Coaching Beyond the Court: Beulah Osueke's Impact on Young Athletes

Beulah Osueke, a basketball coach in Philadelphia, made a lasting impact on her players. She was more than a coach to them. She was a mentor, a disciplinarian, and sometimes even a parent. Osueke saw the struggles her players faced and used her position to help them overcome these challenges. She saw that her players were often treated unfairly, and she wanted to change that. Osueke's journey began in 2013 when she took over the West Catholic Lady Burrs. She quickly realized that the team lacked structure and discipline. She started by setting basic rules, like arriving on time and following the dress code. She also held fundraisers to help cover the girls' athletic fees. Her efforts paid off. The team went from losing every game in their first season to winning five games the next year. Stars blossomed under Osueke's guidance. One of Osueke's players, Tamiah Robinson, credits Osueke with teaching her accountability. Robinson said Osueke helped her grow up in ways she never knew she needed. She learned that as a young Black woman, she needed to handle her responsibilities first. Basketball came second. This is what University of Michigan's Armstrong called "using the power of sport" to uplift.

Osueke's impact went beyond the court. In 2016, one of her star athletes, 18-year-old Akyra Murray, was killed in the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida. This tragedy gave Osueke a new perspective on what some of her players were living through. She became more determined to help her players see what they could accomplish. That included routine mental health checks and providing for them in ways she could. The team's most successful years came after Osueke put together all those pieces. They won 11 straight games in 2020 and won the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 3A coach of the year. Their Class 3A state crown in 2021 was the school's first state title ever, girls or boys. Osueke advocated for her players when they weren't supported at school. She also fought for them to be refereed fairly when it seemed they faced biased officials on the court. She created practice drills in which she played the role of a referee who "thinks that the better-resourced girls or legacy teams should win. " She wanted her players to learn how to handle these situations. Osueke quit coaching full time in 2021 to make a broader community impact. She's the Philadelphia-based executive director of New Voices for Reproductive Justice and is working on a project to help girls basketball coaches understand how race, class and other factors can impact student-athletes. She believes that sports can be used to pass along and plant seeds in the next generation of leaders.

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