Sports are about so much more than the athletes involved. While they may be the most entertaining part of the whole operation, there are dozens of coaches, managers, announcers, journalists, and even marketing execs that truly bring the experience to life.

Here are 20 Latinas in sports who are making waves off the field.

Rebecca Lobo

Credit: @RebeccaLobo / Twitter

Rebecca Lobo was on a championship-winning basketball team for the University of Connecticut and played basketball for the WNBA for seven years after. Today, the hall of famer is a reporter and color analyst for ESPN, specializing, of course, in women’s college basketball and WNBA games.

Mary Joe Fernandez

Credit: @sapsports / Instagram

Mary Joe Fernandez had an illustrious career as a pro tennis player. She won two Grand Slam doubles tournaments and three Olympic medals, two of which are gold. After retiring from the sport, Fernandez has kept busy. She’s worked as a tennis commentator for ESPN, analyst for CBS Sports and the U.S. Open, and coach for the U.S. Fed Cup and Olympic teams.

Sisleide do Amor Lima

Credit: @coachmarksscc / Twitter

Better known to her fans as Sissi, Sisleide do Amor Lima played for the Brazilian national soccer team, making her debut at just 16. Her career took her to several women’s teams in the U.S. as well. After coaching for FC Gold Pride and various high schools and colleges throughout California, Sissi is now coaching Solano Community College’s team.

Lisa Fernandez

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Softball legend Lisa Fernandez has won three Olympic gold medals and pitched in all three games. She currently coaches softball at UCLA, her alma mater, and still holds multiple records a the school.

Jessica Mendoza

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Stanford grad and softball player Jessica Mendoza is an analyst for ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball She became the first woman commentator for a Major League Baseball game this summer and has continued to call games since then. Mendoza also works as a sideline reporter for college football games.

Elisa Padilla

Credit: @JoeFav / Twitter

Elisa Padilla is the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Community Relations for the Miami Marlins. There, Padilla’s challenge is to get fans excited and into the stadium to root for a team that has historically been pretty bad. She’s also taught at New York University and worked as Chief Marketing Officer for the Brooklyn Nets basketball team.

Jessica Priego

Credit: @JPriegoComm / Instagram

After reading an article about the Chicago White Sox’s head of marketing, Jessica Priego called him to ask why the story didn’t mention marketing towards the Latinx population. The bold move helped her land a job, and now, she’s working on her own company, JPriego Communications. The firm focusses on entertainment, travel, fashion, sports, and lifestyle, and she’s adding a new segment to help athletes and celebrities manage their images.

Sabrina Macias

Credit: @FPWellbeing / Twitter

Sabrina Macias has a need for speed. She quickly worked her way up to Director of Marketing Communications for NASCAR, where she helped lead industry-wide Latinx marketing initiatives. Now, Macias thinking bigger as the Senior Director of Global Communications for DraftKings, a fantasy sports betting website.

Suzanne Medina

Credit: @smedina89 / Twitter

Suzanne Medina is the Senior Director of Spanish Content Development and Operations for the MLB. Basically, that means she’s in charge of everything you see in Spanish for the league, from social media and website content to editorial work and marketing. She’s spent her whole career in sports, Spanish-language content, and news, so it’s safe to say she knows what she’s doing.

Christina Alejandre

Credit: @burbunny / Twitter

In case you haven’t heard, videogames are sports now – esports, to be exact. Christina Alejandre recently let her job as the general manager of ELEAGUE, a league of competitive esports gamers that she helped maintain during its first two years in existence. She’s got plenty of experience thanks to prior esports work with Warner Bros., too.

Kelsey Martinez

Credit: @Kelsey_Martinez_ / Instagram

Kelsey Martinez is the first-ever assistant coach for the Oakland Raiders football team. She’s also the only female strength and conditioning coach for any NFL team right now.

Antonietta Collins

Credit: @AntoniettaESPN / Instagram

Mexican-American Antonietta Collins has journalism in her blood. Her mom, Maria Antonieta Collins, is an award-winning TV host and journalist. Antonietta currently works as a news anchor for ESPN’s famed SportsCenter show.

Claudia Trejos

Credit: @ClaudiaTrejos / Twitter

Claudia Trejos does it all. She’s been an ESPN boxing commentator, NASCAR sideline reporter, onsite reporter for the X Games, and Spanish-language analyst for NBA games. She’s even covered dominoes matches. Prior to her work at ESPN, Trejos was a the sports anchor for your mami’s favorite show: Al Rojo Vivo.

Julia Morales

Credit: @JuliaMorales / Twitter

For seven seasons, Julia Morales has been searching for stories on the sidelines of Houston Astros games. She’s been a sports reporter for her whole career, beginning with coverage at local news stations.

Marysol Castro

Credit: @MarysolCastroTV / Instagram

If you happen to go to a Mets game at Citi Field, you’ll definitely hear Marysol Castro’s voice. She’s the PA announcer at the team’s home park, announcing the lineup and alerting fans to other important info. Castro is the first woman to hold the job for the team.

Linda Alvarado

Credit: @BankOnDC / Twitter

Linda Alvarado founded the Alvarado Construction company and remains the sole owner of the endeavor. Then, she bought herself a baseball team. Alvarado is the co-owner of the Colorado Rockies, and she’s the first Latinx person to own a team. The bid also made her the first woman to even place one for an MLB team.

Monica Gonzalez

Credit: @MonicaGonzo / Twitter

Monica Gonzalez played for Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish, the Mexican national soccer team, and Boston’s pro soccer team. Two days after Team Mexico let her go, she became a studio analyst for ESPN. Gonzalez has also worked as a sideline reporter for Major League Soccer and the UEFA Champions League, the only woman to do so in 2016. Her non-profit, Gonzo Soccer Academy, teaches Latinas to play soccer and gain valuable life skills.

Melissa Gonzalez

Credit: @MGonzalez13 / Instagram

No relation to Monica up above, Melissa Gonzalez played for the U.S. Olympic field hockey team after switching from soccer in high school. Now, she’s the assistant field hockey coach at Wake Forest University.

Sandy Nunez

Credit: @snuinla / Twitter

Sandy Nunez is the long-standing coordinating producer for ESPN. She’s responsible for overseeing national content and production of the channel’s flagship SportsCenter program, a huge role that she’s filled for over a decade.

Marly Rivera

Credit: @MarlyRiveraESPN / Twitter

Mary Rivera is a bilingual writer and reporter for ESPN and ESPN Deportes, as well as the radio stations for each channel. She’s covered the New York Yankees for most of her career, frequently contributes to ESPN SportsCenter, and even had her own podcast with SportsCenter anchor Max Bretos.

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