Calacus Weekly Hit & Miss – Angel City FC & FINA
Every Monday we look at the best and worst communicators in the sports world from the previous week.
HIT – ANGEL CITY FC
Make History With Us – that’s the powerful motto of the newly formed Angel City FC as they launched their new badge last week.
Inspired by Los Angeles’ moniker as ‘the city of angels,’ Angel City FC are the first ever majority female-owned football club, set on a mission of breaking the status quo of a traditional sports team and contributing significantly to society at the same time.
Angel City FC are expected to begin play in the National Women’s Soccer League in 2022 and last month announced former England striker Eniola Aluko as their first sporting director.
They will be the NWSL’s first team in California and unusually do not have an affiliation with either of the local Major League Soccer teams, LAFC or Los Angeles Galaxy.
Julie Uhrman, the team’s President and one of its founders, explained the vision behind the team: “We want to elevate women’s sports, and specifically women’s soccer, and show that it is as good, if not better, than any other professional sports team here and it deserves the attention and the revenue the male teams just get without trying.
“In this great city known for its endless sunsets and legendary stars, our visual identity had to pay homage to these important Los Angeles symbols, yet also signal what Angel City stands for — a more equitable future for all”
Angel City has several corporate sponsors, including DoorDash and the footwear brand Birdies, with 10% of the value of these partnerships going to local causes. The Birdies sponsorship includes a female mentorship program, with interns learning about women in sport.
Kayla Green, head of marketing at Angel City FC said: “We’re doing something really special here. The launch of this team is a true call to action to galvanize our community, fans, players around the world to collectively seek to raise the expectations of this game on and off the field.”
The announcement of the team branding in June made headlines, in part because of the origin of the club’s story, which involves Hollywood actress Natalie Portman, tennis superstar Serena Williams and former U.S. women’s national team player Abby Wambach.
The involvement of such well-known names will certainly raise the profile of women’s football in Los Angeles. But for these stars, Angel City symbolises something far more significant: it is their vision for the club to become a platform for greater equality and representation more widely within society.
Co-founder Natalie Portman said: "Angel City FC started because we wanted to bring the excitement of the best players in the world of the most popular sport in the world to the greatest sports city in the world. We will do that while promoting pay equity for women globally and strengthening our community locally.
"The image, the symbol that our team, players, fans and supporters will wear was made with our values and goals in mind."
To celebrate Pride month in June, Angel City FC partnered with Heineken to raise money for the Los Angeles LGBT Center and 10% of revenue from all sponsorship deals at Angel City FC will be reinvested back into the community.
Julie Uhrman added: “We are really aligned in our core beliefs and the importance of quality for all. As part of that, it’s about representation and inclusivity. With Angel City, we want to build an inclusive fan base, that is not only our fans of soccer today, but fans of women’s sports and sports in general.”
It will be fascinating to see how the new team compete when the new season starts next year but if their on-field performances are as well planned and executed as their vision and badge launch, they’re going to be setting the standard for football teams not just in North America, but beyond.
MISS – FINA
Whenever Calacus works with a new client, we undertake an audit to identify strengths and weaknesses so that we can help them to address any shortcomings within their organisation.
It’s common to proclaim a commitment to diversity, inclusivity, opportunity, transparency, robust procedures, particularly in doping and suchlike.
But those claims must be backed up by actions, otherwise they undermine the credibility of the organisation and the trust it seeks from its target audiences.
Recent figures from Sport England show 95% of Black adults and 80% of Black children do not go swimming while only 1% of registered swimmers with the governing body identify as black or mixed race.
Racial stereotypes have dogged the sport such as the misconception that black people had “less buoyant” bones and were therefore liable to struggle in water.
Step forward FINA, the international governing body for swimming, who have undermined their own diversity claims by rejecting an application for an over-sized swimming cap to be permitted for use in competition swimming including Tokyo 2020 later this summer.
SOUL CAP’s founders started the company because people with ‘volume-blessed’ hair, particularly black people who wear their hair in afros, dreadlocks, and weaves, struggle to wear ordinary swimming caps.
FINA claimed that to their “best knowledge, the athletes competing at the International events never used, neither require to use, caps of such size and configuration.”
SOUL CAP released a statement lamenting FINA’s short-sighted decision, saying: “We hoped to further our work for diversity in swimming by having our swim caps certified for competition, so swimmers at any level don’t have to choose between the sport they love and their hair.
“For younger swimmers, feeling included and seeing yourself in a sport at a young age is crucial. FINA’s recent dismissal could discourage many younger athletes from pursuing the sport as they progress through local, county and national competitive swimming.
“We feel there’s always room for improvement, but there’s only so much grassroots and small brands can do – we need the top to be receptive to positive change.”
The chair of the Black Swimming Association, Danielle Obe, believes FINA’s decision will deter swimmers from diverse backgrounds, just as they are starting to compete at the highest level.
She said: "At the highest level, we're then hearing that, 'we want the sport to be inclusive and representative, we want to have people of colour in the sport but we want them to join on our terms. That really is not what inclusion is about.
"This will affect younger swimmers, up and coming, who might want to consider taking up elite swimming. It will affect their decision because by and large, hair is a significant barrier to aquatics for - women especially - many people of colour from our communities. That should be considered as a product that overcomes this barrier."
The developments occurred just days after Alice Dearing booked her place at Tokyo 2020, meaning she will become the first Black woman to compete for Team GB in a swimming event at the Olympic Games.
Swim England made their own statement vowing to support her and the wider black community. It said: “We fully understand how swimming hats designed for Afro hair can reduce barriers to the sport for under-represented groups, including Black people.
“We would therefore like to reassure all our members and the wider swimming community that we embrace their use for participation, training and racing.
“These hats are permitted at all Swim England clubs and competitions under our auspices.
“Our chief executive, Jane Nickerson, will raise our concerns regarding the reported international situation, through the appropriate channels.”
FINA has since released another statement admitting that it will review its initial rejection of the SOUL CAP. It said: “FINA is committed to ensuring that all aquatics athletes have access to appropriate swimwear for competition where this swimwear does not confer a competitive advantage. FINA is currently reviewing the situation with regards to “Soul Cap” and similar products, understanding the importance of inclusivity and representation.
“FINA expects to make its consideration of “SOUL CAP” and similar products part of wider initiatives aimed at ensuring there are no barriers to participation in swimming, which is both a sport and a vital life skill.”
It will be fascinating to see how FINA respond following their review and how humble they are about getting it wrong in the first place, if indeed they do the right thing and permit SOUL CAP headwear for competitive swimming.