MLS Advance pipeline program brings underrepresented coaches to the forefront. Here's how
The MLS Diversity Hiring Policy was revamped in December 2021 to emphasize accountability and inclusion in the hiring of Black coaching and front-office candidates in the league. The new "MLS Advance" program, born a year later, is the talent pool providing teams with those ready-now candidates who've been overlooked.
As told to The Tennessean, MLS Advance is a year-round, invitation-only pipeline program constructed to expand the talent pool of underrepresented coaches and technical staff, and to develop and progress them through the MLS ecosystem, including MLS, development tier MLS Next Pro and its academy arm, MLS Next. The program is a descendant of the Diversity Committee's upward mobility initiative announced in Oct. 2020.
MLS assembled a pilot cohort at the annual chief soccer officer (CSO) meetings in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Sixteen were invited and 12 were able to attend — 10 of which were Black and two of whom were Hispanic or Latino. Two women were invited but were unable to attend. Eighty percent of the cohort are former MLS players.
Within 45 days of the program's launch, five were offered jobs, including two new MLS assistant coaches — CF Montréal's Hervé Diese and Charlotte FC's Pa-Madou Kah.
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"We needed to dispel the myth that there's just not enough qualified coaches — diverse coaches — out there," said Sola Winley, the MLS executive vice president and chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer.
For Kah, who coached North Texas SC in MLS Next Pro last season, there is a narrative MLS Advance changes through mock interviews with club decision-makers.
"I think that was a beneficial (component) because you often do not get the chance to hear how the thought processes from the CSOs or the GMs because they are the ones that making decisions," he said. "And when they face you and see you and you get to talk to them, you can then give them a different narrative than maybe what they've heard about you."
Faces behind MLS Advance
The Diversity Committee was an orchestrator of this program. Black Players for Change, the Soccer Collective on Racial Equity (SCORE) and MLS leadership and owners make up the group.
Also on the committee is Winley, who is one of six advisors for MLS Advance. With him is Ali Curtis, MLS Next Pro senior vice president of competition and operations; former Chicago Fire FC president Nelson Rodriguez; MLS vice president Tunde Oguntimein; Dr. Jamil Northcutt, MLS senior vice president for player and league advancement; and Jovina Johnson, vice president of human resources at MLS Next Pro.
MLS Advance has three components: a global diverse candidate database that feeds the Diversity Policy Portal (DPP), housing club vacant positions and candidate information. The second is networking, which is exemplified in the program's genesis at December's CSO meetings. The final component is professional development, featuring mock interviews with CSOs, resume workshops, as well as coaching and mentorship programs.
Diversity in MLS by the numbers, definition
MLS classes "underrepresented" candidates identifying as Black, Hispanic or Latino, Native American, Asian, Pacific Islander, Canadian Indigenous or First Nations, women and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Entering the 2023 MLS season, there are only three Black coaches in the 29-team league: Chicago's Ezra Hendrickson, Colorado Rapids' Robin Fraser and Columbus Crew's Wilfried Nancy. That's 10% of the league's coaches. In 2022, Black players represented 24.9% of MLS rosters.
MLS Advance plans for 2023
Oguntimein said the pilot cohort will engage in shadowing MLS head coaches during the season and continue mock interviews with current and former front office staff. The group expects to convene for workshops at MLS All-Star Week in Washington, D.C. in August, in addition to next December's CSO meeting.
For stories about Nashville SC or Soccer in Tennessee, contact Drake Hills at DHills@gannett.com. Follow Drake on Twitter at @LiveLifeDrake. Connect with Drake on Instagram at @drakehillssoccer and on Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Major League Soccer reveals MLS Advance program for minority coaches
