Bianca Smith recently became the first Black woman to land a job as a professional coach when she was hired by the Boston Red Sox. Smith will be based out of Fort Myers, Fla. and coach position players at the team's development complex. While this is a big deal, she has more grand aspirations.
In an interview with MLB.com, Smith, 29, said that she'd love to become a Major League Baseball manager someday.
"Don't limit myself. I want to go as high as I can," Smith said. "I want to continue to challenge myself, and right now, yes, that is MLB manager. I don't see that changing anytime soon. Obviously, I changed my idea about being a GM, but as much as I love coaching, I want to be in that position [of manager]. I want to learn as much as I can and get to that role."
The past year has been huge for women in the game of baseball. Kim Ng became the first woman in professional sports to become a general manager after she was hired as the new general manager for the Miami Marlins. Smith said Ng's hire "was so big" for her.
"I was so excited," Smith said. "I've been following her career for years. It was about time. She was so big for me, my parents knew her name because I talked about her all the time. That was a huge moment for me. I was so excited to see that. Like I said, I thought it was about time. She should have been hired [as a GM] years ago, if not decades ago."
Weeks later, Smith made some history of her own and will look to begin her coaching career this year. But while she is very proud of what she's accomplished so far, Smith isn't limiting herself in any way.
"I don't want to put limits on it. If anybody is inspired by this story, even better. I guess my biggest thing I would want to say is continue to follow your dreams," Smith said. "It's hard work, but it's also worth it. Anything that is easy is not really as much fun. I love the challenge."
