Meet California Berkeley's Charmin Smith — the accomplished hooper and current Golden Bears head basketball coach using her voice and platform to put a spotlight on representation in the women's game.

TOGETHXR: In 2021, you rebranded the Cal Classic tournament to the Raising the B.A.R. Invitational. What inspired you to make that change?

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COACH SMITH: The summer of 2020 was a crazy summer from a social justice standpoint. I felt like our country, because we were all on our couches during COVID, watching things play out…  There was a lot of conversation surrounding social justice, even in the bubble for both the NBA and the WNBA — you saw the signage. NFL things on the helmets — there was just a lot going on that was sparking conversation surrounding social justice. I felt like, once COVID subsided, when people went back to work, I didn't notice the same emphasis being placed on those conversations. Do we think that we solved the problem? Do we think that our country is better? Because I don't. I had to figure out what we could do, what I could do to try to be part of the solution. 

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I worked with Tara [VanDerveer] when I was an assistant at Stanford, and when Hurricane Katrina hit, I was really frustrated with how our government responded to that natural disaster. I remember just thinking, like, “This sucks. This isn't fair. They'd never let this happen in Beverly Hills. What's going on? I don't get it." Tara said to me, "Well, what are you going to do about it, Charm?" And in that moment, I was like, "Well, what do you mean? I'm just saying it's not right. Like, it's not fair." She's like, "Okay, well, what are you going to do about it?" And that has stuck with me since that day.
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So, I started the Katrina Assist Pledge Program at Stanford, where folks donated money for every assist during the season. Then, Cal partnered with us because Lindsay [Gottlieb, current head coach of the USC Trojans] was at Cal at the time, and I suggested they should do this with us. So we were able to raise over $18,000 to send down to Habitat for Humanity in the Katrina area. That was like my first lesson — try to do something about it. So, in 2021, when I was sitting there questioning why we’re just playing basketball again and acting like everything's okay — what can I do about it? 

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I don't have much political influence. In our women's basketball community, what’s our issue? We have a lack of representation in women's basketball, and it is a huge issue. I felt like that was something we could highlight. I came up with this idea for this tournament, and had some help from the current Washington Mystics GM, who was my teammate at Stanford, Jamila Wideman, in naming the tournament. It took some time, but we got to Raising the B.A.R., with the acronym standing for basketball, activism, and representation. 

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There's such a discrepancy in our game with the number of women of color who are playing the sport compared to the women of color who are head coaches. This tournament is to highlight that and to spotlight coaches in our sport who are doing this job — and for their student athletes to recognize them as women of color, and understand that this is a really special experience to be coached by a woman of color at the collegiate level.

TOGETHXR: We've seen a lot of conversations about women of color head coaches, especially recently in the WNBA; the league is overwhelmingly made up of women of color and now has zero Black women head coaches. What are your thoughts on that?
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COACH SMITH: You have to be intentional about representation. You have to be intentional about being inclusive and having diversity. There are qualified people out there that we're not considering. 

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I respect what Seattle is doing in going out and hiring Sonia [Raman], as a woman of color — that's a big deal. Monica [Wright Rogers] at the Toronto Tempo has spoken out about how they're intentionally hiring females in their leadership positions. You have to want to do it, and if you want to do it then there are plenty of qualified candidates out there, but it has to be a priority. When it's not a priority, you can tell — it's pretty obvious. In the league right now, for a lot of franchises, it simply is not a priority.

TOGETHXR: The Raising the B.A.R. Invitational is about much more than just what's happening on the court. What other programming events go along with the tournament, and why did you feel it was important to include in your event programming?
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COACH SMITH: It evolves and changes each year, depending on what's going on. The first year, we were in this time where, you know, it was really just about what was going on in our country. Coach Yo [Yolett McPhee-McCuin] from Ole Miss, who was instrumental in getting confederate flags removed from their area, and Joni Taylor has been such a strong advocate — it was about telling those coaches’ stories within their communities. Jackie Carson too, right? Shining a light on this group of Black women who were using their voice and speaking up. So, we had images throughout the games about what those coaches were doing. 

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Another year, we had a letter writing station to Brittney Griner while she was wrongfully imprisoned in Russia, so we tried to spread awareness about that. Last year, we had a panel of head coaches that were women of color for the community to come listen to. 

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This year, we're bringing in young people from the neighboring communities to let them have dinner with all of the players. So, it shifts in terms of the focus every year — but I'm really proud of the work that we're doing, and my staff has done a great job of helping to formulate new ideas. 

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My goal for this tournament is that I want it to keep growing. I understand that we have to be even better as a basketball team, but I want this to be something that people talk about the way you talk about the Maui Invitational or the Jimmy V Classic, right? People hear that and it's associated with something — they know what it is. I want the Raising the B.A.R. Invitational to be that way. I want to have Dawn Staley here when we're ready for it. That's the vision, and we're working every year to make it better.

TOGETHXR: You mentioned having big goals for Raising the B.A.R. What's on the vision board for the next couple iterations of this invitational?
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COACH SMITH: Sponsorship is a big one, so that we can do more to impact the community even more and have more awareness. And then yes, I do want to grow the level of competition and which coaches we have here. I mean, every single woman of color that's a head coach is special. It is a lot to be in this seat. It is different than being a white male or even a white female — it is very different. It doesn't have to be like Dawn Staley, Kara Lawson — but I want that kind of firepower to elevate the basketball as well. 

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I want it to be something where everyone is knocking on our door to participate in this, right? There's only so many of us that are going through this. I think of the Jimmy V Classic — when people think of the Jimmy V Classic, you know why it started, you know what the purpose of it is, and you know it's going to be good basketball. I want people to know why we started the Raising the B.A.R. Invitational, know what the messaging and the purpose is behind it, and then enjoy some really good basketball while watching four Black female head coaches lead their teams.
 
TOGETHXR: Activism and representation are such a huge part of how you've used your platform and power. Are there any athletes or coaches whose activism you admire and want to shout out?
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COACH SMITH: Natasha Cloud. I like how she shows up as her authentic self all the time and isn't afraid to speak or say the difficult thing. I'm going to give props to Napheesa Collier for being brave and bold enough to speak her truth surrounding the league. That was huge. 

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I did post on social media that I believe if Colin Kaepernick were a WNBA player, he'd still be playing — because those players would have had his back. They always have each other's backs and they stand up. I wish that more of our professional sports leagues had the mentality that the WNBA has. I think the U.S. Women's national soccer team definitely has that same type of thing — like, “No, this isn't right and we're not going to just take this.” Those are the ones that come to mind right now. I love our women's national team. I've been a fan since the Julie Foudy and Brandi [Chastain] days — the ‘99 World Cup. What Megan Rapinoe and that group were able to do for the sport, and for women, is amazing — and we need more of it.