With His Recent Donation to Fund Howard University's Golf Program, Stephen Curry is Helping to Break Barriers By Bringing Diversity to a Sport He Loves

Back in 1981, 18.7% of the MLB players, and 22% of the MLB’s All-Star game rosters, were African-American. On opening day in 2018, African-American players made up 8.4% of the league, and recent All-Star rosters were less than 5% African-American.

So what happened?

Well, just like any racial discrepancies, there are a lot of factors. The biggest factor, of course, is opportunity. Lack of inner city Little league organizations and money are often barriers that block young black children from getting involved in sports like baseball, golf, and tennis.

When you picture a child playing golf, you don’t think of a young black girl hitting drives while her family toast mimosas inside of a country club. When you think of Little League Champions, you don’t first envision a predominantly black team. Besides the Williams sisters and Coco, one would be hard pressed to name a handful of black tennis players-- men or women.

We live in a world where division is at an all time high. We can see it in our schools, politics, and even our sports. The month of August alone saw major names in sports and pop culture going at it. From the NCAA’s attempted “Rich Paul Rule” to the controversial deal between Jay-Z and the NFL, it is evident that division is fashionable right now-- no matter the community.

Insert Stephen Curry. The Warriors’ superstar is known for his love of golf and charitable act, so it wasn’t shocking when the former Unanimous MVP decided to donate one of the biggest charitable gifts in Howard University history for the university to start a golf program.

While Curry isn’t a professional golfer or Howard alumni-- or any Historical Black College/University alumni-- Curry knows the importance of inclusion and opportunity.

“To provide scholarships for men and women to play the game, to go to Howard, to invest in their education,” Curry said. “It's just exciting to be a part of that mission, that journey, that process.”

Curry decided to fund the program’s start up, after playing a round of golf with Howard student Otis Ferguson IV. Ferguson explained to Curry that he had to give up golf to attend Howard, and expressed that he wanted to start a golf club. Curry, obviously, decided to take things a step forward.

This will be Howard’s first NCAA Division I men’s and women’s golf programs, despite the school’s rich history. In fact, of the 102 HBCUS in the United States only 34-- including Howard-- have a golf program.

Golf, among other sports, have been known as a game of privilege, Howard Athletic Director Kery Davis explained.

“Golf has always been a game of privilege,” Davis said. “An association with the sport can break down barriers.”

To put Davis’ comment into perspective, of the 25.7 million golfers in America only 1.3 million are African American, and 3.1 million are Hispanic compared to 20.3 million white golfers according to Golf Magazine. In NCAA Division I Golf, many of the athletes are white kids with country-clubs backgrounds, giving them easy access to clubs, balls, and training. Meanwhile in inner cities, there is an average of 35 golf programs in a geographical section, according to MaxPreps. On the other hand, there are an average of 130 football programs in a geographical section.

To take it a step further, even at an HBCU black golfers are the minority. Micheal A Fletcher of the Undefeated reported that of Bethune-Cookman University’s nine-person team, only two players are African-American. He also noted that the situation is the same across the board in HBCU golf.

Golf, among other sports, are not popular in American inner cities. Every kid at some point wants to be a baller, but most ballers have a football or basketball in the eyes of today’s youth.

It’s easier to access football and basketball than it is golf. To play golf at an elite level you have to pay for your clubs, balls, and green fees--which can run an average of $2,800 annually. To learn how to play basketball at an elite level you need a ball and hoop-- which can be found at any local park or friend’s drive-way.

Economically golf has always been associated with money. That is why Stephen Curry being the catalyst of breaking this barrier is not shocking. Curry grew up with money, and has been able to expand his wealth through his play and investments. Even though he didn’t attend an HBCU, he recognizes that he has an ability to change more than his immediate circle. He sees he can expand his immediate circle, and create opportunities for kids that look like him and look up to him.

Curry’s donation is just one step in a marathon of action that needs to happen to diversify historically white sports, but with everything that is going on in today’s world it’s good to know that there are some steps being taken forward.