By Colin Royal, Staff Writer

Pivotal, essential, irreplaceable– these are all words that aptly describe April Taylor’s contributions to the HBCU All-Star event. Taylor has poured her time and passion into putting on the two day HBCU showcase, and her hard work speaks to her tremendous talent and dedication to uplifting both the teams involved as well as the Black community. 

Taylor was a huge reason why the first day of the HBCU All Star event was such a success. The first day of the event hosted four different college teams. Each game was won with less than a ten point margin; everyone came to show up and show out. 

The event was an incredible achievement not only due to the great quality of talent that participated, but also because of its historical significance. This was the first time the event had ever been held in Atlanta, and it was the HBCU All-Stars’ first partnership with Morehouse College.

Taylor expounded on the magnitude of the event. “Our goal is to really curate an experience to show why HBCU sports are so important,” Taylor said. “What I love about the work I’ve done with Travis is being able to be a part of historical events.”   

Travis Williams is the founder and chief executive officer of HBCU All-Stars LLC which is a black-owned sports marketing, events, and media company focused on “Advocating, Educating, Exposing, Mentoring, & Investing in Hard-working, Talented, Ambitious Student-Athletes & Brilliant Coaches at Our Distinguished Historical Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs)”.

Even though the first day was a tremendous success, it definitely had its share of challenges. Taylor was pulled left and right throughout the first day of the event. She was always on the run, but Taylor has gone accustomed to taking on demanding obstacles. 

Taylor has grappled with underrepresentation throughout her entire career. As a Black woman in a space that is dominated by white men, she has had to outperform her peers in order to firmly establish herself. Furthermore, given the nature of the sports business, Taylor explained how people, especially women, need to be tough and advocate for themselves. 

When asked how she got to where she was she replied, “Being talented. I think women in this space need to have the courage and step up to advocate for themselves.” 

In addition to that self-advocacy and talent, Taylor also talked about the importance of building a good reputation for yourself. In order to make a place for herself in the world of sports she had to make sure she put herself in a position to succeed. 

“I’ve been able to carve it out by making sure that I am at the table and by building my credibility,” Taylor said.

For Taylor, much of her success can be attributed to her ability to network and build relationships with others through her amazing breath of work. She put herself on the radar of people like Deon Sanders, Doug Williams, Larry Brown as well as many more legendary figures in sports because she allowed her talent to get her in those rooms.  

Given her exceptional career, Taylor has solidified her standing in the world of sports. Despite having carved out a place for herself, her work has not stopped with her own success. She explained how she wants to leverage her accomplishments, resources and experience to benefit the next generation. 

In her words, the end goal of all the work she’s done so far was to “give it to everybody.”

“I really want people to feel like family in everything I do,” she said.

Taylor has definitely made efforts toward her goal, for the HBCU All-Stars event to recognized the talent that HBCUs have to offer the world, while creating opportunities for non-student athletes to grow and develop as well.