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your-dietician · 3 years

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LPGA's Mariah Stackhouse on the importance of visibility and representation in golf

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LPGA's Mariah Stackhouse on the importance of visibility and representation in golf

Five years ago, Mariah Stackhouse started her professional career on the LPGA Tour after a successful four-year playing stint at Stanford University. When Stackhouse qualified for the tour, she became the seventh African American player to qualify for the LPGA. Today, she is the only full-time active Black player on tour. As the 27-year-old veteran continues to search for her first win on tour, she acknowledges that her greater purpose is to inspire the next generation of golfers and promote diversity and inclusion within the game.

While in play this week at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Stackhouse explains in her own words why she embraces her Blackness in the golf world, how she wants to impact the game and what she hopes to see change when it comes to diversity in the sport.

The goal is to get to the point where it’s not an anomaly for a young, Black kid to be playing golf.

I think back to my early years of playing golf. In high school, everybody was super supportive because I was good. It was like, “Okay, wow, Stacks plays golf. That’s cool.” I got nicknamed, “Tiger Hood,” which was actually pretty funny. But Tiger was the only reference other kids had for a Black golfer which is why I still remember it so vividly.

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That’s why I want the next generation of golfers to see more Black players. I don’t want it to be an anomaly. I want there to be plenty of us on the LPGA, in college, junior golf, amateur golf, everywhere. That’s what I want to see.

Lately, I’m not playing as well as I’d like. It’s interesting because my game is not bad. It’s actually pretty solid. But I’ve been missing many — the majority — of opportunities with the putter. When the putts won’t fall, you’re missing crucial par putts and not making those birdie putts, that’s when golf is the most frustrating. I’m not playing badly. I’m in positions that I need to be in. I’m just not connecting those birdie putts. So the occasional bogey that shouldn’t matter now matters because I’m not making those birdies throughout the rounds to make them less impactful on the scorecard.

Whether I’m playing great or struggling, I understand that I’m still one of the few Black women out there, and I like to represent well. I do my best to never get too down on myself, to always carry myself with confidence, love and passion for the game. No matter what, I respect the game and the opportunities that come out of just my visibility on the LPGA. It’s not something that I’m unaware of. It’s not something that I want to neglect in any way, shape or form — no matter if I’m making birdie putts or not. I’ve had young Black girls, boys, women and men who play the game tell me how excited they are to see me out there. I understand that visibility matters. It matters that I show up for them. I embrace it.

For the first time in her five-year career on the LPGA Tour, Stackhouse will compete in her hometown at the Atlanta Athletic Club in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

I don’t mind being a direct voice in this space.

I know that as a professional athlete, and one of just a few in the professional golf space, that I am constantly visible to the media and fans. I do hope that we move towards amplifying other voices in this space. I think you have to take steps farther than only amplifying the professionals because although we have that visibility, we are actually playing the game at a professional level. We can’t be 100% dedicated to elevating and growing the game at the grassroots level because the majority of our time is dedicated to how we can improve our golf game and continue to climb the leaderboards and rankings.

There are various golf organizations, like the Women in Golf Foundation here in Atlanta, that actually work on growing and diversifying the game every single day. It would be awesome to see their voices included and amplified in these conversations as well. We can’t stop with the professionals when it comes to Black History Month and beyond. There are many key voices that need to be heard, and simply not enough of us on tour for our voices to be representative of the Black golf community.

The majority of people who play the game of golf do so at the recreational level. It’s incredibly important to showcase people enjoying the sport leisurely, people being in a sport in a capacity that’s not actually playing professionally. Organizations like Trap Golf. The Chicago Women’s Golf Club. Organizations like Inner City Youth Golfers. That’s what it takes. It’s a well-rounded understanding of what the golf world looks like right now and where we need to continue to go.

Traditionally, golf is a very conservative sport — in that it’s been slower to accept progressive changes. And I see that pushback on social media and even in person when these organizations use their platforms to acknowledge things like race, gender, sexuality and more. “We don’t want to talk about that. This is golf.” The way I look at it is that these organizations have to talk about it and broadcast it. If we’re truly aspiring to grow the game, there are some simple truths: The more people that love a sport, the better that sport does, the more it excels, the more courses are built, the more courses we’ll have access to. It’s a win for everybody.

I want us to get to a place where anyone can feel confident entering golf spaces. For anyone to visit their local golf driving range and feel comfortable, not shunned or judged — whether that has to do with skill level, gender, race, sexuality, whatever it might be. There shouldn’t be any of that if we are actually committed to growing the game.

Stackhouse points out the RTJ Instruction Center College Wall with her picture on it as she leaves the 2021 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship media day at Atlanta Athletic Club. Kevin C. Cox/PGA of America/Getty Images

Leaders in the golf space are becoming bolder about being willing to say, “We’re here and we support all people.” It’s up to all of us currently occupying golf spaces to continue to make intolerance unwelcome and be intentional and loud about inclusiveness. The game of golf is on this journey. We have to keep bravely pushing the way.

I often reflect on former professional golfer and the second Black woman to ever play on the LPGA Tour, Renee Powell. She is truly a legend. She’s still dedicating her entire life to the game. She’s gone on from the LPGA Tour to dedicating everything to continuing to help the game of golf progress and become more inclusive.

When reflecting on Powell’s time as a pro, I can only imagine how much she endured. She had a special love for the game. And I feel like she never let the racial hatred and experiences that she had growing up take her love and passion away for this game. She made a name for herself. And she paved the way for golfers like me to have a much smoother journey in the golf world. She’s not only a role model and ambassador for golf, but she symbolizes the best in what people can make out of the hardships of their life. She’s just truly a champion.

Looking back and knowing her story, I think that it could’ve hardened a lot of people’s hearts. Powell could’ve retired from the LPGA and said, “You know what? I don’t want anything else to do with the golf space. Too many of the golf clubs are unwelcoming.” But Powell said the opposite. She embraced the good that she experienced and sought a way to bring that out more than anything else.That’s why it’s great to see her receiving all her flowers lately. She deserves it.

That’s the kind of person I draw inspiration from. The attitude I want to emulate in my own life.

In 2017, Reagan met #GirlsGolf alumna @MoStacksBirdies when she was competing on the @ROAD2LPGA.

Today, they were reunited at the @KPMGWomensPGA 💖#LittleGirlsBIGDreams | #InspireGreatness pic.twitter.com/BdKsByOGYG

— LPGA*USGA Girls Golf (@LPGAGirlsGolf) June 25, 2021

This week, playing in my hometown of Atlanta for the first time as a professional golfer, I realize that I’m playing out here for something more.

Not only do I get to sleep in my own bed, which is amazing, but my family and friends get to be there. And then there’s all of the young boys and girls who are starting out in youth golf just like I did years ago. I think there’s an acknowledgement this week from the young golfers that are coming out that they could be here one day. Like, this is a girl that came up through the Georgia ranks and look at her now out here on the LPGA. I also acknowledge that this tournament, no matter how I play, is an opportunity to give back to the place that gave me golf.

“KPMG doesn’t just talk the talk. They walk the walk,” Stackhouse, a KPMG brand ambassador, said. “KPMG came in blazing getting the women’s tour access to top courses. And the impact they have on the diversifying and elevating the game is invaluable.” Hunter Martin/Getty Images

I want to win on the LPGA Tour for myself, but also for my parents. Everything they endured and all the time they put into allowing me to follow my dreams in a sport where Black women weren’t really represented. My parents always wanted me to embrace my Blackness on the course.

I was raised as a golfer to really and truly embrace and be proud of my Blackness and to represent. I am trying my best to do that every time I’m on the course. I can’t say how many little girls come up to me at tournaments, and when I have my hair out in a curl-fro or in braids or in twists, and the little girls will say, “Oh I wear my hair like that” or “I like that style.” The small things like identifying with young girls who look like me are just as important as the big moments like winning tournaments and making cuts.

There’s a spectrum of impact. I would love to be able to capitalize on things like visibility and representation while I’m here as an LPGA golfer.

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finiarels · 6 years

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The Art of Lying [4/4]

To celebrate Shiraishi Mai’s upcoming birthday I will update this story every two days leading up to the day

Pair: Shiraishi Mai x Terada Ranze & Shiraishi Mai x Nishino Nanase

Summary:

Through her lies filled life, Shiraishi Mai ponders upon the three rules she had set for perfecting her lie to see where she did wrong.

Read on JPH!P or Wattpad

Epilogue

Picking herself up after the tour ends were the hardest thing Mai had ever been through. For a while, she doesn’t feel like going out, her vision spins whenever she saw photographers and people crowding her, her brain couldn’t form any answer whenever someone asked her something.

Various people had come to visit her, only a few of them she let inside though. These people are basically her family, her best friend, and also Terada Ranze. The ex-girlfriend was somehow able to spend an entire day watching Netflix with her and Sayuri- whom the newly turned 20 years old started dating about 8 months after the end of their relationship. But none of them was able to drag her to face the world once more. Not when she is just merely a shell of what she was before.

Sayuri was the one who suggested that she should take a break.

Her father was actually the one who had helped the most, one day the famous producer came to her apartment, opened her laptop, and created a new blank document.

“I think you should try to write.”

At first, Mai had rolled her eyes, retorting that she is not a writer. But her father chuckled at the response.

“Everyone can write. Whether the other perceives it as good or not is another matter, that’s a perspective. That’s why it is a form of art.”

After basically been haunted by that words for several days, Mai finally decided to put an end to it and started writing. It was mostly influenced by everything she has experienced, everything she wanted to fix, and everything she could have done. By the time she is finished and show it to her father, the guy smiled and ruffled her hair.

“Now, I can teach you a thing or two about producing and directing.”

The thing about her father is when he is set to do something he would be really pushy and most of the times unbearable. But this case is a good one and exactly what Mai needed. Being behind the camera has offered her both a fresh start and also a new perspective. Which is a key to slowly push her back and remind her to take the enjoyment of what she is doing.

And after 3 years of struggle, she wrapped it all up. Soon enough, her project was getting picked up by distinguished film festivals all over the world, getting a nod of approval from critics and film executives.

The night where she got a nomination for best screenwriting was the first night for her to publicly out in the spotlight after years. It was strange as if she just realise how everything is different when you don’t really need to keep up with a lie. It’s easier.

And on that night, she was honoured with her second golden statue.

But when she stood on the stage, looking through the huge hall, slowly taking in the audience attention and gulping down her nervousness. Mai decided to not reach for the written notes on her pants pocket.

“You see, the first time I stood here, being honoured with this beautiful golden trophy, I was so surprised that I just read through the note that was prepared for me. It was really bad, as monotonous as 8 years old reading textbook out loud for the classroom,” Mai chuckled followed by a laugh of approval that seems to echo in the hall.

“I wrote The Art of Lying when I was at my lowest. At that time, I wasn’t able to imagine or even set any goal to have it become anywhere near where it is now.” Mai smiled a little. “The title is actually an interesting one and in fact, it was the first thing that our leading actress- the wonderful Hashimoto Nanami had asked me after she read the script. The answer to that is simple, lying is another kind of art. It has this element where it strives to achieve perfection yet it never does as people have different perception about it.”

Mai looks at the statue on her hand, chuckling softly with pride mixed with irony. She remembered the moment she had found out that she is among the nomination list, she had thought that maybe that’s what she’s been looking for- acknowledgement, people nodding at her in acceptance.

But somehow she still doesn’t feel complete.

“The thing is I consider myself a horrible liar. Well, I think some people will think that I just told a lie but actually that’s the truth. My main problem with a lie is not about how I’m bad at keeping people from figuring out, but rather I’m bad because the lie usually caught up with me, clouding my judgement, severing the bonds I have formed with the people that I care about.

When a lie hurts everyone you love when it is so disastrous that even yourself is getting hurt in the process, that’s when you should realise that it’s time to stop to strive for that perfection. And just like what happened in the film, I should have realised that much sooner, I really do.

So I want to say an apology towards everyone that I have lied to whether you realise or not. Also thank you to everyone who had helped to make this film happened, my wonderful father, all the cast and crew, my best friend. I wouldn’t be here now if not for you guys.”

Mai bowed for several seconds, smiling widely as she heard the applause that filled the area.

After that, she had to go through the same ordeal just like the first time. The press complicated questions, the many congratulations, Sayuri trying to lead her on what to do next because she still looks as lost as she was before.

But that day, in the room they had provided for her to freshen up behind the stage, someone she did not expect was also waiting.

“Ah- I think I should check whether they need you to do something else soon or not,” the manager made a lame excuse and fled from the room, leaving Mai alone with the girl.

“Hey,” Mai greeted awkwardly, averting her gaze seconds after the time their eyes met.

“Congrats.” The other one replied, eyes directed to the statue in her hand, “and the speech too. It was beautiful.”

“Really? I thought you weren’t even in the audience.” Her mouth seems to answer that in reflex. She cursed herself, realising that she had just gotten a chance to redo her response to the girl’s praise and she still messed it up pretty-badly. “I- I mean you’re supposed to be presenting soon so I figured you’d be here. I mean somewhere backstage instead.”

She hopes that explanation will suffice to avert the suspicion that she was looking for the other actress from the stage.

“Ah I saw you from behind the curtain,” she explained. “I’m glad to see you doing well.”

“You too.”

“I heard about what happened to you. Even Sayurin-san and Ranze-san had personally asked me to check up on you, but I did nothing. For that, I owe you an apology.”

“It’s okay, I didn’t know what I would do either if you actually came to visit me. I wasn’t really myself at all and I’m glad that at least I can live knowing that you didn’t see me at that state.” Mai muttered as she took a deep breath.

Seeing how awkward the situation is, the other started to think that maybe she is overstaying her welcome and make her way towards the door, “Okay I guess that’s all, I mean I just wanted to drop by and congratulate you.”

“Nanase, wait!”

Nishino Nanase turned to look at her once more, patiently waiting for what she is about to say.

“I want to apologise, back then I didn’t tell you the truth.” Mai sighed bracing herself before saying the next sentence. “I lied to you about not knowing that you’re about to call the relationship off and I tricked you into sleeping with me just because my own inability to sort out my feelings.”

“The situation was- difficult. I can understand.” Nishino gave her a little understanding smile, her foot strode a step away from her.

“Please, let me give you a very late explanation.” She catches Nanase’s hand and begged. “Back then I wasn’t ready to forgive myself for breaking another girls heart. I had this foolish thought that what we had between is a plain lust, I thought that after we slept together I’d see that my attraction to you was nothing more than a person wanting to go all the way for a one-night stand.

But turns out I was wrong.

My problem is that not only I was falling in love with you, but I had also thought that you’re less than you actually are. I found out that it was your first time and I was scared to take the step. It was frightening, realising that I have hurt someone who cares more about what we had than what I think.

I was too afraid to seek forgiveness and I wasn’t even ready to forgive myself for I’ve done. That’s why I say nothing even though I should have stopped you that day and let you know the truth.

And for that I’m sorry”

“It’s okay. It was partly my fault as well, I wasn’t exactly being clear with you about what I felt for you. Even now.” Nanase’s soft smile still doesn’t leave her lips. “You know what, back then I was falling in love with you, and the possibility that you felt the same clouded my judgement. When you did what you did, I was heartbroken, I stopped myself from helping you out of your struggle- thinking that maybe that’s what I need to move on, yet somehow it doesn’t stop me from loving you.”

Mai expression looks sad, “It’s hard for me to believe that you actually feel that way- especially now.”

“But that what makes me love you even more. Because you’re such a good person you failed to see that beneath this façade there is a gentle person who can care more about others that it comes off as selfless.” Nanase sighed, the gentle smile still lingers. “The person who dares to risk her relationship to help her family, this person also tried to ease me from the stage fright, nor she back down from her promises just because her heart was broken.”

Deep inside her heart, Mai knows that now it the time for her to come clean too, especially after the confession. Her gaze moved down below, where her hand still holding the other girl’s. Softly, she let her go, taking a step back before bowing towards her.

“Nanase, I also still do- love you.”

She couldn’t hear anything coming from the other girl, so she decided to continue.

“I know that what I did to you was beyond terrible but I hope you will give me chance to make it up to you. This time, there won’t be no lie, no act, just me as a person who loves you.” Mai stands straight once more to meet her gaze. “What do you say?”

Nanase intertwines their fingers together, leaning forward to land a kiss on Mai’s cheek, “yes.”

At that moment, Shiraishi Mai found it funny how a person would realise how much a lie affect their life even after it ends. If only she hadn't lie- if only she let Nanase know the truth before they had gone all the way, she would have found the missing piece of her life sooner.

But that lie, is also what shapes her to be the person she is now. A person who can live to tell the story of what kind of disaster a person life could be once they started to get tangled in their own web of lies.

At the end of a tunnel, there is a light.

And for Shiraishi Mai, Nishino Nanase is her light.

~FIN~

#TAOL #nogizaka46 #nogizaka46 fanfiction #HAPPY BIRTHDAY GODDESS MAIYAN

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