Tina Sloan Green created history in lacrosse — and she’s now working to secure the sport’s future

Tina Sloan Green’s athletic talent caught the attention of others early in her life. In eighth grade, a teacher at Alice Cary Public School advised Sloan Green to attend Philadelphia High School for Girls because it offered organized sports.

“I never had any Black teachers in my career, but I did have teachers who cared,” Sloan Green said. “That was very significant, they recognized my ability and invited me to come out to play. I have a lot to be thankful for those that cared and didn’t look at the color of my skin.”

Sloan Green took her teacher’s advice and gained access to sports, but it was confidence that helped her make history in the lacrosse world. She went on to become the first African American named to the U.S. national women’s lacrosse team and the first Black women hired as head coach of a collegiate lacrosse program.

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After recovering from a brain tumor surgery last year, Sloan Green, ‌now 77 years old, is coming out of retirement to create avenues for inner-city kids to receive opportunities in non-traditional sports.

Sloan Green will coach alongside Jazmine Smith, founder and head coach of Eyekonz Sports League, to help prepare middle and high school students for the 2022 World Lacrosse Women’s World Championship Festival in Towson, Md., this summer. Smith founded the league in 2013 as a way to teach the fundamentals of lacrosse and field hockey to boys and girls living in the Philadelphia area.

Smith, a former Kutztown women’s basketball and club field hockey player, lived in North Philadelphia until she was four years old. She then moved to Radnor with her grandmother because her mom was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and started to lose her sight.

“Being raised in a very affluent area like Radnor, it was like 90210 growing up,” Smith said. “I was always the only one. We grew up as very much tokens and we didn’t want to be the token, so I had to learn how to dominate and play the game.”

Smith competed in field hockey and lacrosse at Radnor High school. When she visited her alma mater for a Lacrosse State Championship game two years after graduating, Smith noticed there was no representation of color on the field. This sparked the creation of Eyekonz.

There are still limited lacrosse and field hockey programs in the city, especially at the high school level, which is mostly due to lack of resources and funding. Smith brought Sloan Green in and hoped her pioneer presence could communicate to a new generation of kids what it was like for a woman of color to break a glass ceiling.

“I’m very big on legacy, that’s where the staple of my foundation comes from and I wanted my girls to be coached by a legend,” Smith said. “There’s a saying within the African American community, ‘You sit at the elders’ feet.’ That’s how to draw knowledge and information.”

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Growing up in Eastwick in the 1960s, Sloan Green had her first exposure to field hockey in high school, which progressed from a hobby to a vehicle that open doors and opportunities. But those doors didn’t open without a fight.

At the time of the civil rights movement, Sloan Green dealt with racial discrimination. She learned from a young age to have a tough mentality, one she credited to her two older brothers for instilling after they went into the service.

Sloan Green continued her field hockey career at West Chester, where she was the only African-American player on the team. She was introduced to lacrosse thereand picked up the sport immediately. In 1966, Sloan Green graduated from West Chester and wanted to become a coach, but she realized her opportunities weren’t the same as her teammates.

“I think people felt uncomfortable by me to an extent,” Sloan Green said. “The color of people’s skin makes people feel uncomfortable. They don’t know how to take you, but I was tough. I wanted the same thing they had. They weren’t going to keep me out.”

In 1969, Sloan Green joined the U.S. women’s national lacrosse team. During her four-year career, Sloan Green faced several hurdles and was not allowed in some countries because of segregation.

“I was playing my best field hockey,” Sloan Green said. “I couldn’t go because they were playing in South Africa and [my coaches] didn’t want to tell me that. During that particular era, we weren’t allowed to go to South Africa and Australia. There was segregation — my career was dependent on that.”

Following her stint on the national team, Sloan Green served as head coach at Temple. While at the helm from 1975 through 1992, her program became known as the “Broad Street Bullies.” She put the Owls on the map by winning three national championships and making 11 consecutive Final Four appearances. As a result, Sloan Green was inducted into the U.S. National Lacrosse (1997) and the International Women’s Sports (1999) Hall of Fame.

With her coaching success, Sloan Green gained additional support from the university. She then created an inner-city program through Temple to get younger kids introduced to the sport, but she still felt more could be done. In 1992, Sloan Green established the women in sports foundation intending to build black women’s involvement in sports.

“They didn’t expect me to win like that, but when I got there, I saw a vision that we could be national champions,” Sloan Green said. “But we had to expose kids and parents to various sports.”

After an impactful career building field hockey and lacrosse programs at schools like Lincoln University, an HBCU, and Unionville High School, Sloan Green decided it was time to put the sticks down.

“We grew up in certain environments of affluency, condition and power,” Smith said. “But we came back and we said, ‘This isn’t good enough.’ And then we changed that narrative for the whole versus the 1% who made it.”

Sloan Green pushed barriers during a time when women of color didn’t have a voice. She hopes her involvement in Smith’s league will inspire the next generation to do their best, speak up and educate others on the importance of racial diversity in field hockey and lacrosse.

“I would hate to leave here and not see progress,” Sloan Green said. “You can’t sit back and be scared. You got to step up and step out. I want to step up and step out.”