- [Announcer] Production and distribution of City Club forums on Ideastream Public Media are made possible by PNC and the United Black Fund of Greater Cleveland Incorporated.

(upbeat music) (bell rings) (Rachael laughs) - Hello and welcome to the City Club of Cleveland, where we are devoted to conversations of consequence that help democracy thrive.

It's Wednesday, May 24th, and I'm Rachael Stentz-Baugher, senior Vice President of Community and corporate engagement with the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission.

We're proud to be here today alongside Velocity to present today's forum as part of the Diversity Thought Leadership series in partnership with KeyBank.

In recent years, Cleveland has welcomed several major sporting events from the 2021 NFL Draft to last year's NBA All-Star Game.

In 2022 alone, the city hosted 10 national sporting events, which brought in $155.1 million to the local economy.

Next year, the top collegiate women's basketball teams will come to Cleveland to compete in the NCAA Women's Final Four.

Cleveland previously hosted the Women's Final Four in 2007 when the University of Tennessee won its seventh championship.

The year was a momentous one for women in sports as it marked the 35th anniversary of the passage of Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination and any education program that receives federal funding.

More than 25,000 people visited Cleveland during the 2007 Women's Final Four, bringing in $10.7 million to the region.

The city led by Greater Cleveland Sports Commission is preparing for next year's tournament, which is sure to make an even greater impact.

GCSC is working hard behind the scenes to provide student athletes and women's basketball fans the best experience from the second day step in bounds of our favorite city to the final buzzer.

As we look toward 2024, today's panel will examine the past, celebrate the present, and look toward the future of women's basketball all while focusing on gender equity and the need for continued representation within this sport.

Joining us on stage to discuss this is Jessica Davis, senior Manager of youth basketball operations for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering) (Rachael clears throat) Monica Gustin, my colleague and friend, and also vice president of business development for the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission.

(audience applauding) Dan Hughes, retired WNBA coach for the Cleveland Rockers.

(audience applauding) And Chris Kielsmeier, head women's basketball coach at Cleveland State University.

(audience applauding) (Rachael clears throat) Moderating the conversation today is Kelsey Russo, Ohio native and staff writer for The Athletic, covering the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Kelsey also covered the WNBA's Atlanta Dream during the 2019 season.

(audience applauding) Thanks Kelsey.

If you have questions for our panelists, you can text it to 330-541-5794.

That's 330-541-5794.

You can also tweet your question at the City Club and City Club staff will try to work it into the second half of the program.

Members and friends of the City Club of Cleveland, please join me in welcoming Jessica Davis, Monica Gustin, Dan Hughes and Chris Kielsmeier.

Kelsey.

(audience applauding) - Thank you all for being here today and thank you all four of you for being here.

I'm very excited for this conversation.

I think it's a really important one for not only the City of Cleveland, but also as we continue the conversation around growing women's basketball.

So while we prepare for next year and inviting the Final Four to Cleveland, I want to go back to 2007, the last time that the Women's Final Four was here in Cleveland.

And like she said Tennessee beat records for their seventh national championship title and a lot of people came to Cleveland for the first time, experienced the city.

And so Dan, from your perspective, I would be curious to hear what memories you have from when that time in Cleveland and what it was like to experience the 2007 tournament here in Cleveland.

- Oh, absolutely.

I was with the Rockers when the bid went in to get the tournament to come here in 2007.

So I was part of the greeting process for the decision makers for the tournament and then to see it play out in 2007 to me holds a lot of really good memories.

Great games, Pat Summitt with Tennessee, who just a real legendary part of women's basketball won the title that year.

But I was here, the WNBA used to run the draft at the sites of the Final Four.

So not only did I enjoy being back in Cleveland, I also had work to do and I have to fast forward to, there was a trade made in 2007 here in Cleveland.

Matter of fact, I think over at Renaissance Ballroom or whatever over there, I traded for Becky Hammond that day here in Cleveland, which absolutely changed the arc of my team in San Antonio and changed my life 'cause Becky Hammond went on to play eight years for us.

She is going in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in August, okay?

She was the first women's assistant coach in the NBA and all that kinda went down here as part of the Final Four.

So it brings back a multitude of memories and I think the women's game I have had the beautiful experience of being involved in and are watching it grow.

And I think the people of Cleveland are in for a treat and I think the people that are coming here to experience Cleveland are also gonna have a treat.

It's a wonderful merger to me.

- Love that.

Chris, similar for you, one of your first times in Cleveland was for the Final Four in 2007.

So what was your experience like coming to the city and now seeing this event come back 17 years later?

What can the magnitude of this type of event do for the City of Cleveland?

- Well, it personally significantly changed my life.

I was born and raised in Iowa.

I'm a country boy.

I was coming from Wayne State College in Nebraska, which is a town of 5,500 people.

So when Cleveland State wanted to interview me and bring me here as their potential next head women's basketball coach, I was, how is this guy gonna fit in?

I'm a country boy, how am I gonna fit into Cleveland?

How am I gonna fit into this big city?

And 2007 was the only time that I'd ever been to Cleveland.

And so a lot of those experiences that I had in that one moment when I was here really impacted my decision to first come on the interview because of let's give it a chance because of those experiences.

Cleveland's anything you want it to be.

We built a house 13 miles south in Broadview Heights, and I'm out with the ducks and the geese and the deer and I got all kinds of animals in my backyard.

It's phenomenal by that part of it.

But anytime that I want the aspects of a big city life, I want to go to a guardian's game and see Jose hit a home run this afternoon.

Like, I'm gonna go do, I can do it.

So those experiences of being here that first time in '07 really impacted me in a way of saying, "It's all encompassed in the city.

You can go and experience how many things without having to leave the city."

If you wanna leave this city and go do something different with the 21,000 acres of parks and the different things that you can experience outside of the city, it's there as well.

So I was there one time, how many people are gonna come to Cleveland for the first time this year and that's gonna impact those lives and the city can do that to you significantly quickly.

- Absolutely, Monica, from your perspective, so 17 years ago we had this event here, now it's coming back.

From the business aspect, what kind of impact can an event like this, like the Final Four have for Cleveland?

Like we've seen how the All-Star Game had a huge economic impact here last year, the NFL Draft, et cetera.

And what are some of the kind of the biggest challenges in planning for this type of event?

- Sure, so first of all, thank you for everybody for joining us today.

And I was also a part of the Final Four in 2007 in a little bit different capacity than these guys, more like our students that are here, our high school students.

And that just goes to show the impact that programs along with something like the Women's Final Four can bring to a community beyond the business, the exposure to different, whether it be basketball specific programs or women and girls in business leadership type programs.

So the type of impact that this is gonna have, I would be remiss to highlight without all of the community partners that most are in this room, all the great work Chris is doing to elevate Cleveland State's basketball program.

All of the continued work that Dan is doing as an ambassador to Cleveland with his vast experience, not only in the WNBA, team USA, he's a Cleveland fan, he's a Cleveland cheerleader and we appreciate that.

All the work that Jess is doing to promote future girls and leaders and whether it be basketball specific or otherwise, but also the Mid-American Conference is our host institution partner for the Final Four next year.

They put on some of the best conference championships that exist and we couldn't do this without them, especially with our venue partners at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

The biggest advocate that we've had for getting the Final Four back to Cleveland in this crew.

We can't thank them enough for their partnership through this.

And all of that, the sports commission comes in and really helps wrap the community around this to create that business impact.

So we partner with the City of Cleveland, everybody in this room and beyond to really highlight all we have to offer, like Chris alluded to, but also to create new programs and a new legacy and how we're going to put our impact with hosting next year this this great event.

We do I hope, a pretty good job with our partners at the hotels, restaurants and beyond to really create that economic impact for the 50,000 plus visitors that will be in attendance.

But also this past year we saw almost 10 million viewers for the championship game that was in Dallas.

So we're gonna be working our butts off to make sure that we have an even greater impact for our community because at the end of it, that's what it's all about.

- Actually, it's a great launching point for the next kind of topic I wanted to talk about was women's athletics in the media setting.

And not only here in Cleveland specifically, but just in general and how it's continued to grow over the years, but how there's also so much more room for it to grow and how it needs to be a topic of conversation consistently.

So kinda like you said, the Final Four weekend in Dallas averaged 6.5 million viewers, which was a record for ESPN, the national championship game brought in 9.9 million viewers, which was the most viewed college basketball game men or women's on ESPN platforms, which is incredible.

You think about that game and the exposure those players received in that type of atmosphere.

But there is also like lots of room to grow women's athletics from youth perspective to a collegiate perspective to a pro perspective.

And so Chris, I've been curious because like as Cleveland State's coach, how you've seen the media setting around your program grow, especially with the success that you guys had this past year, but also what you would like to see change from that perspective.

- Well, the vision that I had for Cleveland State women's basketball was simple.

We were gonna try to build it into one of the best programs in the country and win championships consistently.

But a big piece of that also was let's be the face of women's athletics in the City of Cleveland.

Let's be the face of women's athletics in northeast Ohio.

And I've always been such a strong proponent of if you've never been to a women's basketball game before, be like my man Pete back here and show up and sit front row and come to a game.

And if you don't like it, never come back to one.

But I think you're gonna love it.

And I think this isn't the '50s anymore.

We need to keep talking about women's athletics.

We need to give them a voice and a platform that's equal to the men.

And that's... (audience applauding) Thank you.

That's a big part of what our program can do.

This is an amazing sports city, right?

It's one of the best sports city in the United States, but how much coverage is there for women's athletics?

How much of a voice does women's athletics get?

And our program has been able to crack the media market this year in part because of the success that we have on the court, but it's also our players and what they do in the community.

Destiny Leo.

Destiny, if you stand up please.

(audience applauding) Destiny's from East Lake North High School and our first big recruit when we came to Cleveland.

We identified her as if this plan and this vision that we want to create happen, boy she's gonna make it happen a whole lot faster.

And she has, she's a Cleveland girl, she's MGK till I die.

She's born and raised Cleveland.

And if you go to the Cavs to see Donovan Mitchell, do you not like the excitement in the game, things that you guys do absolutely phenomenal.

Can't get enough of it.

You should want to come see Destiny Leo play.

If you haven't seen Destiny Leo play, you haven't seen Cleveland State Women's Basketball play, you should make that a priority this next year because it's outstanding basketball.

It's outstanding excitement.

And again, if you've never seen it, you can't use that as an excuse not to go and not like it until you come.

'Cause then I think you'll like it and you'll never want to not come back again.

And Pete will save you a seat in the front row.

- I love that.

I think going off of that, when I covered the WNBA in Atlanta back in 2019, it was a completely new experience for me.

I wasn't a huge WNBA fan, but I was brought into this new world covering the team and it's a part of the game that really needs to be discussed, promoted, and we can do that here in Cleveland from collegiate all the way up.

And I think that's just a great example of there's a way to do so with programs like yours.

- We believe that we've become the face of women's athletics in this area, but we're not satisfied in any way.

We feel like we've cracked just the tip of it.

And if you followed our program this year, I mean we were in the media a lot.

We were on the front page of the Cleveland...

I mean a women's team on the front page of the Cleveland sports page.

Wow I mean, how many times has that happened?

I mean, maybe happened back in the day with the Rockers and stuff like that, but it's something that needs to be talked about.

Needs to be done, show up.

Watch games, talk about the sport, talk about women.

- Absolutely, Jessica, from your perspective, so from working in youth basketball operations, how can the conversation around women's athletics, girls in sports from a young age change and how have you seen it grow too from when you've been here?

- So I think the conversation just needs to continue.

And it needs to continue from this positive momentum that's going on and continue having conversations like the one today and promoting young girls participating, how important that is from a young age and how you learn life lessons through playing the game of sport.

So we all know it's 12 WNBA teams and an opportunity to play overseas, but that's a small margin of girls going to play once they finish college.

And so how important these life lessons are, maybe they're not the star kid plan or they're not the star middle school or high school or collegiate, but these life lessons, they're learning from preparation to accountability to being a good teammate that's gonna transfer over once the ball stops bouncing.

It is so important.

And a lot of employers are looking to hire females in sports.

So I think it's so important and to your question of how I wanna see it grow from two aspects, one, increased female participation and then two increased female utilization in the gyms.

Right here in the City of Cleveland, there are over 15 rec centers with a basketball court, and that's not even including the outdoor courts.

And so young girls have an opportunity to go and use these resources that they have here.

And I know right now the City of Cleveland has a women's open gym on Wednesdays.

And so this is another opportunity for these young females to take advantage of.

And once they're in the gym from a coach's perspective, we have to keep them there.

So if they're interested, we have to empower them, build their confidence, equip them with the skills to get better.

And most importantly, make sure they're having fun while doing so.

Because when we talk about growing the game, if they're not coming back, then we're not growing it.

And so we have to provide them with this space.

(audience applauding) We have to provide them with this space that all athletes wanna come back to.

- Absolutely, going off of that, I have a follow up question for you, but on the confidence aspect of it all, it's something that from a meanie perspective, we talk about all the time of women in sports from ton of different avenues, either the media side of it, from a player perspective, from administration side, the confidence aspect is so necessary and so important and feeling like you belong, you should be there, you have the opportunity to be there.

Like how do you grow that when they are in the gym?

How do you instill that confidence through the game of basketball that it sticks throughout out life and not just on the basketball side.

- It starts when they walk through the door.

Providing that energy, letting them know that we're about to have a good time on this court.

When they're making mistakes on the court, you're correcting, but in a positive way.

And let them know it's okay to make mistakes.

But throughout the entire time we're on the court, you're just instilling in it that they can do it.

Really, that's what it all comes down to.

And so just the instilling that confidence throughout our camps and clinics is really what it comes down to.

- Yeah, absolutely.

Now I have a loaded question, but as we look to the future for women's basketball, not only to next year with the Final Four being here, but just where we can go past 2024, how we continue to grow the women's game, especially in the City of Cleveland.

So from not only a youth perspective, collegiate professional, because we do have the history here with the Rockers.

So kind of Jessica, I'll start with you.

How has the youth sports scene though changed in the past five years and where do you want to see it go?

Like where can it go?

- It's changed.

Prior to the the pandemic, you saw a lot of kids active and then after the pandemic, as we all know it affected everybody and it affected the youth participation numbers.

And right now girls are 50% more likely to drop outta sports than guys.

And so it goes back to my points of the increased female participation and really using the resources that they have and working off of that.

- Absolutely, Dan, for you, obviously with the history of the Rockers here and you've seen women in all different areas that have been through the WNBA, but how can we use the history of a WNBA team here in Cleveland to help continue to grow the game, not only, its presence here, but but the WNBA as a whole?

- Well, I think you want to tell some stories of opportunity and for example, just to kind of build on that, you go back to the Rocker days and while I was coaching the Rockers, ESPN asked me to become involved in the NCAA tournament, broadcast as an analyst first and second round.

So I'm gonna go into about my 21st year of doing that, hopefully next year.

So I've been a part of all those different turn and I've watched it grow.

But the opportunity, when you look back at the Rockers team that I coached and I went down memory lane a little bit before I came up here, matter of fact, as you walk out there's a little necklace says Rockers on it, grab one, okay?

Sitting out here, take it home, give it to your kids, talk about maybe the excitement that's building up from this because like just when I started looking at this thing here, Rushia Brown, Rushia Brown's a mother right now, but she also entrepreneurs, public speaker, has pretty much been an ambassador for basketball.

Marion Drog is a basketball coach in the G League, okay?

Right now for the New Orleans Pelicans, okay?

Jen Rizzotti is now the president of the Connecticut Sun in charge of the entire operation.

At that point wasn't as assistant with me on the Olympic team as a coach in 2021, as was the other assistant, Cheryl Reeve was my assistant.

The Rockers influence on the 2021 Tokyo Olympics was pretty pronounced at that point.

And Waters is a basketball coach now at Chicago, she's from Belgium.

You look on the front here, Penny Taylor just went into to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.

There's a lot of great stories to tell and I've been fortunate to have a lot of good teams.

But the stories that I'm most proud to tell, is that what these women have gone and done with their lives.

In our league right now, my assistants occupy six of the 12 head coaching positions, all right?

Two other players that played for me are now coaches in there, that's seven women, okay?

Of this eight that I'm talking about that have gone on in the profession to make their marks.

And I think there's just some great stories to tell as the product gets better and it has and as the inners gets greater, but what these women are doing with their lives is pretty, pretty special.

- Absolutely, Monica, did you have a- - Yeah, and this is just gonna be very excited for next year because this is what it means for our community to have this opportunity to have this platform.

There's work being done all across our community to create these opportunities, to learn leadership skills, life skills that we're talking about, to then go on and take what you've learned maybe between April 5th and seventh that has some type of impact on you to either keep going in the field of sports, whatever it is that this opportunity will create for all of our young people throughout our community.

That's why we're so excited, that's why we do these type of large scale events.

Not every community does 'cause they're challenging and take up all a lot of your resources.

But this is the why, this is the why we do this, to have this type of impact that hopefully 10 years, 12 years, whatever y'all have the type of stories that Dan does and Jess will have the saying those type of things.

- Absolutely, and Chris, for you, where do you want to see collegiate women's basketball grow or how do you wanna see collegiate women's basketball grow and what can we do in Cleveland to continue to grow its presence?

- Just continue to support it and continue to watch it evolve.

Cleveland State Women's basketball is gonna play University of Iowa, who's got a pretty good player there, (audience laughing) if you've heard of her.

But in Cleveland, during that game, I think we like to think that the player will be Destiny Leo on the court that day.

But tickets for that game went on sale this morning and I sent her a screenshot.

I sent Destiny a screenshot last night.

Tickets for that game are ranging from $85 to 8,500.

- [Kelsey] Wow.

- You can buy a Cleveland State versus Iowa women's basketball ticket online for $8,532.

- Now as to whether they actually get it sold or not, (audience laughing) but the fact that somebody and there's not one of them, there's like lots of tickets on there for $8,000.

That's where the game has come.

So for people to think that the game is inferior to something else, it's not the '50s wake up.

- Yeah, yes there were two tournaments going on this past year and the higher price tickets were for the one we're hosting.

- Yes.

- A Cleveland State women's basketball game in Iowa.

Tickets, several thousand dollars.

Like maybe we're the draw.

(audience laughing) - Exactly.

- Let's go.

- Well I think it's a really important part of this conversation as we see women's basketball and really just women's athletics as a whole grow, we have to talk about it for what it is and we have to promote it.

We have to allow these women the platform to do what they do from not only on the court, but off the court as well.

And I think this is a way for us to do so and these kind of events bring that perspective, that platform to do that and I think I'm really excited to see the Final Four here.

Next year I think it'll be a really great event.

It'll open a lot of people's eyes to women's basketball, not only in Cleveland but on a national scale like we saw last year.

And I think it's going to be, I'm really excited for the event.

But thank you all for your insights and this conversation and I really just enjoyed the opportunity to talk with you all and talk about the growth of women's basketball.

- Thank you.

(audience applauding) - Well, at this time we about to beginning audience Q&A.

I am retired Colonel Harold V. Anderson of the United States Army, member of the City Club Board of Directors.

For our livestream audience, we are joined by Jessica Davis, Cleveland Cavaliers, Monica Augustine, the Cleveland Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, Chris Kielsmeier of Cleveland State Basketball Program and retired WNBA Coach Dan Hughes.

Moderating the conversation is Kelsey Russo, staff writer for The Athletic.

We welcome questions from everyone, City Club members, guests, students, and those joined via our livestream at cityclub.org.

If you would like to tweet us and questions for our guests, please tweet @cityclub.

You can also text your question to 330-541-5794, and City Club staff will try to work it into the program.

May we have our first question please?

- Hi, I have a text question.

What are the pros and cons to holding the Women's Final Four in a different location than the men's Final four.

- Oh wow, okay.

I love hearing your everybody's feedback too, but I think that it's two different championships and I think to have one in the same would potentially overshadow all the good that's being done with the men's tournament, honestly and the women's tournament.

Having the city branded for NCAA women's basketball and highlighting the four teams that make it and the teams that have made it throughout the tournament, it's just an opportunity unlike any other, and to crowd the market in any way would be a disservice to both championships.

- Well done.

(all laughing) (indistinct chattering) - I'm on like the behalf of Trinity.

So as a young FEMA athlete, how do I get involved with like women's basketball, especially in Cleveland, like outside of watching basketball or going to skills camps.

And like what advice do you have for us athletes who would learn like the business of the game, like opportunities that lead with it?

- That's a loaded question.

(all laughing) It's a good question.

That is is a great question.

You attend Trinity High School?

- Well, I'm on behalf but I'm attending next year.

- [Jessica] Next year.

- [Woman] So incoming freshman.

- [Woman] 2020 class.

- [Jessica] Okay.

(indistinct) (audience laughing) - Oh, so outside of, say that one more time, sorry.

- Like outside of just going to skills camps and like watching and going to games, like how do I build relationships with other people?

- So it goes back to the open gyms going to your local rec center, your local YMCA and because you love the game, you're gonna go on your own.

And once you go there, you're inclined to meet people.

That's the thing about basketball.

You're building relationships whether you realize it or not, but continuing to do that out of your own passion.

And then, what was the second part of your question?

My bad.

- How do I like learn like the inside of basketball?

Like how do I learn like just meeting people and like climbing up through like the ranks and like maybe like becoming like a basketball coach like you guys, how do you do that?

- Well, you have a lot of resources right now and I would love for you, my two head coaches to chime in, go ahead.

- I'll jump in real quick.

Getting started in a sport, getting started in basketball, for example.

Working at it on a daily basis, those type of things.

But what I would encourage you to do is keep your eyes open as you do it.

Because what starts to happen is you learn things on this journey.

And you use the sport of basketball to make your life better.

And you can see, well you know what?

I was seven years old when I kind of figured out I wanted to be a coach and I thought, well I'll try to be as good a player as I can, but what I want to be.

But keep your eyes open because sports are best when they make your life better.

And you might say, well you know what?

I think I might be a good trainer.

I think I might be a good coach.

I think I might be a good business person and part of it.

So as you immerse yourself in this sport, it can lead avenues that makes your life better.

- Ask questions.

- [Girl] Okay.

- Ask for help.

Come spend some time at Cleveland State women's basketball this summer.

(audience laughing) Our players report back June 15th.

A lot of people don't realize that division one basketball will start June 15th for preparation of their first game in November.

It's basically a 365 year sport and spend some time with Destiny.

Destiny gives of her time in this community like no other.

And sometimes I hesitate how much I ask of her 'cause she never tells me no.

So I have to be careful how many times I ask because I know what the answer's gonna be.

And she came back from vacation late last night and she's here today because she knows how important this is for her face to be out there.

(audience applauding) Find really good people at what they do and spend some time around them.

- And if I can add one thing to that too, to build off of that to be curious in the asking questions.

But if you're curious about an element of it, ask somebody who is in that profession.

A lot of us are very open to talking about how we got to where we are and the journey of how we did so.

And being where you are and going into high school you have such a space ahead of you to really be curious and pursue those questions and look at different avenues of how you wanna get involved and follow those interests.

So I think like you have a very good platform ahead of you.

- [Girl] Thank you.

(audience applauding) - Oh, good afternoon.

I'm so glad we're having this program.

I taught 40 years in Cleveland and I never had a female student tell me she wanted to play basketball.

And so when you talk about getting more girls involved, wanna ask one question, but it has an A and a B, do you visit high schools to get the young ladies involved?

And a while back I had asked a rep from the Cavs about actually going to the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center and I didn't really hear back, so I'm asking again, is there a possibility of getting some community volunteers to stop by the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center?

Because that's a group of students who are forgotten and people consider them, oh you know they're bad so they don't need to be able to do anything, which is not true at all.

So two parts, high schools and also spending some time with the young people at the Juvenile Detention Center.

- So to your first question, we actually just did a working Women in sports in March.

On every Thursday we worked with CMSD athletic department to put on this workshop for young women to be exposed to careers outside of the court.

And so we use over, I heard the number 25 team members, I didn't realize it in a moment, but 25 women from our organization to come in on each Thursday is about five speakers per session and talk to these young women about life outside of the court.

So there is work being done in CMSD, it's a lot of work being done in CMSD to really grow the game and help these young people learn about life outside of basketball 'cause what I hear a lot of these kids saying is, oh, you could be a coach, you could be a ref, you could be a police officer.

But they don't realize all the other jobs that exist in sports.

And to your second part of the question, I actually saw a tweet saying, you can learn from a friend in prison.

You can learn from a friend in the classroom, you can learn from all different areas.

So that's definitely an area that we can explore.

I have friends who've been to prison, family members, so I'm not against it.

Neither is anyone from my organization.

And so we can definitely explore that avenue and I love to connect with you after.

- [Woman] Thank you.

- Yep.

(audience applauding) - Okay, hello.

I have a question, this kind of can go across the board.

Oh, my name's Alexandra by the way.

Cleveland native, former collegiate basketball player.

Sorry about that.

With NLI, name, image and likeness.

Do you think this has impacted women's sports from a youth perspective all the way to the professional perspective?

- You have a question?

(audience laughing) - No question.

I mean, not to continue to talk about Destiny, but go buy a Destiny Leo t-shirt.

Like, I mean, it's a new world that we're living in that all of us are trying to grasp exactly the magnitude of it.

And some people are living in that it's gonna go away or that the money's that pay for play and some of these schools is what's happening and it's not going anywhere.

It's not.

So we have to embrace it.

We have to make sure that for our program specifically we're about education.

Destiny has been able to build her personal brand into something that I think two years ago she probably would've never even thought about.

And now she's learning how to market and brand herself, which is only gonna help herself grow as a person.

So I think our program is finding the niche of what it was supposed to be like.

Not let's just give somebody $100,000 because I'm gonna yank them from school X to school Z.

So it's not going anywhere and we need to embrace it.

And I think that young people as they grow and learn, it's just another part of the game and the platform that they're gonna have to learn about and how can we help and support that.

And our staff spends a great time.

We have two staff members right here, one that's in charge of NIL, Hannah and Shelby, can you stand up please quickly.

(audience applauding) Young staff members that know so much more about any of that stuff than I ever will like when it comes to tweeting and all that other stuff.

Like I do it 'cause I have to, but they do it 'cause they want to and they know what they're doing with it.

And that's really what the NIL world is.

- I think from the outside looking in with this NIL, it's something that young girls can, they should embrace because the better you are, the better character you have, the more deals come.

And so if you're a young girl now you're striving to be that player.

So when you get to college, you can get those deals.

'Cause I think that's where the money is coming from.

The better player you are, right?

They wanna put money behind you.

So it's something that it can be a positive from a player perspective in my opinion, have not been in college right now.

May be a headache for some coaches, but I don't know.

- Well it's really not because I mean, again, for some coaches.

- Yeah for some.

- But again for Destiny specifically, she has started her own clothing company.

Like she has her own t-shirts and sweatshirts and she has her own trading cards.

You want a Destiny Leo basketball card?

She has an NIL deal with a local trading cards company.

So I mean, who would've ever thought that those opportunities would be out there for any collegiate athlete, whether it male or female, whoever, just a few years ago.

And those are the stories that are the success ones, those are the ones that it's being done right.

Again, in my opinion, not the ones that are just getting cut checks and are they really doing anything?

Destiny doesn't get trading cards just because she's gotta show up and do some things with it, And she would've done it whether she was getting money or the cards anyway.

But now it's even more incentive for her that.

- Absolutely.

- [Tom] My turn.

- Yeah.

- Hi, my name's Tom Rose.

I live in Parma and I own, I'd like to say the fastest growing traction provider in basketball on their autonomous planet earth.

We travel all over this country promoting our product.

One of the things I've wondered since day one in July we're going to the world's largest girls basketball tournament in Louisville, Kentucky.

Run 4 the Roses.

Can you hear me?

People tell me I bellow away anyways.

Every time I go to Run 4 the Roses in Louisville, I come back, they say this year there's gonna be 2000 plus girls teams from all over the world.

Why can't we do that here in Northeastern Ohio?

In Cleveland?

I'm not naive enough to know there are power struggles between the different promoters, correct?

Why can't we bring them all together?

'Cause we have some very large youth promoters here in Northeastern Ohio.

And why can't we do it here?

Somebody's gotta be the biggest, somebody's gotta be the best.

- [Monica] No, I think that's a great question.

- Why couldn't we be the best?

Thanks I'll seat down.

- Oh good, that's a great question and it is a very impressive tournament that they run annually in a very impressive building.

We've just hosted the Drew Joyce classic.

Coach Drew out of Akron.

We were just talking before this.

I was at the, out at the IX center, we could fit 28 courts in there.

Our convention center, tremendous partners of this county, this region is only so big.

But I would love to continue to talk with you about who those promoters are that we can work with to multiple facilities or everything like that.

- [Tom] I Think we could bring them to the table.

- That's what we're here for.

- [Tom] Cool, thank you.

- Hi, so you all referenced the growth of women's sports and it's super exciting and you also referenced the growth in audience, both in person and online and unfortunately the money hasn't always followed that.

So I'm interested in Monica to hear what your experience has been so far with the Final Four coming in terms of sponsorship and support from the actual big money people.

- So we have been fortunate enough as the host committee to attend previous Final Fours in Tampa, Minneapolis and this past year in Dallas and even Columbus before that.

And they did a fantastic job, I believe in 2017 or 2018.

And the change in just ability to spend for this championship from when we first started attending, when we first bid on it, is incredible.

The work that Brit partners and champions with the NCAA are doing to get their brands involved.

You'll be able to see in turn town next April all 17 and growing brands that have chosen to spend their dollars with NCAA women's basketball.

And we cannot wait to welcome them to do citywide activations so that you maybe you'll be able to hop in a Buick car and take a free ride from the convention center to the arena.

Those type of activations where you're hands on with the corporate partners of the NCAA.

And from a local fundraising perspective, this is a great story to tell and David Gilbert from the Sports Commission is a master in helping us spread that word and working with the NCAA on entailing what this opportunity is about.

So I'm really excited for those that have seen a previous Final Four to then see how we're gonna do here in Cleveland.

But also if you haven't been before, it's only gonna get better the next time you see it as well.

Especially with the TV rights deal that the NCAA is hopefully closing on this year.

We're just gonna see continued commitment to women's basketball at the NCAA level.

- Thank you.

- Awesome, I have another text question.

In 2021, the women's NCAA basketball team made national news when a player called out the stark difference in the weight rooms between the men's room, they had only a few sets of dumbbells versus a full gym for men.

Was this a turning point for the equal treatment of women's teams or more of the same?

- That's a great question.

- I think it created the entire gender equity review.

We saw the law firm of Kaplan and I forget the and, and, and, but we've all been in the fallout of the stories.

We saw the Instagram post of the weight room and that discrepancy and to the NCAA's credit, the women's basketball staff was like, yes, this is true, how can we make this better?

Give us this platform to then go and get more resources because the picture didn't lie.

And now they're taking just huge strides at the championship level to make that right and the commitment from the women's basketball staff, the new president of the NCAA and everybody in between.

I just can't wait for everybody to see what it's going to be like next year.

- Well and I'll tell you another watershed moment was just the term March Madness.

March Madness now being branded on a women's tournament, That was a good day.

That was a good day, and I think you're seeing the outgrowth of that in 2023 and you're gonna see it in 2024 as well.

- I think it really started the conversation and most importantly the conversation is continuing to be hard, 'cause we all know that sometimes when conversations start they can get shut down or stopped pretty quickly and that one hasn't.

And it will continue to be something that people will talk about.

- Hi, I'm Isis Freeman, a ninth grader at Trinity High School and I was wondering how students who are in school can now take advantage of the benefits or opportunities that are presented as a result of the event like this.

Like how can we come to more events like this?

- This is a great first step and we appreciate you being here and taking that.

The question before was how do we get involved?

You're doing the right things right now.

So we have information out front on leading up to the Final Four.

We'll have more of these type of discussions we'll have on-court opportunities to interact with Jess, her team, our team.

Hopefully we'll get Chris's team out there as well I hear they're pretty active, but along with that there's gonna be in April of next year, so many different opportunities, not only for on court, but beyond the baseline speaker series.

Well, you'll get to interact with community leaders and learn from them.

There's a attorney journey program.

If you're interested in photojournalism and journalism.

I mean there's programs for all of that.

So we've got more info out front for you to take with you and we can't wait to see at the next one.

- Thank you.

- Keep showing up, being involved.

I'd be, remember if I didn't say how powerful were those essays?

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- Wow.

Are they still here?

Incredible job, I was significantly impacted by those words.

- Hi, Nicolette Kregan.

I think kind of running off of the weight room and identifying that there's been a lot of buzz around women's sports in a positive way.

It's growing, the Final Four last year was talked about, I saw on all social media platforms, but there's still several gaps.

What is a gap that Cleveland is identifying in hopes to shorten or strengthen the weakness there by hosting the Women's Final four here in Cleveland?

- It's really a partnership between everybody up here and around this room to this is the platform that we have.

How are we gonna maximize it together?

Where do you need more support that we could pop in?

Coach with your team, where can we help elevate or anything like that with our partners at Rock and Mortgage and the Mac as well.

So we're gonna work as a community to identify what those are.

The tournament has sold out the past 10 years.

Last year it sold out in like a month or so.

So what are the other opportunities where we can make sure that we are getting maximum attendance through turning town, which is a free opportunity, maximum attendance to the bounce, which is a free opportunity so that folks can have moments like that we're asked about on how do we network, how do we understand the different parts of basketball and sports and how we can get interested.

It's a community wide effort and we're starting to dig in.

- Everybody that knows my history or knows me, knows I love Cleveland, I mean that is branded, but we have a chance to go tell the story about Cleveland and use this Final Four event to really illuminate this city.

I just think it's a great opportunity and life's about opportunities and this is one that we can go home and talk to our families, we can talk to our friends and we can start right now so that when we get to Cleveland and the event it goes on here, everybody sees what I already know and what we all know is what a great place Cleveland, Ohio is.

- I've been to 23 straight Final Four's and the one in '07 at Cleveland was one of the most impactful to me because of the downtown life.

It's encompassed.

When we went to Dallas this last year, it's so spread and people that come get spread and to me Cleveland is just like a tight-knit family.

Like the downtown area is just something that's so special and Dan said it, we're gonna have an opportunity for some new people that come to Cleveland for the first time ever to impact them that, who knows, maybe they'll end up living here someday.

- Good afternoon, my name is Amber.

I have I guess a two part question.

Last year at the tournament they also had the D2 and the D3 girls games there, which I thought was really cool.

Wanted to know if we were doing that here in Cleveland and then also from like a high school perspective, do we have any thoughts in getting the high school teams involved?

I remember when I was here, I think I graduated in '01 from high school.

we got to walk out on the Rockers court after we won our conference championships.

So in the summertime they had all of us girls parade out and introduced that we won our conference championships.

- What an amazing moment, right?

Something that you're talking about still today and can't wait to create more of those types of moments next April.

As far as the D2, D3, I'm a former D3 basketball player.

It was one of the most amazing parts of the weekend that I could have thought of.

It wasn't just friends and family, it was people that were there just, what's going on?

Oh, there's a championship.

Division two Ashlynn took home another title right on Saturday in Dallas between semi-finals and finals.

Unfortunately not next year, but it is in the process of being talked about, about your future hosts.

How do we incorporate all three championships into one weekend because the impact that it had on the D3 D2 players and their family members, incredible.

- Text question.

The solar eclipse is happening at the same time as the NCAA Women's Final Four.

Is Cleveland ready for this influx of visitors since this is the day after the championship game?

- Yes.

Anybody heard of the eclipse yet?

That's in Monday, April 8th, Cleveland, Northeast Ohio it's a the longest full coverage of the spot.

I'm saying this incorrectly, but it's a big deal.

Dan's nodding, he knows a little bit more about it.

But our partners at Destination Cleveland, this is cleveland.com.

A ton of information on where's the best place to be?

Is it a rooftop, is it Avon, is it downtown Cleveland?

There will be plenty of resources throughout the weekend because to your point, are there gonna be enough hotel rooms, what are we?

Absolutely.

We are working closely with our partners at Destination Cleveland to make those opportunities available and known to everybody.

And for anybody that's having someone travel out of town next April, fifth through seventh for the championship, please do mention that the eclipse is just that Monday because it's gonna be a one for our lifetime.

We'll put it that way.

(audience applauding) - Thank you, Kelsey, Jessica, Monica, Dan, Chris for joining us at the City Club today.

The City Club would like to welcome guests at the tables hosted by Cleveland Cavaliers MC2, Stem High School, Trinity High School, outta Garfield and Velocity.

We are glad you joined us.

Today's form is part of the Diversity Thought Leadership series presented in partnership with KeyBank.

Today's forum is also presented in collaboration with the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission and Velocity.

The City Club is grateful for their continued support.

On Friday, June the second, the City Club will welcome author Anita Hannig, who will discuss her latest book "The Day I Die: The Untold Story of Assisting Dying in America."

Then on Tuesday, June 6th, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Wesley Lowery will be back at the City Club this time to discuss his new book, "American Whitelash: A Changing Nation and the Cost of Progress."

You can learn more about these in other forums at cityclub.org.

And that brings us to the end of today's form.

Thank you once again to our speakers and thank you members and friends of the City Club.

I am Harold Anderson and this forum is now adjourned.

(audience applauding) (bell rings) - Woo, thank God.

- [Narrator] For information on upcoming speakers or for podcasts of the City Club, go to cityclub.org.

(whooshing) - [Announcer] Production and distribution of City Club forums on Ideastream Public Media are made possible by PNC and the United Black Fund of Greater Cleveland Incorporated.