Making Her Mark: Jasmine Williams’ Plan to Impact the World of Women’s Sports
Mar 31, 2020 | Women's Basketball
It wouldn't be Texas A&M women's basketball season without the bright smile and vibrant personality of Jasmine Williams leading the way over the past four seasons. Her kind and lively character serves as a guiding light for the program, and her impact both on and off the court of Reed Arena has not gone unnoticed.
Throughout her four-year career at Texas A&M, Williams has served as a symbol of leadership in the Bryan-College Station area, earning recognition by the Southeastern Conference 2019 and 2020 as a member of the SEC Community Service Team. Her impact in the community has been powerful, but Williams has her sights set on an even bigger goal: she wants to change the world's perception of women's sports.
"I think the biggest reason that more people aren't involved in women's sports is a lack of participation in the events. It's a lack of getting to know the players just because it's somebody new. In men's athletics, they broadcast these kids when they're in high school, and you get to know their stories and personal background, and you follow them into the league. Zion Williamson is a perfect example. People have known about him since he was in eighth grade and now, he's a rookie in the NBA. I think the disconnect is just a lack of willingness to accept that women are athletic. We no longer live in a day and age where women are supposed to stay home and cook, or whatever the stereotypes were in the past. It's a new age, and I think we're definitely trending in the right direction, but a little boost could never hurt."
And that boost is something that Williams looks to provide. Her love and passion for the game of basketball started when she was young, and she expressed how important her family was in cultivating an interest in all athletics. Williams recalls her father playing a key role in understanding how sports are closely related to life.
"The game of basketball has served as my greatest inspiration. My dad told me when I was young that sports will teach you all about life: all the ups and downs, how to deal with losses, how to deal with wins, how to deal with complicated people that you may be teamed up with, and how to thrive in those types of situations."
Although basketball is Williams' first love, she recognizes the importance of all women's athletics in providing young girls with opportunities to express themselves. She discussed the power that sports have in influencing society's perception of women and their ability to challenge negative stereotypes that have persisted through generations.
"Women's sports have always been a source of inspiration for me. It showed a different dynamic of athletics, and with my athletic gifts, I knew it was something I'd like to get into. Sports have also given me multiple role models to look up to, whether it's personal connections I've made or other people in the past that I've looked up to that aren't active anymore. Women's sports give young girls a way to look at themselves other than the image of a stereotypical woman."
Providing girls with opportunities to express themselves is one of the critical elements that make women's sports so powerful, but the friendships and relationships that athletes develop are also essential. Williams remembers multiple women who served as role models in her life and explains how valuable their impact was.
"All the women in my life have been so important to me. I've had many female coaches, both assistant, and head, and I've also had plenty of teammates that are doing great things right now. They're remarkable women. Some have had babies and started families while keeping up the rigorous demands of being an athlete. So, those women that have come into my life and made an impact, there are countless names that I am thankful for."
Seeing other women come before her and accomplish incredible things, both on and off the court, provided Williams with a deeper understanding and love for all of women's sports
Although she already graduated from the Mays School of Business in 2019 with a degree in Finance, Williams enrolled in the Texas A&M College of Education to begin a graduate program studying educational psychology. She explained the reasoning behind this new chapter in her educational career.
"I knew that my undergraduate degree at Mays would give me a technical and financial base for my college education, and I was interested in the philosophical and psychological aspects as well. I knew I wanted to do something in psychology, so I chose the college of education to have a more well-rounded set of skills coming out of college. I wanted to have the statistical and mathematical base, but I also wanted a more philosophical understanding of how people learn."
With a deeper understanding of practical financial skills coupled with knowledge of human psychology, Williams looks to utilize her undergraduate and graduate degrees to propel her into the world of professional sports leadership. If her time in College Station serves as any indication, she will likely excel in whatever path she chooses to pursue. The place where she plans to make the biggest impact, however, is in the front office of the Women's National Basketball Association, where Williams dreams of catapulting the league into a whole new era of success.
"The global reach of women's basketball should be greater than just recruiting collegiate athletes from the U.S. or professional athletes from overseas. I want to lead basketball to a place where the women's game has such a depth in the rosters that talent would leak over into a development league. The goal is to get attendance to be just as high, if not higher than the NBA. Coverage should be just as good, if not better than the NBA. I want to be a part of that change. I want to provide the initiative to push the WNBA where I know it can go."
Her role as a leader on the Texas A&M women's basketball team provided her with a front-row seat to the complex issues that women's athletic programs face, and her education in Aggieland has provided her with a blueprint to solve those issues at the next level.
"My goal, my number one aspiration in life is to better the global perspective of women's basketball in particular, but women's sports in general. I want to show the masses that women work just as hard, if not harder than men to achieve their goals. My goal is to make women's athletics at the professional and collegiate level more accessible and more attainable to more women when they're younger because as of right now, it's such a slim possibility of women making it to the WNBA and staying there. The NBA provides a wider range of possibilities in the men's game, with things like the developmental league and options overseas. I want to make women's athletics just as popular as men's athletics."
At the end of the day, Jasmine Williams wants to leave a legacy far greater than any specific accolade or accomplishment.
"In the timeline of women's sports, I hope to be a part of a shift. Not necessarily by myself, but I want to be viewed as someone who was instrumental in making women's sports what I always dreamed it would be, twenty or thirty years down the line."
Through years of hard work, dedication to her craft, community service, and leadership, Jasmine Williams has laid a powerful foundation for the future. Undoubtedly, Williams has left both the university and women's basketball program in a better place than when she arrived, and with time, she can blaze a whole new trail for women and girls everywhere to accomplish their athletic dreams.
Throughout her four-year career at Texas A&M, Williams has served as a symbol of leadership in the Bryan-College Station area, earning recognition by the Southeastern Conference 2019 and 2020 as a member of the SEC Community Service Team. Her impact in the community has been powerful, but Williams has her sights set on an even bigger goal: she wants to change the world's perception of women's sports.
"I think the biggest reason that more people aren't involved in women's sports is a lack of participation in the events. It's a lack of getting to know the players just because it's somebody new. In men's athletics, they broadcast these kids when they're in high school, and you get to know their stories and personal background, and you follow them into the league. Zion Williamson is a perfect example. People have known about him since he was in eighth grade and now, he's a rookie in the NBA. I think the disconnect is just a lack of willingness to accept that women are athletic. We no longer live in a day and age where women are supposed to stay home and cook, or whatever the stereotypes were in the past. It's a new age, and I think we're definitely trending in the right direction, but a little boost could never hurt."
And that boost is something that Williams looks to provide. Her love and passion for the game of basketball started when she was young, and she expressed how important her family was in cultivating an interest in all athletics. Williams recalls her father playing a key role in understanding how sports are closely related to life.
"The game of basketball has served as my greatest inspiration. My dad told me when I was young that sports will teach you all about life: all the ups and downs, how to deal with losses, how to deal with wins, how to deal with complicated people that you may be teamed up with, and how to thrive in those types of situations."
Although basketball is Williams' first love, she recognizes the importance of all women's athletics in providing young girls with opportunities to express themselves. She discussed the power that sports have in influencing society's perception of women and their ability to challenge negative stereotypes that have persisted through generations.
"Women's sports have always been a source of inspiration for me. It showed a different dynamic of athletics, and with my athletic gifts, I knew it was something I'd like to get into. Sports have also given me multiple role models to look up to, whether it's personal connections I've made or other people in the past that I've looked up to that aren't active anymore. Women's sports give young girls a way to look at themselves other than the image of a stereotypical woman."
Providing girls with opportunities to express themselves is one of the critical elements that make women's sports so powerful, but the friendships and relationships that athletes develop are also essential. Williams remembers multiple women who served as role models in her life and explains how valuable their impact was.
"All the women in my life have been so important to me. I've had many female coaches, both assistant, and head, and I've also had plenty of teammates that are doing great things right now. They're remarkable women. Some have had babies and started families while keeping up the rigorous demands of being an athlete. So, those women that have come into my life and made an impact, there are countless names that I am thankful for."
Seeing other women come before her and accomplish incredible things, both on and off the court, provided Williams with a deeper understanding and love for all of women's sports
Although she already graduated from the Mays School of Business in 2019 with a degree in Finance, Williams enrolled in the Texas A&M College of Education to begin a graduate program studying educational psychology. She explained the reasoning behind this new chapter in her educational career.
"I knew that my undergraduate degree at Mays would give me a technical and financial base for my college education, and I was interested in the philosophical and psychological aspects as well. I knew I wanted to do something in psychology, so I chose the college of education to have a more well-rounded set of skills coming out of college. I wanted to have the statistical and mathematical base, but I also wanted a more philosophical understanding of how people learn."
With a deeper understanding of practical financial skills coupled with knowledge of human psychology, Williams looks to utilize her undergraduate and graduate degrees to propel her into the world of professional sports leadership. If her time in College Station serves as any indication, she will likely excel in whatever path she chooses to pursue. The place where she plans to make the biggest impact, however, is in the front office of the Women's National Basketball Association, where Williams dreams of catapulting the league into a whole new era of success.
"The global reach of women's basketball should be greater than just recruiting collegiate athletes from the U.S. or professional athletes from overseas. I want to lead basketball to a place where the women's game has such a depth in the rosters that talent would leak over into a development league. The goal is to get attendance to be just as high, if not higher than the NBA. Coverage should be just as good, if not better than the NBA. I want to be a part of that change. I want to provide the initiative to push the WNBA where I know it can go."
Her role as a leader on the Texas A&M women's basketball team provided her with a front-row seat to the complex issues that women's athletic programs face, and her education in Aggieland has provided her with a blueprint to solve those issues at the next level.
"My goal, my number one aspiration in life is to better the global perspective of women's basketball in particular, but women's sports in general. I want to show the masses that women work just as hard, if not harder than men to achieve their goals. My goal is to make women's athletics at the professional and collegiate level more accessible and more attainable to more women when they're younger because as of right now, it's such a slim possibility of women making it to the WNBA and staying there. The NBA provides a wider range of possibilities in the men's game, with things like the developmental league and options overseas. I want to make women's athletics just as popular as men's athletics."
At the end of the day, Jasmine Williams wants to leave a legacy far greater than any specific accolade or accomplishment.
"In the timeline of women's sports, I hope to be a part of a shift. Not necessarily by myself, but I want to be viewed as someone who was instrumental in making women's sports what I always dreamed it would be, twenty or thirty years down the line."
Through years of hard work, dedication to her craft, community service, and leadership, Jasmine Williams has laid a powerful foundation for the future. Undoubtedly, Williams has left both the university and women's basketball program in a better place than when she arrived, and with time, she can blaze a whole new trail for women and girls everywhere to accomplish their athletic dreams.
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