Haley Jones embodies what it means to be a change-maker beyond just our sport. As a professional women’s basketball player for the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA and a new VIS Mentor, Jones has pushed the boundaries within basketball and continues to impress her audience. She inspires us to speak up about what’s important and advocate for positive change. We spoke with Jones to learn how she spreads awareness and continues to use her following to change the world and how we can use our voice even in times when it might feel overwhelming or scary.
What Does it Mean to Have a Voice on Social Media?
As the world continues to develop, social media is becoming more and more prevalent and necessary to stay connected and informed. As women athletes, many of us have social media and a following. Whether or not our following is big, it’s still a group of people that we can communicate with. We all have opinions and stances on important happenings in today's world and now, more than ever, we need to come together to bring awareness to the injustices of the world.
“Women should be empowered to use their voices to speak out on any topic that they like,” Jones says. It’s important to remember that we’re more than just athletes. Jones adds, “I have a voice that is amplified through my status as a basketball player that can be used for more than my sport.” Status or not, we all have voices that can be used to make change beyond our sport.
“I have a voice that is amplified through my status as a basketball player that can be used for more than my sport.”
Finding the Confidence to Speak Up
It can be scary to make our opinion public but fighting for positive change is always worth it. We might be hesitant to speak up because we feel like we may lose followers (both on social media and in real life) and that we’ll be judged. “The way I have always thought about it is that if I lose followers for speaking out on a topic that I believe in, then those aren’t the people that I need to follow me because they aren’t my true supporters,” Jones says. Making our voices heard can be scary, but Jones reminds us that it’s important to want our followers to be our full supporters both in our athletic endeavors and in our beliefs. “Seeing the many women before me be fearless to do so is inspiring” Jones says.
Why It’s Worth It
As girls and women in sports, we often get shut down, ignored, or silenced. As more and more of us find the confidence to speak out about injustices and the need for change, the more people will listen. Fearing that people may not follow us or like us based on our opinion is enough to tell us that those people aren’t supporting us entirely. We are more than just athletes, collectively and individually our voices matter.
Jones reminds us, “the audience that is meant for you will uplift you.” So, it may be scary at first and people may judge, but making our VOICE loud and our stance strong will inspire others to do the same and will inspire change.
