil vs. Brazil final Sandra became the first Brazilian woman to win an Olympic gold medal. Silva once described her as “quick as a cat and ferocious as a tiger.” The following year, they captured the 1997 FIVB World Championship in Los Angeles, cementing Brazil as the sport’s dominant force. Four years later in Sydney, Sandra won bronze alongside Adriana Samuel and carried the Brazilian flag at the opening ceremony a moment that cemented her as a national icon. She competed at a third consecutive Olympics in Athens in 2004, won 20 FIVB titles, reached the podium in 110 events, and was named the FIVB’s Best Player of the Decade for 1990–2000. After retiring, she became a commentator for Globo Sport TV, staying close to the sport she helped build. At her 2014 Hall of Fame induction, she called it the most important victory of her life a dream carried for 18 years since Atlanta. The sand was never just her stage. It was her foundation. Written by @thesportfeministgirl

Lynn Biyendolo The NWSL’s All-Time Leading Goal Scorer On May 19, 2024, Lynn Biyendolo headed a ball into the net against the Chicago Red Stars and became the greatest goal scorer in NWSL history. Goal number 79. Sam Kerr’s record, held for seven years, was gone. “I haven’t had a moment to debrief,” she said, “but I’m sure I will go home and sit with Marley and think about all ten years.” Born May 21, 1993, in Fresno, California, Biyendolo arrived at Pepperdine in 2011 as a player nobody else recruited. One school took a chance. She repaid them with WCC Freshman of the Year honors and a first-team All-American senior season. The Western New York Flash selected her 6th overall in the 2015 NWSL Draft. Her breakthrough came fast. In 2016 she won the Golden Boot, MVP, and a championship scoring a game-tying header in the final’s dying seconds to force penalties. “We had literally no business being at that final,” she said. “We were like the Bad News Bears.” When the Flash became the North Carolina Courage, she kept winning: three straight Shields (2017–2019), back-to-back championships (2018, 2019). A hamstring tear wiped out her 2022 season. She returned with Gotham FC in 2023, won a fourth title becoming the first four-time champion in league history then broke the all-time scoring record the following year. Internationally, she announced herself in 49 seconds: the fastest debut goal in USWNT history, October 2016. Four days later Kealia Ohai edged it by one second. She has since added Olympic bronze at Tokyo, gold at Paris, the CONCACAF W Gold Cup, and multiple SheBelieves Cups. In December 2024 she joined Seattle Reign and changed her name. Her father-in-law, a Congolese tailor, made her wedding dress. The Biyendolo name was gifted a rare tradition. “Having such a gifted name on the back of my jersey. Obviously I’m going to do this.” In April 2026, she and Marley welcomed their son, Lucky Lachance Biyendolo. The next chapter has already begun. > Written by @thesportfeministgirl

Four Olympics. Two American indoor records broken. A Hall of Fame career built without a single paycheck. Martha Rae Watson didn’t wait for an invitation. At 17, barely out of Long Beach Polytechnic High School, she qualified for her first Olympic team and then kept showing up for the next twelve years in a way few athletes, men or women, ever have. At Tennessee State University, she came under coach Ed Temple, whose Tigerbelles program had already produced Wilma Rudolph and Wyomia Tyus. Women who competed not for contracts or sponsorships, but because the sport demanded it and they answered. Watson fit right in precise, durable, quietly dominant in the long jump on both the national and international stage. Four Olympic cycles. 1964, ‘68, ‘72, ‘76. She won nine American indoor titles and three outdoor, broke the national indoor record twice 20’11½” in 1970, then 21’4¾” in 1973 and ran relay legs alongside the best the country had. Eight national titles in total. And she did it all in an era where the reward at the end was a handshake and a plane ticket home. Her Pan American Games story runs deeper than one moment. In 1967 she finished fourth. In 1975 she came back and settled it silver in the long jump, gold in the 4x100 relay alongside Pam Jiles, Brenda Morehead, and Chandra Cheeseborough. She kept competing until 1979. When the 1980 boycott came, it closed the final chapter on an era she had helped define. The Hall of Fame came in 1987. After the track, Caesars Palace dealing blackjack to Diana Ross and Richard Pryor. She said it herself: she left her shoes everywhere, and they were always empty when she came back. No regrets. Just memories and friends all over the world.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ > Written by @thesportfeministgirl 📷 @imagoimages.sports @imago.images

The Arena Champ-de-Mars was shaking. Maxime-Gaël Ngayap Hambou had just won Olympic bronze on home soil, tears and relief flooding the moment he’d been building toward since he first stepped onto a tatami at age four in Asnières following his big brother through the dojo door. That older brother, Marc-François, a French international judoka, had unknowingly set everything in motion. Every Wednesday, a young Maxime tagged along to training sessions until he was old enough to compete himself. The son of Cameroonian parents, he grew up in Asnières-sur-Seine with a lion’s mentality his words and faith at the center of everything. He prayed before every match, setting the foundation for everything that would follow. His junior career announced him early. He claimed the French junior title, bronze at the 2021 World Junior Championships in Olbia, the European junior title, and the world junior team title all before joining the French senior squad at just 21. On the senior circuit, he kept climbing. Silver at the 2023 Astana Grand Slam, silver with the team at the 2023 World Championships, bronze at the 2022 Tbilisi Grand Slam, bronze at the 2024 Paris Grand Slam. “When I have the medal around my neck, I truly savor the taste of success,” he said. Paris 2024 was his first Games. After battling injuries that sidelined him at the World Championships two months prior, few had him marked for a medal. He stayed in his bubble regardless skipping the opening ceremony to protect his focus. In the individual -90kg at the Arena Champ-de-Mars, he defeated Brazil’s Rafael Macedo for bronze. “I would have preferred gold, but winning bronze at home, with a crowd like that, was unforgettable.” Days later he was back on the tatami for the mixed-team event. France defeated Japan in the final, with Teddy Riner sealing the decisive point. Two medals. Two weeks. Marc-François in the stands for both. Recognized for his achievements, Maxime was awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur by the French government on September 23, 2024. This honor celebrates not only his Olympic success but also his perseverance and dedication to his craft. > Written by @rex_jayz

Israel Mobolaji Owolabi Adesanya, known by many as “The Last Stylebender,” was born on July 22, 1989, in Lagos, Nigeria. He grew up responsibly, being the firstborn among five siblings. His father, Oluwafemi, was an accountant, and his mother, Taiwo, was a nurse. A Yoruba family of decent heritage that valued education and discipline as important tenets, all these would play major roles in molding Adesanya. Growing up in Nigeria had a lasting effect on Adesanya. He attended Chrisland School in Opebi and joined its after-school Taekwondo club. But an injury saw his mother pull him out of the program, and for a short time, this put a stop to his journey into martial arts. “Being in Nigeria taught me resilience and creativity,” Adesanya once said in an interview, attributing his resourcefulness to his roots. In 1999, his family moved to Ghana for ten months before finally relocating to Rotorua, New Zealand, in search of better educational opportunities for the kids. At the age of 10, Adesanya relocated to New Zealand, where he was a target of bullying because of cultural differences. This experience motivated him to study martial arts. “I was a shy kid,” he recalled, “but I learned to stand tall when I felt small.” Unlike most of his contemporaries, Adesanya didn’t have an innate love for sports. Instead, he turned to Japanese anime and found himself with favorite shows like “Naruto” and “Death Note”. He also found a rather early role model in the person of British professional boxer Prince Naseem Hamed. “Watching him made me believe I could mix flair with fighting,” Adesanya said, recounting Hamed’s one-of-a-kind style and showmanship as formative influences. Inspired by the film “Ong-Bak” at age 18, Adesanya took up kickboxing and went on to compile a record of 32–0 as an amateur before turning professional. It marked the beginning of his glorious combat sports career that would see him become a two-time UFC Middleweight Champion and a UFC Hall of Famer. > Written by @ayantomiwaa

Remember When: Floyd Patterson The Brooklyn Kid Who Became the World’s Youngest Heavyweight Champion May 11th marks the day boxing lost one of its most compelling and emotionally honest champions. New York has produced legends, but Floyd Patterson was something different. Born in Waco, North Carolina in 1935, Patterson grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn with ten siblings. He went to school in his father’s oversized clothes, stole food to survive, and was picked up by police more than once. At around ten, he was sent to the Wiltwyck School for Boys in Upstate New York the first time he’d ever seen the countryside. “I just remember Brooklyn,” he said, “figuring Brooklyn was that way all over the world.” A teacher took a special interest in him. Everything changed. At 12 he returned to Brooklyn and began carrying his older brothers’ gym bags to the Gramercy Gym on 14th Street. By 14 they handed him boxing shoes and asked if he wanted to fight. He said yes because boxing was the one sport where everything depended on you alone. At 17 he knocked out all five opponents at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics to win middleweight gold. Then on November 30, 1956” 68 years ago he knocked out Archie Moore in the fifth round to become the youngest heavyweight world champion in history at just 21 years old and 182 pounds. Four years later he made history again, becoming the first man ever to regain the heavyweight title. After retiring he served as New York State Athletic Commissioner, introduced the thumb glove to prevent eye damage, and fought for a pension plan for boxers giving back to the sport that first found him at Wiltwyck. “Without boxing, I’d probably be dead or in jail,” he once said. That’s how much it meant to him. Two decades after his passing, his words still hit harder than any punch. “They say I’m the boxer who’s been knocked down the most. But I’m also the boxer who’s stood up the most.”🕊️ > Written by @rex_jayz

Aesha Ash didn’t start ballet until she was almost eleven. Too late, they said. But nobody had told her she was exceptional. She grew up in Rochester, New York inner city, bussed out daily to a suburban school where she learned early what it meant to be othered. When her mother began looking into ballet summer programs, she was warned: it would be difficult for a woman of color to enter this world. Ash heard that and thought: then I have to do it. At 18, she joined the New York City Ballet. For eight years, she was almost always the only Black woman in the room. She danced Balanchine’s Rubies. She carried her community into every class, every performance. Then she lost her sister to pancreatic cancer. Then her father. On one of her final nights, a young girl approached her after a performance. I feel like I’ve let you all down, Ash told her, and couldn’t stop crying. She left. Béjart Ballet in Lausanne. Alonzo King LINES in San Francisco. Freelance with Christopher Wheeldon’s Morphoses. Then retirement, marriage, children. She learned French and Italian things nobody from where she came from would have predicted. The Swan Dreams Project started with a vulgar image on television, playing while her daughter was nearby. She thought of a photograph at SAB Black dancer Andrea Long, standing out in a school portrait. On her worst days in New York, that single image had kept her going. If she can do it, I can do it. So Ash put on her tutu and went back to Rochester. Not to a stage to the bodega on her corner, where as a kid she’d walked past beer advertisements featuring women in bikinis. She wanted to replace that image with something else. The photos went online. The response changed everything. In 2020, she became the first Black woman on the permanent faculty of SAB. When an eight-year-old girl named Holiday the only Black child in her competition category was brought on camera to meet her, Ash didn’t hesitate. Come to New York. Come watch class. Come see what this world can give you. > Written by @_trequartistar