00:01Being an African-American and playing these non-traditional sports is unheard of.
00:12All the pressure's on my shoulders now.
00:14You have to be getting a little nervous.
00:16It's just like a lot.
00:20Everything is not where it should be.
00:25What stands between this girl and her dreams?
00:28What does it take to make sports and the opportunities that come with them accessible to all girls, regardless of
00:36skin tone or income?
00:38I'm Jackie Huntington, and this is See, Hear, Now.
00:49Point. Nice. Nice. Good job. Go.
00:54When you get right here, look.
00:57Bring the ball. Get the other one to Sophia.
01:00Sophia, look up.
01:01When you get here in front of the goal, come here.
01:04I'm not going to bite you. Turn.
01:06When you get here, you can't be gentle with it.
01:09Look. You see where my arm is?
01:11It's one, two, three.
01:13Out.
01:14So you can't get right here and be scared.
01:16Even though you play defense, you never know what's going to happen.
01:20Go back. Try it again.
01:21Get power. Power. Power.
01:23Jasmine Smith, or Coach Jazz as she's known, grew up playing lacrosse in the mainline suburbs of Philadelphia.
01:30After years of living in Los Angeles and working in public relations, she returned and founded this lacrosse and field
01:37hockey league with the express purpose to teach young girls of color these nontraditional sports.
01:42It's called Icons.
01:46But Icons is about more than just the sports.
01:48Good job.
01:49Because for many of the girls that Jasmine coaches in this club league and in local schools, sports are a
01:55way out, a pathway to college.
01:58Switch.
01:59They allow these sticks to take you where you've never been before.
02:03However, I can't teach you the sport if you don't have a sense of self.
02:10Single-file line. Let's go.
02:14So when you come to the mirror, remember, this is your best friend.
02:18If you can't look at her, the world's not going to be able to look at you.
02:22My name is Sophia. I am educated.
02:27My name is Nadia and I am positive.
02:30I'm smart. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Can I start over?
02:36Yeah, of course.
02:37I focus a lot and, um, yeah, I'm going to sixth grade and, um.
02:43My name is Samaya and I am confident.
02:46I am Slim. Oh, I messed up.
02:50My name is Kirsten. I am smart. Is that it? Yeah. Okay.
02:55My name is Slim and I am enough always and forever.
03:02Slim started playing lacrosse in her junior year of high school.
03:06And she took to it so naturally that she was scouted for a spot on the University of Hartford's Division
03:11I lacrosse team.
03:13A life-changing opportunity for a girl who grew up taking care of her mother and struggling to get enough
03:18to eat.
03:19A girl who went to Strawberry Mansion High School in North Philly, a campus once billed as the most dangerous
03:25in America.
03:28I thought I could get into college but not no major college.
03:33Lacrosse is an old game with Native American roots that go back centuries.
03:38The Iroquois tribe popularized it and it was appropriated by Canadians in the 19th century.
03:44Today, more than 80% of Division I lacrosse players are white.
03:49Just 2% are black.
03:52Slim was set to move into her dorm on August 24th.
03:56She had an internship lined up at ESPN.
03:59A few of the icons moms chipped in and bought her everything she needed for college in Connecticut.
04:04She talked to some of her new teammates on the phone.
04:07She was going to be the only African American on the team, but she was excited for the change.
04:14And then, about a week before, I got a call from Coach Jasmine.
04:21Everything was falling apart.
04:27Slim doesn't know yet.
04:29This woman's job at the school district was very simple.
04:33To make sure that whatever they need gets to whoever it needs to get to in a very timely manner.
04:40According to Jasmine, the guidance counselor at Strawberry Mansion had not sent Slim's transcript with proof of graduation to the
04:48NCAA, the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
04:52She told Slim she didn't believe she had a scholarship.
04:54Time ran out and Slim's scholarship, estimated to be worth $250,000, disappeared.
05:00You just have to stand back and figure out, are you trying to undermine these girls' ability to play lacrosse?
05:06Sorry, I'm frazzled.
05:08Less than three weeks later, Slim became the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against the school district of
05:14Philadelphia,
05:15alleging racial and gender discrimination that violated her right to equal protection under Title VI and Title IX.
05:27Five minutes.
05:37You might have to be getting a little nervous.
05:42Hello, my name is Nadira McCray.
05:44Everybody calls me Slim.
05:46There were so many challenges I had to go through to get my scholarship for Hartford,
05:50but I managed to overcome all of the things thinking I've completed what was needed to be done.
05:55I thought going to a whole different state and meeting new people and learning new things to become a better
06:02person would be my ultimate goal I could achieve in my life,
06:05to make myself and my family proud for making something of myself.
06:09I wanted to be a sports announcer, a sports broadcaster in the ESPN industry.
06:14It's always been a dream of mine to continue in doing something with my life that has to do with
06:19sports.
06:20I grew up being naturally athletic in any sport I tried for the first time.
06:24I would play like it was something I played my entire life.
06:28I've dealt with so many hard challenges in my life such as trying to help my mother who has lupus,
06:33dealing with being disrespected for being gay and in a biracial relationship,
06:38also being discriminated for playing lacrosse.
06:40All these things I deal with already takes an emotional toll on me that I've become depressed at times and
06:45think I'm not meant to succeed or even be happy.
06:48I was setting myself up for the greater good, but the school district neglected to do the simplest thing as
06:53turning in paperwork
06:54for Harper.
06:54Thank you everybody. Thanks for coming.
06:57Slim needed to be in school if she was going to have any chance of playing collegiate lacrosse.
07:02Jasmine pulled some strings and got her into Cheney University, about an hour outside of Philly.
07:08Slim was starting the semester three weeks late and the school didn't even have a lacrosse team.
07:14The plan was to hang tight, get good grades, and transfer out.
07:20Okay, all the pressure's on my shoulders now.
07:22So now I have to set an example for the kids and the people in our society and community and
07:27in the world.
07:28And it was just like a big thing to carry on because, like, you know, you telling me that, like,
07:33people are looking at you
07:34and people are admiring you, you're their inspiration, it's just, like, a lot.
07:39You guys want to come over and look at the game?
07:42And maybe possibly play a little bit?
07:47All right?
07:48All right.
07:50Huh?
07:52Come on.
07:53This ain't gonna bite you.
07:55It might get you a free education.
08:02Summer passed.
08:03The school district filed to dismiss Slim's lawsuit.
08:06Foremost because they said it was a negligence claim masquerading as a constitutional claim.
08:12Furthermore, she'd graduated, they said.
08:14She didn't have any legal standing to sue.
08:17The district didn't deny that the guidance counselor failed to send Slim's paperwork,
08:22but they insisted that they did nothing to discriminate against her.
08:28Okay.
08:28Their motion asked that it be thrown out.
08:31Mm-hmm.
08:32We're responding, obviously saying no.
08:3630 to 90 days is how long it usually takes the court to answer that question.
08:40Okay.
08:40Do you stay or do you go?
08:41Once the court decides that the case is valid, which we think the court will decide that,
08:48then we go into discovery.
08:50And then once that's done, it moves into what's called the expert phase.
08:55And then it gets scheduled for a trial.
08:59And that's basically it.
09:00The federal system is very quick.
09:02It's usually everything is done within two years.
09:04State court things drag on a little bit longer.
09:07But that's kind of the process that's going to play out.
09:11Okay.
09:11I'm at the very beginning of the process.
09:13Meanwhile, Jasmine was just trying to keep things rolling for the other girls.
09:18Advocating for icons.
09:22And...
09:26Yes.
09:26Is Belinda in?
09:30Okay.
09:31Could you have her call Jasmine Smith?
09:37You...
09:40Okay.
09:55Good.
09:56Good.
09:56Good.
09:57Good.
09:57Good.
09:57Good.
09:57Good.
09:57Good.
09:58Good.
09:58Good.
09:58Good.
09:59Good night.
10:00Good night.
10:02So today was just one of those days where everything kind of fell through.
10:09And I know that those that, you know, had the meetings have a good heart, but it's essentially
10:14key to make sure that those in the district support these girls.
10:22In January, Jasmine got wind that U.S. Lacrosse, the sport's national governing body, would
10:28be holding a meeting about diversity and inclusion at their annual convention.
10:32So we hustled down to Baltimore for LaxCon.
10:38Jasmine went to the meeting.
10:40And she later found out that many of the other black coaches and players weren't even
10:44invited.
10:46Why espouse diversity and inclusion, she thought, when you're just going to pick and choose
10:51who sits at the table.
10:55Ever since the lawsuit was filed, I just wanted to talk to Slim.
10:59I heard she wasn't liking Cheney University.
11:02She was coming home every weekend to see her girlfriend.
11:06She was depressed.
11:08Jasmine and I planned to go see her on the first day of her second semester.
11:11You know, film her on campus, do a pickup interview.
11:15But that morning, Jazz texted me.
11:19Slim wasn't there.
11:21Her first semester GPA was too low to meet the requirements of her financial aid.
11:26And she'd waited to tell her family this, to tell Coach Jazz this, until just that day.
11:36This was supposed to be a pit stop for her to then go on to play lacrosse in college.
11:44And right now, everything is not where it should be.
11:52It's everything, there's question marks all over.
12:10You want the best for your players in every capacity.
12:14And, you know, she's witnessed some things that would, you know,
12:19allot the average person to just give up on life.
12:23I think Nadir is depressed.
12:26I think she's angry.
12:29I think she's feeling hopeless.
12:35You know, it's like somebody getting an 18-carat ring
12:41and then just all of a sudden, you know, taking the stone out and just leaving the band.
12:48And while the band has some type of symbolism, you know, it has some meaning, it has some value,
12:55nothing comparable to that 18-carat stone, right?
12:59So even though she's at a university, that 18-carat in her eyes is gone.
13:07And I don't think she knows that she can really get it back.
13:18All right, so you're both on the line?
13:22Hey.
13:22Hey!
13:23How are you?
13:24Tired.
13:25Tired.
13:25You know, I'm good.
13:31Tini is...
13:33Tini is...
13:34Tini is...
13:34Tini is...
13:34Like, to me, it feels like that school doesn't really fit.
13:37Everything is, like...
13:39Not dull, but...
13:42It's just very...
13:45Hollow.
13:47I don't know how to describe it, but...
13:49It's just...
13:51It's like...
13:52It's like living in, like, a quiet neighborhood.
13:55Being up there, like, basically, I felt alone.
13:58Sports is important to me.
14:00It's been a major, significant part of my life.
14:03I want to be able to still, still be a part of the sports world,
14:08because that's where I feel as though I really belong.
14:10All right.
