Chick Chat: From the Court to Cultivating Community with Chiene Joy Jones

Images: Chiene Joy Jones

MEET CHIENE. BALLER. SPORTS MAVEN. MENTOR. SNEAKHER STYLE ADVOCATE. A CHANGE MAKER.

Many of our CNK Chick Chat interviews center around important stories that are meant to empower, educate, and inspire us. What makes these stories unique, is that even though we are all at different seasons in life, important connections exist between us. They tie us to a sense of community, even if those very relationships are initially formed in the digital world.

We ultimately believe in giving women their flowers. There are an abundance of phenomenal women who are walking purposefully into their calling of service - a key pillar in any community. In the sports world, we are also becoming hyper aware of the continued fight for equity when it comes to female athletes and a loud call to action for support. This has brought us to Chiene Joy Jones.

We naturally gravitated to Chiene because her whole spirit is rooted in the art of selfless service to young girls. The building blocks of sports provides renewed hope and mentorship, which Chiene has taken on full force in her city of New York. Team sports aren’t only for learning technical skills, but they create a safe space for confidence, empowerment and the gift of sisterhood.

Check out our latest interview with Chiene as she dives into her organization Grow Our Game, who inspires her, and how she plans to leave a lasting footprint on and off the basketball court.

ALLOW HER TO RE-INTRODUCE HERSELF…

My name’s Chiené Joy Jones and I am an advocate for empowering young girls in the New York City Basketball ecosystem, while also fighting to advance sports participation opportunities for children throughout our most underserved communities. My call to action aside from the work I’ve done for other organizations over the last 18 years has been creating my own nonprofit, Grow Our Game, in 2018.

LET’S MEET AT THE INTERSECTION OF SPORTS + SNEAKERS.

Coming from NYC, sneaker culture was not only a huge influence but we were in fact the influencers. I think about my Brotha, Bobbito Garcia, who was one of the pioneers and how powerful his eye for sneaker culture was long before it was a trend. Mind you, NYC is also The Mecca for Basketball and the starting point for Hip Hop, so there it was hard not to have a love for sneakers even if my parents couldn’t afford them! My first ever basketball sneakers were the Jason Kidd Nike Air Zoom Flight 95, before that my parents had me in running sneakers lol.

THE BIRTH OF GROW OUR GAME.

It truly is my love child. The vision for Grow Our Game came to life when I had to put my foot down and say enough was enough with families being exploited by pay to play options and young girls from our underserved communities not receiving the proper instruction that they deserved. We are rooted in passion, confidence and building a fierce sisterhood that not only is challenging the status quo, but truly empowering a new generation of leaders!

DROPPIN’ GEMS COMES FULL CIRCLE.

I was so fortunate enough to have incredible women guide me throughout my life, in all aspects whether that was basketball, school and my own career as an executive sports administrator. The same gems I received are a thousand percent the gems I’m dropping with my Little Ballers each and every session! I get my relentlessness from my college coach at NYU, Janice Quinn. She had this unapologetic tough love that taught me so much about never giving up on any player no matter how difficult or challenging times got!

CHIENE ON HOW WE CAN CONTRIBUTE TO THE MOMENTUM OF SUPPORTING WOMEN’S SPORTS INITIATIVES…

We as women must continue to amplify these inequities, in addition to identifying key solutions to better mitigate change. However, we can not achieve the level of success we want alone. It is critical to also challenge our male counterparts to champion not only the success, but also show what true allyship can be for all. One of the best examples of this has been how many NBA players are leading by example in their support AND activism for the WNBA.

THE BLUEPRINT… IS SERVICE.

I’m a firm believer in offering free opportunities for our youth, which is why all of our programs are just that, FREE. For those truly wanting to be the change they want to a in their respective communities, my advice is to not place a price tag in front of the work, and make sure to have a plan of action! It’s easy to say you want to do something, but it’s an entirely different story when there’s work to get done!

DON’T BE A HARD ROCK, WHEN YOU REALLY ARE A GEM.

Understand that facing adversity is a very common thing, especially if you’re a young woman! It won’t be the first or last time, faced with a challenge. The second, is to exercise facing adversity without FEAR. False Evidence Appearing Real. The third is to seek support or guidance from a mentor, coach or even close friend to assist. There’s so many things in life we have zero control over, but ensuring that your attitude and effort is always on point is a huge plus! Especially when facing adversity!

CHIENE ON CONNECTING THE DOTS WITHIN COMMUNITY…

Ever since starting my career, I’ve been fortunate enough to purchase sneakers that I’ve always wanted as a child, but my family’s circumstances weren’t able to provide me with. I absolutely love CNK because it brings me so much joy and nostalgia in seeing different women from all walks of life rock their fav kicks! But being a part of this Sisterhood has allowed me to stay in tune with the latest sneaker drops, along with your efforts around social justice and activism in Texas….now that’s SneakHER Culture!