Sports Lawyer Nancy Hogshead-Makar Selected as an Independent Director to the USA Badminton Board of Directors

USA Badminton has announced that sports lawyer and Olympian Nancy Hogshead-Makar has joined the USA Badminton Board of Directors as an Independent Director. Hogshead-Makar will fulfill USA Badminton’s need for expertise in SafeSport, Title IX, and diversity equity & inclusion initiatives. She will also serve as USAB’s Congressional Liaison.

“Hogshead-Makar will bring a wealth of knowledge about the NCAA’s Emerging Sport for Women Program,” according to a USA Badminton (USAB) press release. “It is the goal of USAB and Interim CEO Linda French to have Women’s Badminton included as an NCAA varsity sport by the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.”

Hogshead-Makar is a civil rights lawyer and CEO of Champion Women, an organization providing legal advocacy for girls and women in sports. She is a well-known expert in sports issues; she has been teaching sports law courses for 20 years.

“USAB sought out her expertise in its continued effort to embrace an ‘athlete first’ culture and decision making,” according to the release. ”Nancy Hogshead-Makar’s appointment to the Board is consistent with this effort to make America’s Olympic Movement athlete-centric. She will be tasked with USAB’s legislative efforts and assuring that the entire sport community – including athletes – are trained on best practices regarding athlete abuse and SafeSport in our goal to make USA Badminton a leader in SafeSport practices.”

Hogshead-Makar represented the United States at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, where she won three gold medals and one silver medal.