StFX X-Women basketball head coach Lee Anna Osei has established and founded the Black
St. FX X-Women Basketball head coach Lee Anna Osei. (St. FX Athletics photo)
Canadian Coaches Association (BCCA), a not-for-profit organization committed to providing a platform for Black Canadians in sport. She said many of her mentors expressed the need for an such an organization where people can support one another. The goals of the association are celebration, advocacy though allyship, and networking.
The group launched the ‘Charter for Racial Equity in Canadian Post-Secondary Athletic Institutions’, with the aim of enlisting a top Canadian Diversity and Inclusion firm, leading academic researchers specializing in race and sport, and creating an ad-hoc task force to distribute questionnaires to former and current Black and Indigenous student-athletes, coaches and executives in 2020-21. The association wants to use the project to build a list of recommendations addressing the ongoing safety, support, and empowerment of Black, Indigenous, People of Colour members within Canadian intercollegiate sports.
Other recommendations from the BCCA include every institution having a Black, Indigenous, People of Colour committee, professionally mandated training for sport coaches and executives, and a reshaping of policies such as hiring processes.
The Racial Equity Project fundraising goal is $40,000, and the BCCA reached out to U SPORTS and CCAA member institutions for literal and financial buy-in towards this cause. The association also wants to establish an endowment fund for prospective Black and Indigenous student-athletes entering college and university. Anyone interested in the Racial Equity Project and or the BCCA can visit the website at www.thebcca.com or contact info@thebcca.com