This past weekend, the University of California (Cal) hosted its fourth annual Raising The B.A.R. (basketball, activism, representation) Invitational, which features schools with Black female basketball head coaches.
According to The Daily Californian, the tournament’s host team swept the field to emerge victorious on Dec. 22. The No. 24-ranked Cal beat Temple University by scoring 89-63 to improve its winning record to 13 wins against one defeat on the season. Fordham University and Xavier University were the other two teams participating in the tournament.
Christmas came early🎄! Cal takes home the Raising The B.A.R. Championship!#LevelUp | #GoBears pic.twitter.com/mkEnxelaGu
— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) December 23, 2024
Cal head coach Charmin Smith created the tournament to raise awareness of the lack of voices being heard in women’s basketball college coaching. Each season, she selects four teams (including her own) led by Black female head coaches.
In a phone interview with The Associated Press, Smith expressed the lack of Black female head coaches and the purpose of ensuring people know they exist.
“In our sport, it’s a huge issue with only 17% of head coaches are women of color,” Smith told the
media outlet. “This tournament elevates the voices and stories and people in the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging space as well as highlights the lack of diversity in women’s college basketball coaching.”The school announced that it had added a fundraising component for the tournament to help each school. Cal is raising funds for People’s Programs, Fordham for Part of the Solution, Temple for the Philadelphia Youth Sports Collaborative, and Xavier for Cincinnati Stepping Stones.
Announcing a new addition to our Raising The B.A.R. Invitational: Fundraising For Change – benefitting a local charity close to each school!
You can donate a flat amount or a monetary amount per point scored during the tournament!
Check out more here: https://t.co/cKVKrfQFvH pic.twitter.com/uNPanz9gYx
— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) December 18, 2024
Fordham’s head coach Bridgette Mitchell spoke about being invited to participate in the tournament.
“This is really cool,” she said in a phone interview. “Representation matters. Girls look up to my players and my players look up to me. This is really unique to see and it should be celebrated what Charmin is doing.”
Cal is now off to its best start of the season since 2016-17, when it opened with the same record the school has now at 13-1.