Courtesy of Jacqueline Nickelberry
Sports Illustrated and Empower Onyx are putting the spotlight on the diverse journeys of Black women across sports—from the veteran athletes, to up-and-coming stars, coaches, executives and more—in the series, Elle-evate: 100 Influential Black Women in Sports.
Growing up in the Bull’s Michael Jordan–era in Chicago, Jacqueline Nickleberry’s life was centered around sports, but she considered herself far from an athlete. Nickleberry describes her younger self as a bookworm, Scrabble savant, and speech team member.
In an effort to get her off the couch and into something more physically active than reading, her mother enrolled her in tennis.