Sports is big business in America and has continued to grow by leaps and bounds over the past few decades. That includes professional, college and high school athletics. One aspect that has grown exponentially recently is the diversity of participants in certain sports, including more non-traditional faces on the fields and courts.
Most notably, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) have played a significant role in diversifying the sporting landscape of late, adding new sports programs. Many HBCUs are beginning to make waves in sports that aren’t traditionally participated in by African American athletes. With sports like hockey, lacrosse, golf, bowling and swimming, HBCU student-athletes now have the chance to make their mark in even more ways.
Diversity for the win
Tennessee State, Savannah State, Morgan State and Delaware State are just a few HBCU universities to have adopted many of these sports in recent years. And these schools, now participating in what some might call “non-traditional” sports for Black athletes, are thriving just the same. TSU is an innovator here, being the first HBCU to bring ice hockey to the forefront for historically black schools. The announcement of the new program was made last year, and the Tigers will debut on the ice in 2025.
“Now to see hockey come here [Tennessee State]? To some, it might be that thought of ‘Black people don’t play hockey.’ But the truth is they do. That’s where it started,” explained Howard Gentry, a former TSU athletic director. “I know the history. And even if people thought Black people didn’t play hockey, they do now…I see us having the chance to be as successful as the other dreams and visions made true by those administrators from the past.”
In March of 2024, the Morgan State Lady Bears won The National Bowling Association HBCU Invitational title in a three-day tournament, finishing with an 11-2 record — two bowlers from the team placed in the top 10 individually. Sophomore Johnna Hill (949 total pins) ranked fifth, and senior Cheyenne Washington (928 total pins) finished in eighth place. Along the way to their tournament championship, the Lady Bears defeated Grambling, Florida A&M, Jackson State, and Alabama A&M, among others. The MSU Bears also brought back wrestling recently, making them the only HBCU with a Division 1 program in the country.
While Florida A&M came up short in bowling, the men’s golf team capped off an amazing season in May by winning a National Championship. It was the school’s second HBCU National title, led by golfers Marcus Taylor and Patrick Mwendapole, finishing in first and second place, respectively, in the field.
In 2023, Howard University helped lay an old trope to rest about Black folks not swimming. Howard’s all-Black team took home the Northeast Conference Men’s Swimming and Diving championship proving that, Black people can swim and dominate that competitively too.
Progressing into the future
The participation of HBCUs in these sports that fall outside of football, basketball and track & field, has opened a whole new range of diverse activities that many black students of past generations weren’t privy to. Going back 30 or 40 years to the 1980s and 90s, depending on where you grew up, only hoops, football and baseball existed. While other sports were around, these were the big three in many Black neighborhoods.
Today’s generation of Black student-athletes now have the blueprint and path to follow in playing any sport they desire. Surely, Black student-athletes will continue to dominate in basketball, football and track & field, but it’s always good to have other options. With more HBCUs participating in sports like golf, bowling, swimming and hockey new doors and possibilities open for these students, not only in athletics but in many other professions upon graduating.
