Basketball

• The championship game was the most watched in women’s NCAA basketball history with 9.9 million viewers tuning in.
• Toward the end of the game, Angel Reese from LSU celebrated by waving her hand in front of her face and pointing to her ring finger.
• The negative public discourse once again revealed society’s and the media’s double standards when it comes to Black women in sport.

Expectations of behaviour

• Whenever society and the sports world tries to fragment their Blackness along racial and gender lines, they actively resist the incomplete and inaccurate representations.
• Black women athletes have learned to authentically celebrate their achievements and have found ways to push back against ongoing criticism of their looks or their alleged lack of femininity and professionalism.
• Sport has, in fact, been one of the many vehicles of perpetuating white supremacy by imposing normative expectations of behaviour and conduct.
• Black feminist thought addresses the ways that race, class, gender, sexuality and other sociocultural factors combine to create oppression for Black women and girls.

Femininity and professionalism in sport

• There is often an added layer of being penalized more harshly for the way they express themselves.
• Black women athletes are held to unrealistic standards by society in the way they must react to wins, losses or disappointments.
• These kinds of codes maintain the polite posture of sport norms while ensuring a critical gaze is permanently fixed on Black women as they assert themselves in sports.

Black girls and women being their authentic selves

• The discrimination and anti-Black racism Black girls and women experience in sports must be highlighted.
• However, we must also recognize how Black women continue to assert themselves and lean into their Blackness as athletes.
• LSU’s win is my victory too and a victory for all the Black girls and women who play sports.

• Amerigroup Georgia and the International Association of Approved Basketball Officials, Inc. (IAABO) today announced a partnership to train individuals from underserved communities across Atlanta, including youth transitioning out of foster care, to become basketball officials.
• This latest partnership is part of Amerigroup’s ongoing efforts to address critical priorities across the state, including health equity and workforce development efforts.
• GF360 has deployed a team of employment specialists who maintain relationships with employers, focus on workforce development and understand the needs of transitioning youth seeking employment.
• These specialists manage external client facing relationships, partner with corporate and regional business areas, and develop partnerships to address local and system workforce needs.

• CHICAGO, March 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ludex is a Chicago-based AI technology start-up that has built the fastest and most accurate trading card scanning and price guide app .
• Serial entrepreneur Brian Ludden founded Ludex in 2021 after spending time with his son, Nick, going through Brian's personal collection.
• Ludex raised $8 Million in seed capital after seeing a need in the $26 Billion trading card industry.
• Ludex is free to download for iOS and Android and allows collectors to scan, value, and digitally organize their trading card collections.

• The University of Connecticut Huskies will be making their 37th appearance in the Final Four.
• The Bone Yard Huskyz Club was the Company’s first foray into NIL last season, the first since the NCAA policy change in July 2021.
• Registration was open to Gatorverse members through the purchase of an autographed physical collectible featuring their favorite UF gymnasts.
• Howard Gostfrand, CEO of OpenLocker Holdings, Inc., stated, “Rising to the highest levels of collegiate sports requires tremendous discipline, determination and execution.