Bellonora McCallum rises from Raleigh roots to reshape sports representation
The Raleigh native balances life as a law professor, attorney and certified sports agent while opening doors for athletes of color.
Women's History Month reminds Bellonora McCallum of where she started. As a little girl, she spent summers in Raleigh's Method Community, a historically Black neighborhood her family has called home for generations. It's where her love for sports was born.
"This is the basketball court we would walk down to and play on sometimes after church. The soccer field where we would run around and make up our own games," McCallum recalls. Now 44, McCallum balances teaching four courses a semester at her alma mater, North Carolina A&T, with her work as a practicing attorney and sports agent.
Her path began with a sports law class she took while attending law school at North Carolina Central University, which sparked her passion for representing athletes who look like her. "There weren't a lot of minority agents out there. If you're going to have this talent - if the majority of clients are getting signed and picked up - why can't your representation look like you?
" McCallum said. McCallum is a certified sports agent with the NFL, MLB and NBA and runs her own agency, ME Sports. In an industry where few Black women are represented, she is one of a handful changing the game.