WEBVTT - Organizing the Colgate Women's Games with Olympic Track Star Cheryl Toussaint 0:00:01.160 --> 0:00:03.640 This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore 0:00:03.640 --> 0:00:05.400 the big money issues in the world of sports. I'm 0:00:05.400 --> 0:00:09.879 Scarlett Film and joining us now is Cheryl Tucson. She's 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:14.040 a former Olympic silver medalist. She is also the director 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:17.000 of Colgate Women's Games, which is the nation's longest running 0:00:17.079 --> 0:00:20.280 track and field series for women and girls. Cheryl, welcome 0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:23.239 to the Bloomberg Business of Sports. Thank you for having me. 0:00:23.680 --> 0:00:27.560 So tell us a little bit about the Colgate Women's Games. 0:00:27.840 --> 0:00:32.120 The forty eighth game is coming up and there's a 0:00:32.159 --> 0:00:34.360 lot of excitement around it. Tell us what we need 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:37.720 to know. So well, I'm glad you started here. So 0:00:37.920 --> 0:00:42.680 March EIGHTI through April we pick off our season for 0:00:42.760 --> 0:00:47.920 this year. The Colgate Women's Games is a has been 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:51.320 going on for forty eight years. This season and we're 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:55.360 happy that we're starting an outdoor series this year, or 0:00:55.440 --> 0:00:58.880 actually our second outdoor series this year, and it'll be 0:00:58.920 --> 0:01:04.480 taking place at Queen's College in New York and the 0:01:04.520 --> 0:01:09.480 culmination will happen on May seventh at Icon Stadium. So 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:15.880 it's a free event, no no cost to participate, no 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:21.160 cost to attend. So we welcome all of your listeners 0:01:21.240 --> 0:01:24.120 to take to come out and join us. Oh, Charlot's 0:01:24.160 --> 0:01:26.399 more than that, right, It's the largest amateur track and 0:01:26.440 --> 0:01:29.520 field meet in the country. I'm talking elementary school through college. 0:01:29.520 --> 0:01:32.000 I believe Colgate Palmala has been the sponsor since the 0:01:32.040 --> 0:01:35.280 beginning of time. And my question for you is, look, 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:37.800 you know, we all know your history, you know, going 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:41.280 back to the nineteen seventy two Summer Olympics and your 0:01:41.480 --> 0:01:44.440 involvement at Adams Track Club and Fred Thompson, your mentor. 0:01:44.480 --> 0:01:46.440 I mean, can you talk to us about what you 0:01:46.480 --> 0:01:48.960 know Fred imparted to you and how that's kind of 0:01:49.000 --> 0:01:52.560 gotten you involved with this particular event, and you know 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:54.120 just basically what it means for you and what it 0:01:54.160 --> 0:01:57.280 means for you know, women across the country who are 0:01:57.280 --> 0:01:59.240 basically in track and field and looking to make their mark. 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:02.600 Absolutely so. I started out as a thirteen year old 0:02:02.760 --> 0:02:07.760 with Fred and the Adams Track Club and at that 0:02:07.840 --> 0:02:11.120 point I didn't have any particular focus as far as 0:02:11.160 --> 0:02:15.000 being involved in athletics or actually nor was I focused 0:02:15.040 --> 0:02:19.520 so much on the academic part of you know, being 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:22.840 involved with the team, which which was the team focused. 0:02:23.280 --> 0:02:28.720 Athletics was what we did. But the goal and goal 0:02:28.880 --> 0:02:32.040 was to get an education. So when Fred started this 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:36.600 team in our community, it was really important for girls 0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:40.600 who joined the team to understand that the end goal 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:45.480 was education. So for me it was very important because 0:02:45.480 --> 0:02:50.079 it helped me to refocus, rededicate my energies not just 0:02:50.200 --> 0:02:53.840 on the track, but also to getting good grades and 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:58.200 looking beyond where I was in school. And at that time, 0:02:58.240 --> 0:03:02.280 there was so few scholarship opportunities for girls, this was 0:03:02.320 --> 0:03:06.880 before Title nine, that the idea of going to college 0:03:07.000 --> 0:03:10.959 was not a reality for me. So Fred his vision 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:14.519 was really important for all of us who were part 0:03:14.520 --> 0:03:20.640 of that organization. And then Fred eventually collaborated with kog 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:24.160 pau Mala company. They saw his vision in what he 0:03:24.240 --> 0:03:30.800 was doing by getting young people in general, but the 0:03:30.880 --> 0:03:36.240 girls who were on the club to understand that education, 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:39.360 that athletics was a means to an end, a means 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:43.960 to getting a better education, having a bright future, which 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:47.960 was and is in fact Colgate's primary mission as a 0:03:48.000 --> 0:03:53.040 company to reimagine a healthy and brighter future for all people. 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:58.800 So it aligned quite well and that was the beginning 0:03:59.280 --> 0:04:03.520 of me being able to see college as an end goal. 0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:07.640 The co Gate Women's the co Gate Women's Games is 0:04:07.880 --> 0:04:12.840 a program, a developmental series that starts young girls from 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:16.440 the very from first grade all the way through college 0:04:16.440 --> 0:04:20.159 and beyond. And what that does is give them based 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:23.640 you know, depending upon their grade, and opportunity to learn 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:27.239 how to compete, to learn how to lead. Of course, 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:33.640 they developed tons of self discipline and you know, confidence 0:04:33.640 --> 0:04:36.840 and self esteem, but it teaches them how to lead, 0:04:36.960 --> 0:04:41.720 and that's that's that's the beginning of a brighter future 0:04:41.839 --> 0:04:45.000 for anything that we do. And your living proof of that, 0:04:45.040 --> 0:04:47.279 you pursued a degree in higher education, became the first 0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:50.599 in your immediate family to earn a college degree as 0:04:50.600 --> 0:04:53.840 a result of your involvement. Talk a little bit about 0:04:53.880 --> 0:04:58.719 any partnerships um that the event has with higher education 0:04:58.760 --> 0:05:02.880 institutions to formalize this pipeline for young women to participate 0:05:02.880 --> 0:05:06.640 in track and field. So most of the students come 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:10.240 from the New York City Public school system, but our 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:14.520 reach goes beyond that mean the New York metropolitan area, 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:19.880 Tri state area, of course, but we have participants that 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:24.200 attended games from up and down the East Coast, so 0:05:24.240 --> 0:05:27.680 to speak, and the New York City Public school system 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:31.800 we are actually you know, aligning with them on how 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:35.200 we can spread the word about what we do as 0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:41.760 an event. This year, also shot Right Stores has partnered 0:05:41.800 --> 0:05:44.800 with Colgate to help spread the word by doing instore 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:49.159 promotion and things of that nature to spread the word. 0:05:49.480 --> 0:05:53.480 So the Coogate Pama company has been behind this effort, 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:56.520 has championed what we're doing with the cool Gate Women's 0:05:56.560 --> 0:06:00.440 Games for forty eight years and sponsored it through scholarship, which, 0:06:00.480 --> 0:06:05.480 by the way, the scholarship values were doubled. Yeah, is 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:09.279 it really You know, the cost of education is so high. 0:06:09.320 --> 0:06:12.159 But one of the points I would love to make 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:15.880 is that because we start the girls so early to 0:06:15.920 --> 0:06:21.239 get them learning these tremendous disciplines, they are actually, based 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:25.520 on their overall performance in the competition, eligible to earn 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:29.960 to win scholarship from first grade, which is unheard of. 0:06:30.440 --> 0:06:32.880 So I mean they can actually start building toward their 0:06:32.880 --> 0:06:36.040 own saving for their own education from as early as 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:38.680 first grade. And so, talk to us about the event itself, 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:42.000 I mean, how has it, I mean, how's it evolved? 0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:44.479 I mean, from my understanding, it's really become more of 0:06:44.480 --> 0:06:48.520 an incubator for developing athletic talent, many of whom have 0:06:48.600 --> 0:06:51.200 gone on to running the Olympics and whatnot. I mean 0:06:51.440 --> 0:06:53.760 talk to us about, you know, the state of track 0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:57.039 and field for young girls in the United States right now, 0:06:57.400 --> 0:07:01.120 right so the sport itself is tremendous. It's a very 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:06.880 strategic kind of event and so everyone gets involved with 0:07:06.960 --> 0:07:10.440 it learns to basically be strategic thinkers. You have to 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:12.760 learn how to lead from the front from the back. 0:07:12.960 --> 0:07:15.400 We have a lot of youth programs. The co GET 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:21.000 Women's Games covers the gamut from elementary through college and beyond. 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:24.120 We even have a thirty year category, thirty year and 0:07:24.160 --> 0:07:28.600 above category. But what the COCATE Women's Games is, what 0:07:28.960 --> 0:07:33.080 our strength is is that it is an incubator for 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:37.880 developing athletic talent. They start in elementary school first grade 0:07:37.960 --> 0:07:42.600 and they compete over a series of years. Actually it's 0:07:42.640 --> 0:07:45.360 a four week competition right now. It used to be six. 0:07:45.680 --> 0:07:48.480 We hope to get back to that. But each week 0:07:48.520 --> 0:07:53.400 they learn how the taker you know, to get out there, 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:58.600 compete on their own, stand before crowd, separated from their 0:07:58.600 --> 0:08:02.200 family and friends, but chair on by them. And from 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:05.760 there they learn and develop how to hone their skills 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:09.200 from the program. Because it is developmental and we go 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:14.920 from elementary middle school, high school, they actually really learn 0:08:15.280 --> 0:08:19.240 how to become better competitors that are athletes. And we 0:08:19.280 --> 0:08:23.320 have twenty nine to date that have gone on to 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:28.040 the Olympics. I'm one of them, and hundreds who have 0:08:28.200 --> 0:08:33.839 made it to the national level and collegiate level the 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:37.480 heights of that. And so while most of them do 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:42.679 not necessarily make the sports headline, they all benefit from 0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:48.440 learning how to discipline themselves, become you know, become better athletes, 0:08:48.800 --> 0:08:51.960 and achieve their own personal goal. They pick up a 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:57.120 lot of transferable skills sports all of that. Sol As 0:08:57.120 --> 0:09:00.720 we wrap up our conversation, you mentioned that, of course, 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:03.840 and Damon had talked about how you competed in the 0:09:03.920 --> 0:09:07.240 nineteen seventy two Munich Games. Can we expect any CWG 0:09:07.320 --> 0:09:11.520 alums to participate in the twenty twenty four Olympics in Paris? Absolutely? Well, 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:14.880 there's there are four that competed in the last games, 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:19.920 in the last Olympic Games, and we do have a 0:09:19.960 --> 0:09:25.160 few collegiate athletes. Now they're not necessarily they're in college, 0:09:25.200 --> 0:09:28.880 so we expect to see a few of them. The 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:32.000 trials will happen next year, so we'll keep our eye 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:34.880 out and we'll definitely be happy to I'll be happy 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:38.040 to return, and you know who they are. You know, 0:09:38.080 --> 0:09:40.640 I just have one question about you know, obviously the 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:43.640 the the Colgate Women's Games itself and the atmosphere you 0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:46.360 just kind of talked about. You know, it's the first time, 0:09:46.480 --> 0:09:48.520 or maybe it's not the first time, but it offers 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:51.800 these these these young athletes an opportunity to kind of 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:55.760 get into that big meat environment, right Like I mean, 0:09:55.800 --> 0:09:57.920 I guess when you're running track and field after school 0:09:57.920 --> 0:09:59.600 and you're going to different high schools, you know, it's 0:09:59.640 --> 0:10:01.480 not the same thing is running in in the co 0:10:01.640 --> 0:10:04.839 Gates Women's Games. My question is how much goes into that? 0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:06.880 You know, is it is it is a lot of money. 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:09.960 I mean, is it sponsorships? I mean is it you know, 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:12.920 are you are you charging you know for people to participate? 0:10:12.920 --> 0:10:15.360 Can they just you know get tickets for free? I mean, 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:18.880 how does it all work? So there's absolutely no fee 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:23.360 to participate in the co Gate Women's Games, no charge 0:10:23.480 --> 0:10:26.680 to attend the co Gate Women's Games. And in fact, 0:10:26.760 --> 0:10:30.360 the Comala Company has sponsored it for all of these 0:10:30.440 --> 0:10:33.760 years in terms of the event itself and then the 0:10:33.880 --> 0:10:40.840 scholarships edit awards for competitors who earned points. They earn 0:10:40.920 --> 0:10:45.320 points based on their performance, so basically those top performers 0:10:45.400 --> 0:10:48.920 are able to earn scholarships. So when you look at 0:10:48.920 --> 0:10:53.520 the overall cost of participation for the athletes, there is 0:10:53.559 --> 0:10:57.960 no charge. But the athletes do have challenges in terms 0:10:58.000 --> 0:11:03.760 of finding by able space to train. They are also 0:11:04.360 --> 0:11:08.080 exposed to a lot of coaches and mentors at the event, 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:11.640 so they benefit from being in that space where they 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:14.959 can find coaches and mentors who can help them along 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:20.400 with their training and to find space. But the event, 0:11:20.480 --> 0:11:23.240 because we're a series of developmental series and not a 0:11:23.320 --> 0:11:26.600 one and done kind of event, we kind of serve 0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:29.920 as a training ground for a lot of these I 0:11:29.960 --> 0:11:34.640 would say newer athletes who are just coming into the sport, 0:11:34.800 --> 0:11:39.040 just learning that we even exist, to come out and 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:42.640 train or be a part of the competition week after 0:11:42.679 --> 0:11:46.160 week and find their way find out whether they actually 0:11:46.200 --> 0:11:48.920 want to stay in it to be that great athlete 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:53.560 or they're just enjoying the part of belonging. So yeah, 0:11:53.800 --> 0:11:57.320 sure we create that they can belong. I love I 0:11:57.360 --> 0:12:00.240 love the mission of the Colgate Women's Games and what 0:12:00.320 --> 0:12:03.600 it strives to accomplish. Really appreciate your joining us to 0:12:03.600 --> 0:12:06.440 give us an overview of it and looking forward to 0:12:06.679 --> 0:12:08.760 seeing what comes out of it. Cheryl Toussant is the 0:12:08.840 --> 0:12:11.520 meat director for the Colgate women Games, but you might 0:12:11.559 --> 0:12:13.640 know her as a former Olympic runner who won silver 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:15.679 in the four by four hundred meter relay in the 0:12:15.760 --> 0:12:21.640 nineteen seventy two Munich Games despite losing fish in the race. Right, 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:25.360 the best, the best way for folks to your listeners 0:12:25.400 --> 0:12:27.559 to find out more about the Colgate Women's Games is 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:32.679 to go to Colgate Women's Games dot com. Our website 0:12:32.679 --> 0:12:35.280 has everything that would need to know about who we are, 0:12:35.400 --> 0:12:37.679 what we do, how we do it, and how to 0:12:37.760 --> 0:12:40.880 sign up. Fantastic. Thank you so much, Cheryl, Thank you, Cheryl, 0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:44.800 thank you. This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcasts. 0:12:44.880 --> 0:12:47.640 I'm Scarlet Food here with Damien sass Hour. Catch us 0:12:47.679 --> 0:12:50.240 every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, where we explore the world 0:12:50.240 --> 0:12:51.959 of money in sports and we certainly hit on both 0:12:51.960 --> 0:12:54.360 of those ideas today. Also find me on Twitter at 0:12:54.360 --> 0:12:56.320 Scarlet Food and you can catch me on Twitter at 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:59.200 d saswe you're listening to Bloomberg Business of Sports from 0:12:59.240 --> 0:13:00.839 Bloomberg Radio around the world.