How new Black Players for Change director Allen Hopkins Jr. plans to take coalition global

Being Black wasn't that important to Allen Hopkins Jr. — until 10 years ago. To his peers in his ever-changing soccer-sphere, and to himself, he was just Allen.

Hopkins was a midfielder at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California, during the early-1990s. He was an assistant coach with the San Diego State Aztecs after that. Then, a sports broadcaster at FOX.

"And I tried to be an amazing husband, an amazing father. I was a Cal South (Soccer Association) Coach of the Year. I tried to be everything," Hopkins said. "Play guitar. Surf. Play the ukulele. Play in every men's league in (Los Angeles), but I never was trying to be an on-point Black man."

Hopkins later became an ESPN reporter and analyst for six years, covering the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

That's when something changed — in Soweto, in the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, on countless safari's — when Hopkins decided to pivot towards a career that was different and fulfilling. Even a successful mental conditioning consultancy later on with Michigan, Alabama and Texas A&M football wouldn't suffice.

But joining Black Players for Change this summer as executive director did. The three-year-old independent soccer coalition, built to bring equity in the game to its Black stakeholders, has intentions of going global, representing Black players, coaches and executives not only in Major League Soccer, but stakeholders in every national federation, men's and women's league in the world.

Here's the plan

BPC plan begins with edifying a legacy at international tournaments held on American soil for the next five years, from the 2024 Copa America to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and eventually, the 2028 Olympic Games.

"The world is coming here and that's unprecedented," Hopkins said. "So we have to be ready to react and respond to those amazing opportunities, to embed our organization into not only the legacy projects and the foundation-type of initiatives that all these organizations are tasked with doing, but also growing our membership."

BPC has done that, recently with its involvement in co-creating MLS Advance, the year-long, invite-only pipeline program built to produce coaches and front office members of color. BPC president and New England Revolution goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr. said it's essential that BPC continue to push MLS in ways that confront systemic racism, including equity and opportunity.

And from the jump, Edwards took notice of BPC's impact on fellow players and coaches globally, starting with its protest ahead of the first game at the MLS Is Back Tournament in 2020, held inside the bubble at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida.

"I think that's been maybe not a goal that we set out immediately, but as we continue to do the work over the years, we noticed that our work does have a global outreach and we've worked with (The Professional Footballers' Association) and other organizations across the pond, so to speak, and I think that's something that we will continue to do through numerous partnerships," Edwards said.

The MLS Players' Association, which Edwards sits on the executive board for, chose to partner with BPC in December 2020, along with the Soccer Collective on Racial Equality to combat racism and social inequity in American soccer. MLSPA general counsel Eric Harrington was already an admirer of BPC, when watching the protest live on ESPN. Now an adviser to the group, Harrington said BPC is already doing work impactful internationally.

"I think that the way we spread that internationally is by making it as successful as we can in Major League Soccer, and we should be a model for how Black players are included, have representation, have a seat at the table, are treated justly, have support, protected from racism inside the game, on the field, in the stadiums, on social media," Harrington said. "And when they aren't we all rally to their side and develop policies and procedures and culture that actually does that.

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"I think if we do that, that's what we become," Harrington added. "We become a model and a beacon in this international football world, where others will want to emulate that approach."

As it stands, BPC is organically going global. Now it waits for world soccer to come to its backyard.

"I want to be able, in 2028, to say, 'Hey man, look what we did. We came out this gauntlet with some real stuff,' " Hopkins said. "And that real stuff is going to be effective partnerships with people who are trying to create change, having a voice in legislation, having a voice in our local politics and community, where we make the game reflection of who we are and what we can be as Americans, and it just so happens to be our game."

For stories about Nashville SC or Soccer in Tennessee, contact Drake Hills at DHills@gannett.com. Follow Drake on Twitter at @LiveLifeDrake. Connect with Drake on Instagram at @drakehillssoccer and on Facebook.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Black Players for Change has a new executive director in Allen Hopkins Jr.