Stephanie Smiley (“First Lady of the Drew League”) and Chaniel Smiley (Head Commissioner of the Drew League): For 50 years, the Drew League has been using the court to build camaraderie in the South Central Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts. And for 39 of those years, Stephanie Smiley, her husband (Dino) and their daughter, Chaniel, have been responsible for keeping the pro-am basketball organization running.
They discussed their legacy and their journey to this point in their lives with rolling out Publisher and CEO Munson Steed.
Munson Steed: Hey everybody this is Munson Steed and welcome to Sisters with Superpowers, sisters who truly are making a difference in the lives of other individuals. I have two of my favorites. There’s nothing like a mother daughter combination to change the world and to change society. There’s nothing like a family business to take a community and give it hope each and every day.
There’s nothing like a lighthouse that will allow kids to see a future that is served to them with sweet kool aid that makes a difference in their lives. I am speaking of the First Lady of the Drew League and obviously the commissioner. How are you both here and thanks for coming on sisters with superpowers.
Chaniel Smiley: You’re doing great. Thank you for that intro.
SS: Yeah, that’s awesome. Thank you.
MS: What’s exciting for me is just to know that you guys both are history makers. And really, how did you start when you think about it? ‘Cause I know there’s a history to Drew League and just really compelled you to want to compete and to complete this community and make sure that they had a place in a home to be.
CS: To answer your question: This season will be 51 years, here in the greater Los Angeles south central Watts area. Our 51st season is coming up, and my father took over after Avalon Wells created it in 1973 and then he was the mentee at the time, and as a little boy, and from there on in 1984, he took on the league and it’s just started off doing something really small in the community.
Just about six teams. Just something to keep the kids from getting in trouble out in the streets, do something fun for them to do after school. But then it got just word of mouth, and people from all over started coming over from different parts of the community, and the league [has] just grown to just something from just a community thing in the neighborhood to something that was recognized in the city.
And since then, my dad was taking over it. And I ended up taking over in 2017. So my mom, myself, our family, we just hustled and just did something that was just straight out of passion. It wasn’t anything for monetary reasons. It was just something because we felt like we had to do it for the sake of the community and needed something positive.
MS: You’re saying it really light. But I mean, you’re well respected people trust you mean that saying a lot in a community, particularly in anybody that knows anything south of the 10. If you’re not respected, that’s an issue. It’s not a safe zone, you’ve created a safe space for our community and I want to thank you for that. But you’re both history makers, how do you set goals together, and kind of keep the score of what your legacy is going to be? I mean, you’re doing a phenomenal job, but now you commissioner, you gotta walk and talk differently. What’s that like as a sister?
CS: It’s huge shoes to fill. My dad did an amazing job with it. But now, being a sister being young, and a woman carries a lot of weight, I try to make sure that the examples that I set [are] something that everybody can respect, because easily, people can say, “Oh, she’s not made for it, women are sensitive, they’re not built for something like this, she’s not strong enough.” And I take those licks and I use them to the best of my ability and enhance it.
I use it for strength and I tell myself all the time, by having the wisdom I have from my parents and being brought up in this community and having the role models that I have, and I share today, those are the people the key people that keep me going, and give me the confidence that I can achieve whatever it is I’m trying to do, regardless of my gender, regardless of my race. So I just keep the pedal going and just give it my all. And as long as I stay confident and know what I’m doing, and get the right Intel, anything is possible.
MS: Yeah, let’s talk about your collab, you guys got a collab with Adidas. What’s it like to really have a huge I mean, you, Kanye, y’all got one of the biggest brands in the world, paying attention to the Drew League, what’s it like?
SS: It’s interesting to see people of that caliber come to us. Not necessarily we’re going to them. At one point, we were scrambling trying to get anybody. I remember when we were sponsored years ago, by a plumbing company, just right there in Manchester. And they gave us a few $100 to get some uniforms. But I go way back when things were really tight. And we had one or two sets of uniforms, I washed them and put them on my clothesline and brought them back out for the next week. So, to go from that and to, I guess some people saw things in us.
And they said, “Well, this is continuing. Let’s take a look at this little league up here in South Central.” And a couple of people liked it. It was some individuals, that neighborhood guys and said, I’m gonna help you guys with this. And so we started getting neighborhood help. And then we started getting outside help, which, like, oh, okay, somebody’s paying attention to us. While we continue with that, after that the big guns came in, so to speak, and Nike, Adidas, and it was another shoe company. And it’s amazing that they’re coming in, we’re blessed to have them come because with their help brings more resources that we can offer to the community. And that’s what I’m excited about.
CS: I think sometimes it doesn’t really hit us like that. Some people ask us questions about well, how do you feel being in this position? What do you think about when the Kardashians come up to the gym and watch? And I was like, you don’t really quite hit us like that? Yeah, I don’t know why it’s just that I get why?
MS: I can say why. One your LA. So, it’s not like you’re not in LA, you are in LA. It’s not like you haven’t seen your institution in LA. And that kind of, most women have built institutions, literally in America, particularly black women. And so, you guys have built this institution or continue to build an institution, which means, literally, your dad’s watching and everybody’s watching you continue to make this an institution in a community.
Why do you want to build such a wonderful, dynamic sense of hope for your community? Commission? Why? When you could just get a play, sell out. Why? Why still be right there looking? Having a young girl who puts down the Seneca and have a play and gets to see you. Why for her?
CS: Why? Because she has to know that there’s someone out there that looks just like her that’s doing what she envisions herself to do in the future. You have to have, it’s something about having it being present at the time, where you can actually go up and actually talk to someone that looks just like you that was in the same position that you once were in. It’s important to have that present. And for me, like, some commissioners, you never really see them at the games, they’re out somewhere else. They’re away from what their business is.
For me, I like to be right there and physical representation matters. And that’s what I always wanted to, I just want to be an example. And I know as a young girl, it was always important for like, whoever was my role model, I always wanted to see them, always want to touch them and ask them questions. So I know how important it is for young people to have their role models, right in front of them where they can ask them those questions, instead of just using the internet and hoping they get a response back, and the reason why we are in Los Angeles or standing on the east side of LA, is because it’s needed in that community, we don’t have too much going on there.
There’s not any movie theaters, and there’s no skating rink. There’s no bowling alleys, like, we pride ourselves very much to be in like, the entertainment on that side of the community. And it’s free. And so we have to keep it in, once we see the faces of those kids and those families that come in there and excited to see us and looking forward to seeing great entertainment. We just know that our job is not done, and we just got to continue to push forward and give them the light that they’re looking for.
SS: South Central has always had a bad rap. A bad rep. When I moved over here, after getting married, people were actually looking at me straight, like “Why would you guys move my house over there? That’s rough over this stuff over there, you might get you know” … they were saying all this negative stuff about coming to South Central. And then because I came from the west side and then when I moved over here, I started seeing a difference in the stores and opportunities and just the malls and shopping centers. And I said, well, they don’t have much. So, when there was opportunity to keep it here to have something. We’re going to keep it here, we’re not moving. We’re gonna be right here.
MS: That brings me to the, want you to finish a couple of sentences. The Drew league serves the community. Can you finish that sentence for me?
CS: The Drew League serves the community.
SS: With opportunities, more opportunities to work. I remember starting off years ago, with a staff of maybe six. Right now, we have a staff of maybe seventy. So that’s 10 times growth, just this growth then from sports medicine. We didn’t have that in there back in the day, from officiating, clock operation, security. We might have one or two security [personnel]. So, it’s a growth that’s strengthen and develop opportunity. Basically, gave a lot of opportunities for people to come in, and they all get paid.
So, this increase in salary, and a lot of us, some of the especially the concessions, we work in high school and we summer stuff, we don’t work so there’s no income. So, this increases income for some summer work, people who don’t work during the summer. So, it’s an income so and that’s a blessing. That’s a blessing.
MS: That’s beautiful. Finish this for me. Every woman deserves.
SS: To be seen and heard.
CS: That’s right.
SS: That was the easy one.
MS: I hope they all easy. I face my challenges by … ?
SS: I face my challenges by prayer day and night, well not day and night but it’s a daily prayers. Every day I get up and asked the Lord to give me strength to do what I need to do for that day, for that event, for the opening of the League, for the closing and really it’s just constant prayer. That’s what gets me through, that’s how I face my challenges but there are plenty of challenges out there. Plenty I can’t even tell you, Amen. But yeah,
CS: My answer is also prayer but also facing those problems.
MS: My superpower is …? What’s your superpower?
CS: Oh my superpower, That’s a good question.
SS: Operating in love. I mean, I love the people. I love community, I look at everybody as equal, I see celebrities, I just see him, but I can see the next person, that person is no, the celebrity is no better than the next person. And that’s why I look at it and that’s how I treat everybody that comes through. They’re celebrities, everybody is a star. So equal. Yeah.
MS: Leave the world a better place because … ?
SS: My grandmother would say, because she did and [now it’s] my turn to do it. I mean, I come from the South, where we were taught a little bit different about respecting adults and what we should do, and how to raise a family, and to leave a legacy, and to represent your family and your name. So when I think of my ancestors, and I go back to their thoughts of what they couldn’t do. And they wanted just as me, as my age to generations. to help another person along. So, I’m gonna continue to do that, because that’s what they would want me to do. And that’s what I want to do too. So they helped me my ancestors, so I’m gonna help someone else. And my daughter’s helped me. Yeah.
CS: Keep it going.
SS: Keeping it going.
MS: Keep it going. Well, I appreciate both of you. Like I said, I watched the video. And Commissioner, I can hear mom say baby and it takes a whole, that’s a PhD degree, law degree, master’s degree. And, and I saw a smile and it lit up that guy’s face, it just lit up his whole face. Thank you so much for what you give. It was obvious in the way you said that word did it would communicate to any person, child, somebody mad. It would just shrink. Let me shrink right quick because I heard that. I’ve heard that before. I’m going to say I might need to be good right now. I might need to be good right now.
So thank you for all the love that you have given much continued success to Drew League. Commissioner really proud of you.
CS: Thank you.
MS: Thanks to both of you sisters with super powers. This has been great. I’m Munson Steed here at rolling out. This is my favorite sisters. They’re in LA making a difference in the community. No, thank you. And they are really, really, really, really fixtures and institutional builders for changing both black America presently and the future state of black America with their love, hope and the Drew League. I’m Munson Steed, special shout outs to Adidas, and to all those out there making a difference in our community each and every day by collaborating with institutions that are touching our children’s hearts, minds and soul. I’m Munson Steed here on rolling out
SS: Thank you.
CS: Thank you.
