In an age and time when diversity is becoming a mainstream value, we have observed that our United States Supreme Court narrowly upheld the affirmative action plan of the University of Michigan. Could this be a sign that if new judges are appointed to the court, affirmative action will take its last breath? I certainly hope not.

I have lived in Georgia for seven years and of all the cities that I have visited, the diversified landscape of Atlanta, where the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) is headquartered, is second to none, making our city more open, integrated and evolved.

How did Atlanta accomplish this?

I did not realize until a little more than a month ago when, within days of each other, our city lost three leaders who created this amazing success: former Gov. Lester Maddox and former Mayors Maynard Jackson and Ivan Allan Jr. These men made it a priority to landscape Atlanta's urban politics, which made jobs and city contracts for construction available to the minority community, a phenomenal accomplishment for their time in office. They knew it would take leadership within their terms to accomplish this goal for Atlanta, and they had to stand tall and lead by example in their appointments by hiring in favor of diversity. Each man knew leadership was a risky business, especially with such a controversial issue. It is in this same spirit that for the coaching profession, the WBCA should strive to create the same type of leadership as Maddox, Jackson and Allan did for Atlanta.

At the WBCA, we celebrate diversity along with major corporate executives, high-ranking officials in the armed forces, the United States Congress, and with any program that allows us to keep diversity in the forefront.

In February 2001, WBCA consultant Betty Jaynes and I attended an NCAA summit specifically designed to create and implement programs for minority women in coaching. Currently, the number of minority women in head coaching positions at all collegiate divisions is very low. This summit consisted of leaders in women's sports invited by the NCAA to create several models of programming, emphasizing coaching opportunities for minority women.

The number of minority players in women's basketball, according to the NCAA, still remains about 46 percent at Division I, 35 percent at Division II and 20 percent at Division III. As Betty and I reviewed these numbers, we concluded this would be the ideal segment of the athletics population to start a coaching development program for minority women.

To create a strategy to implement a coaching program for minority players, we decided, along with the WBCA Board of Directors, to apply for an NCAA grant to teach and prepare minority women's basketball players for the coaching profession. This would allow these students to enter the competitive job market for a high-school or college coaching position.

As we began to create our program for these students, we reviewed the objective of the NCAA Matching Grant for Minority Participants, which is "...to promote the coaching profession to minority women by offering opportunities to players who have exhausted their playing eligibility and want to coach."

After this review, Betty and I discussed the following topics to be taught in our program to meet the above objective:

1. Importance of a diverse staff.

2. How to set up a recruiting system.

3. Strategies for being hired.

4. Developing a coaching philosophy.

5. Why am I a coach?

6. Characteristics of a good assistant coach.

7. Developing offensive and defensive tactics.

8. Developing a resume and media training.

9. NCAA rules.

10. Title IX and coaching contracts.

The topics were matched with excellent speakers, and the program was named "So You Want to be a Coach." The first program was held in April 2003 during the WBCA convention in conjunction with the Women's Final Four in Atlanta. In the fall of 2002, students applied for the program and were accepted into the inaugural class. Twenty-eight students attended the two-day workshop. Excellent evaluations were submitted along with creative topics for the next session in New Orleans in 2004.

The WBCA has been awarded a second grant to conduct the program during the 2004 WBCA convention and the Women's Final Four in New Orleans. The application for the 2004 program will be posted on the WBCA Web site after September 2003. There will be 50 $250 scholarships awarded to students who have a need to cover partial lodging and travel expenses. This application also will be posted online after September 2003.

The WBCA thanks Floyd Keith, the executive director of the Black Coaches Association; Shann Hart, the head women's basketball coach at American University; Cathy Parson, the head women's basketball coach at Howard University; and Betty Jaynes for the countless hours dedicated to making this program a success. Betty and I also appreciate the help from WBCA event manager Stephanie Baron, who contributed advice and guidance to the program's logistics.

Finally, I would like to express special appreciation to the NCAA for providing grant opportunities to organizations such as the WBCA, which work to keep diversity as an essential part of women's basketball and which will not stop until our sport is color blind.

Beth Bass is the CEO of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.