Pictured: Lyshia Clarendon (left), the first openly non-binary player in the WNBA and WSU student-athlete Makayla Poloni (right).
Washington State swimming student-athlete Makayla Poloni was one of 60 student-athletes and staff members that attended the first ever Athlete Ally Athlete Leadership Summit in Miami, Florida. Athlete Ally is an organization whose mission is to end the rampant homophobia and transphobia in sport and to activate the athletic community to exercise their leadership to champion LGBTQI+ equality. Below are her own words surrounding the experience.
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When I was told I had been given the opportunity to go to the first ever Athlete Ally Leadership Summit, a whole flood of emotions ran through me. The first thing that ran through my head was, "Wow, I get to represent Washington State University. What an amazing opportunity!" However, I was somewhat nervous and hesitant to attend since I would be representing Washington State University at a national conference. After talking to the Cougar Pride Student-Athlete Alliance (CPSAA) advisor, I felt more at ease with attending the event. I was expecting to learn about team bonding techniques, how to be a great leader, and how to ensure student-athletes in the LGBTQI+ community had their voices heard. My experience was all that and so much more.
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When I arrived in Miami for the Summit, I was excited and pleasantly surprised by the attention to detail from our event hosts. The Athlete Ally team welcomed us with goody bags, folders full of information, great food selection and an overall welcoming environment for which to dive into learning material and discussions. Most of our time was spent learning how to take the knowledge from the event back to our respective college campuses. We were broken up into different breakout rooms throughout the weekend, where we each shared our unique perspectives on advantages and disadvantages that we see personally at our institutions. I learned so much from every school that was there, and these breakout sessions really opened my eyes to different issues and struggles student-athletes are going through. It made me realize how similar I am to many student-athletes. Hearing from panelists like WNBA player Layshia Clarendon, swimming student-athlete Iszac Henig, and the Athlete Ally staff showed me that I can be a leader on my campus.
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Since leaving the Summit, I have been inspired to use what I learned and place it into action. I hope that Washington State Athletics can continue to educate its student-athletes and staff on the LGBTQI+ community and Athlete Ally. I am confident that there are many WSU student-athletes that can absolutely benefit from the tools Athlete Ally provided us and I look forward to spreading that knowledge to the best of my ability. I know that one person can make a change, but it takes a whole army to create a movement.
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