POPSUGAR UK

The Boston Red Sox Just Hired Bianca Smith, the First Black Woman to Coach in Pro Baseball

05/01/2021 - 05:05 PM

Bianca Smith, First Black Woman Coach in MLB

Image Source: Courtesy of Carroll University

The Boston Red Sox hired 29-year-old Bianca Smith as a minor-league coach, making her the first Black woman to hold a coaching position in a professional baseball organisation. She will reportedly start in February [1] in Fort Myers, FL, and have a focus on position players.

Smith played softball at Dartmouth College. Her current position is as an assistant baseball coach and hitting coordinator at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI, where she will stay for a little less than two months until her role with the Red Sox kicks off. She was the director of baseball operations at Case Western Reserve University from the summer of 2013 through the spring of 2017, and she previously held a short stint as an assistant coach at the University of Dallas in 2018.

"The opportunity is amazing [3]," Smith said in an interview with MLB Network. "I'm still wrapping my head around it. I probably won't really have it sink in until I'm actually there. I think it's a great opportunity also to kind of inspire other women who are interested in this game."

Smith continued, "This is not really something I thought about when I was younger. I kind of fell into it being an athlete, so I'm excited to get that chance to show what I can do." Watch her full comments ahead, where she discussed how she's preparing for her new role. Congrats are definitely in order!


"I think it's a great opportunity to inspire other women that are interested in this game."

New #RedSox [4] minor league coach, Bianca Smith, joined @MLBNetwork [5] to talk about her role. pic.twitter.com/vxHf6GpAHA [6]

— Red Sox (@RedSox) January 5, 2021 [7]


Source URL
https://www.popsugar.co.uk/fitness/bianca-smith-first-black-woman-to-coach-pro-baseball-48091075