Episode 43: Collette Smith 1st African American Female Coach in NFL

We are just returning from a break and I’m super excited to get back into it with today’s guest, Collette Smith.

Besides being an absolute dynamo!, Collette Smith is the 1st African American female coach in the NFL, the first female coach of the NY Jets, only the 3rd female coach in the NFL, a former player and former coach of the NY Sharks (a professional women’s football team), and the founder of Believe N You, Incorporated.

With all her strength and power, it’s hard to believe that she hasn’t always been this way, but she hasn’t. Her story is motivation for all of us. I particularly love her account of how football changed her life.

Collette Smith founded Believe N You about a year ago to empower black youth, girls and women. She wants kids at schools she visits to be fulfilled, to believe in themselves, and to know that they are capable of doing anything. She remembers not having black role models as a kid so this is a personal mission.

Working on Hear Her Sports Glenville opened my eyes to how girls, even in 2018, experience sports in school. They notice that fewer people come to their games than come to the boys’ games. Their female coaches are a big part of their lives and do what they can to continue working with them during the summer. They watch women professionals or female collegiate players in their sport. They want people to know that they are equally capable of playing strongly and getting college scholarships.

So Collette’s mission and her story are precisely why I love sports. Involvement in physical activity impacts so many other areas of our lives from politics, education, career success, to long term health.

Join Collette in this week’s episode to hear why football is so important to her, how she so wonderfully dumped a bunch of friends, family, rape, women’s football, training, a new league she’s involved in developing, and a kitten. She’s a great storyteller, so take a listen, if just for that.

Tell your friends about the podcast and about fantastic, strong women speaking up and doing amazing things.

If you are not already subscribed on iTunes please do so and encourage others to do the same. It really does help more women find out about the podcast.

As women, we’re all going to benefit from spreading the word and speaking up – women in general, you, me, and my inspiring guests.

Believe N You, Incorporated
Up2Us Sports
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV)