Latin Americans unrepresented in U.S sports

Latin Americans have had an exponential impact in U.S. sports, such as baseball, soccer, tennis, and golf. But what about other major sports such as basketball, football, and hockey, where despite the presence of Latin Americans at the collegiate level, though still very few, the presence of Latino’s at the professional level is lacking. The following figures show Latin American impact as of 2001 in U.S. sports at the collegiate and professional, as both players, coaches, and other head positions.

· There was one Latino manager in the MLB reported in 2001

· Major League Soccer had three Latino head coaches (25 percent), down 8 percent from 1998

· NHL has no Latin American coaches

· MLB has 3 percent assistant coaches

· MLS had the only Latino GM in the men’s leagues. There were no women as GM’s in the men’s leagues.

Reports as of 2001 for Latin American players in professional sports:

· Players at the men’s professional level: Only nearly one percent of players are Latino in the NBA

· The percentage of Latinos and all others players of color remained slightly more than 1 percent in NFL

· At 26 percent, Latino’s participation in major league baseball is at its highest level ever

· In the MLS 20 percent were Latino

· Reports of Latino’s at the collegiate and women’s level:

· Three percent were Latina for the WNBA

· At the men’s collegiate basketball level, Latinos made up 1.4 percent

· Division I football, Latinos were 1.9 percent

· Division I baseball teams Latinos 4.7 percent

· The numbers of male student-athletes in all sports in Division I, Latinos were 3.1

One can see from these percentages that Latino’s are well unrepresented in U.S. sports at both the collegiate and professional level, given the exception of baseball. Though many organizations, such as the NBA, are trying to increase the level of Latino’s, as players, coaches and staff, and owners, there is much room for improvement. Due to the success of players such as Joe Aguirre, picked by the Washington Redskins in the ninth round of the 1941 who was the first Hispanic American drafted into the NFL, Manu Ginobli, Argentinean guard for the San Antonio Spurs, and Scott Gomez of the NHL, more doors and opportunities are opening for Latin American’s in U.S. professional sports. I believe that the best way to get more Latino’s involved in U.S. sports is to first increase to number of Latino owners, coaches, and staff.

These and other facts can be seen at: http://www.tidesport.org/RGRC/2001/RGRC7.22.01.pdf