Howard University women’s basketball recently announced a multi-year partnership with Black Girl Vitamins, a wellness brand dedicated to addressing the unique health needs of Black women. The partnership includes some direct monetary sponsorship for the players and essential vitamins to the players and coaching staff.
“It’s a testament to the commitment to ourselves as Black women,” said Bison head coach Ty Grace. “We’re taking steps toward health being a priority, and this partnership is a way to do that. … Breast health awareness is something we definitely will continue to talk about. Also, regular self-care and mental health is talked about, but I don’t think enough, especially in the Black community. That’s something we feel we need to address in this upcoming season.”
There will be off- and on-campus events to promote the partnership. All this year, the team is celebrating 50 years of women’s basketball at Howard. There will be a gala this fall, which Black Girl Vitamins is sponsoring.
The Black Girl Vitamins partnership will help players further build their brands and learn more about the commercial opportunities for collegiate athletes utilizing name, image and likeness (NIL). “[It’s exciting] especially when you can partner with companies that believe in what you believe in and that reflect what you look like, how you talk, and all those things,” said Grace. “This kind of starts that for them. I’m glad to see that, and all of them are very excited.”
Grace is currently on the road looking at possible recruits as they play in AAU tournaments. She is thankful for the talented young players interested in attending Howard, the prestigious HBCU in Washington, D.C. Returning Bison players are on campus for the second summer school session. After that concludes, the players will have a couple of weeks at home before returning to Howard for the fall semester.
Grace is looking forward to watching the upcoming Olympic Games, especially basketball and track & field. “I’m excited for these two super teams in men’s and women’s basketball,” she said. “I know the players are super excited to watch the Olympics, especially the basketball portion. … We’ve had three WNBA teams come through Howard—the Los Angeles Sparks, the Seattle Storm and the Washington Mystics—so they’ve met a lot of the players.”