Governing Board

Missy Wright

Associate Professor, Department of Kinesiology
Co-Director, Center for Sport & Social Justice

Growing up in Canada, I was always involved in sports; playing pick up games of street hockey or baseball with my brother and the neighborhood boys, trying out gymnastics (very short-lived), playing on an indoor lacrosse team, and numerous years of competitive tennis at the national level. In many of these sporting environments, I was aware that I was routinely one of only a few girls, or the only girl, participating. These sporting experiences growing up undoubtedly influenced my interest in learning more about sport environments as gendered spaces, and specifically, the barriers that girls encounter that shape their sport and physical activity participation. I believe we need to ask the questions “What types of spaces are being created and whose space is it – who is in and who is out?” There is such a vast array of benefits that can be attained through being physically active, and I look forward to working with the Center in helping to create change in making physical activity and sport environments more inclusive.

Matthew Atencio

Professor, Department of Kinesiology
Co-Director, Center for Sport & Social Justice

My involvement with the Center for Sport and Social Justice reflects a lifelong engagement with physical activity and sport, in both formal and informal contexts. These experiences as a youth in my neighborhood, as a competitive athlete, and as a traveler for many years have been very meaningful. As an academic, I draw upon this personal perspective to help youths and adults engage with sport and physical activity in beneficial ways. This involves highlighting key barriers that serve to marginalize and exclude people. I also question prevailing ideologies that portray many people simply as "unfit", "unhealthy", and "at risk." From a social justice perspective, I suggest that many people actually take part in physical activity and sport cultures. These cultures reflect spaces that are unique and highly innovative. I hope that CSSJ can frame a dialogue that challenges the reductive and restrictive ways that society views sport and physical activity. Can we be more open to re-envisioning human movement and what "counts" as being healthy and active?

Becky Beal

Professor, Department of Kinesiology

Creating beauty and joy in our world is a guiding principle for me.  I have found physical activity as a primary source to do this. As a young person this joy often took form through exploring my neighborhood and playing informal games with friends.  As I moved into formal organized sport, I often felt the beauty of physical activity was diminished by the militaristic and bureaucratic ethos. When I tried to bring humor or lightness to these formal settings, I was often dismissed as “not serious” or “un-coachable.”  My orientation toward physical activity has led me to do research on informal sports, such as skateboarding and surfing, as potential democratic and artistic sites; spaces where self-expression, style, and fairness matter.

Alexandra Rodriguez

Assistant Professor, Department of Kinesiology

I have been an avid participant, spectator, and sports fan for as long as I can remember. Many of my earliest childhood memories are of me attempting to keep up with my two older siblings in sport and physical activity settings. As a result, I found myself often competing with kids in higher age groups and being placed on the same teams as my older brother, where I found myself being one of the few girls within the leagues. As I grew older and started participating on girls/women’s teams, I noticed a shift in the way that I, as well as my teammates and peers, talked about our bodies, presented ourselves, and how our experiences with our bodies impacted our involvement in sport and physical activity. This initial observation drew me to the field of sport and exercise psychology. Since then, I have focused my research on exploring the body-related experiences of folks participating in sport and physical activity. My research aims to 1) bring forward the experiences and voices of those underrepresented in body image research and 2) highlight the intersection of multiple marginalized identities and how they impact body-related experiences and involvement in sport and physical activity. Furthermore, my research explores if and how leaders in physical activity and sport are working to create spaces with and for folks with marginalized identities. I am excited to work with the CSSJ and the greater community in continued research and dialogue on inclusion and social justice in sport and physical activity.

Maria J. Veri

Professor, Department of Kinesiology San Francisco State University

As a kid, school and sports were salvation for me. I grew up playing a number of different sports in neighborhood backyards and driveways – as well as organized sports at school and in the community – and thanks to the influence of my dad, was an avid fan of the New York Yankees. Sports were fun and gave me a way to interact with peers and adults in my community, helped me become known by teachers, and buoyed my confidence personally and socially. It was in high school when I first became aware of systemic gender-based discrimination in sport. I was upset about the inferior conditions and lack of resources for the girls’ sports teams. As a three-sport athlete and reporter for the school newspaper, I notified the athletic director of my intent to publish a story about those inequities during my senior year. He asked me to hold off, promising that changes would be made, and then offered me a softball equipment catalogue so I could pick out new catcher’s gear. When I returned to visit after my freshman year of college, I ran into the athletic director at a girls’ basketball game and he made it a point to tell me about the improvements that had been made to the girls’ softball field. That early experience influenced my work as an academic and kinesiology educator. I strive to call attention to race, gender, and power dynamics when I teach and write about the culture of sport. My goal for my students is to ensure that sport becomes a more inclusive, socially just cultural space. I’m thrilled to be working with an organization that so closely aligns with those values and is committed to creating and maintaining social justice-oriented community sport
spaces.

Carl Stempel

Professor, Department of Sociology & Social Services

From 4th grade school through high school, I was always playing an adult-organized sport, sometimes two. Much of my spare time was spent playing sports with neighborhood kids - street football was our favorite. In high school I read books like Dave Meggyesy’s Out of their League and Connie Hawkins’ autobiography Foul. They gave me models of athletes who separated the joy, accomplishment, and cooperative competition of sport from the sometimes misguided goals, ideals, and practices of the people running sport systems. In college I ran track (when I wasn’t injured) and was exposed to more of the underbelly of sport, like steroid use and insecure coaches who treated athletes as disposable. I especially recall the psychic pain of two football players who opened up about how they were shunned after career-ending injuries. Being part of CSSJ has helped me focus on what we can do to expand opportunities for youth of all backgrounds to play sports and be physically active in ways that support their development.

Carolyn Sideco

Sports Relationship Coach, CoachingKapwa Sports Consultants LLC

My sports story includes arcs as an athlete, coach, administrator, parent, mentor, and fan. I was 9 years old, trying to make friends at a new school, when volleyball found me. As a teen, I created my own baseball score cards so I could score games on television or the radio. In high school, I wrote a sports page column titled “Off The Bench”. I have lived by Ocean Beach in San Francisco most of my life, yet I learned to swim as a 33 year-old returning-to-college student, to earn my kinesiology degree. I claim that I am the shortest person to officiate a California state basketball championship game (2006) as part of the first all-women basketball officiating crew to work a CIF high school state championship. 

My relationship with sports helps me (re)connect to myself, my community, and to the broader world. I believe sports are the most fun pathways to reimagine, practice and surrender ourselves to the ways of racial justice, ethnic studies, decolonization, and community building. Sports jobs supported me - financially and spiritually -  when I was a single parent. I continue to make a daily ritual of crafting and emerging identity through deepening relationships with people and energies. Now, with over 30 years of rooting lineage threads in all levels of educational sports, I know that everyone has a relationship with sports, and our collective expression bares itself on the playing fields, courts, and gyms - oftentimes to our dehumanization, and sometimes to our self-actualization. I am grateful to CSSJ for affording me this space to work with, work towards, and work in kapwa for our collective liberation. Let’s play! #kapwaforever

Christina Rodriguez

Through my work with the CSSJ I hope to expand my understanding on social justice issues in both the community and in sports. I also hope to share this knowledge with students at CSUEB. I grew up playing soccer and my involvement has had a major impact on how I view sports. It has played a role in me wanting to learn more about how sports impact my community and society as a whole. Through research I hope to expand my understanding on what social justice challenges sports face and what I can do to help. The CSSJ focuses in on these particular areas by focusing in on what can be done to better sports for all and how impactful sports are.

Madelyn Acosta

Student Representative, Undergraduate in the Department of Kinesiology

I am an undergraduate pursuing a career in Health Care. I have a background in youth sports and am now a student learning about the complexities of kinesiology at the anatomical and social levels. My coursework in the Department of Kinesiology has increased my awareness of social justice and strengthened my belief in inclusion. I am grateful for the opportunity to be a student representative for CSSJ and to be a part of this educational movement for social justice in sports. I look forward to doing my part to further the importance of accessibility and inclusivity.