in the field: coach jackie j
"'I can be gay and still be the best in the world.' That's what women's sports is to me, and it's not any more complicated than that."
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in the field: coach jackie j
Even if you don’t follow one of her accounts, chances are you’ve come across
’s content if you’re in the queer women’s sports space. She’s seemingly everywhere—on TikTok FYPs, on TV attending WNBA games, and being named one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Sports by ADWEEK.The 23-year-old, D.C.-based content creator has quickly made a name for herself in the world of women’s sports, buoyed by an ability to create engaging yet niche content in a market that’s currently blowing up at a rapid pace. Her platform—she has over 635,000 followers on TikTok alone—has allowed her to highlight stories that the mainstream media may have missed, all while bringing a decidedly queer sensibility to the work.
Below, Coach Jackie and I talk about why queer women’s sports content is so important, how she views her role in the larger women’s sports media ecosystem, and which athlete she was most excited to meet.
You can follow Coach Jackie on TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Out of Your League: I remember first coming across your posts during March Madness a few years ago, when you were doing the “is she gay or does she just coach women’s basketball?” series. I know that's really popular for you, and you’ve since expanded it to other sports, but how did your account start? How did you decide that queer women’s sports content was the kind of content you wanted to make?
Coach Jackie J: My account really started because I was like, ‘I'm going to be a famous lesbian singer.’ And if you scroll all the way down, it is me singing in a bathroom with my ukulele. I wanted to have a viral sound, so I started posting, like, 10 videos a day, either singing or making general lesbian content.
OOYL: I appreciate someone who just straight up says, “Yeah, I was trying to be an influencer, I was deliberately trying to go viral.” I think sometimes people are too coy about that.
CJJ: My first series that ever went viral was an impression I used to do of Betty Cooper from Riverdale, and I did Betty Cooper if she went to the school from Euphoria. That got me over the 10,000 followers mark, which is when you can start monetizing. But [schticks] get old and you have to switch it up. So then did just general lesbian content, recapping lesbian YouTube drama and doing impressions of other lesbian TikTokkers. That’s when people started following me in the gay space, which was all I've ever wanted.
At this point I probably had, like, I don't know, 30 or 40,000 followers, and hadn't really blown up in a consistent way yet. But I started watching more women’s basketball with my friend, and I bought ESPN+ — as a college student, buying ESPN+ is a pretty big commitment so I was like, ‘I gotta watch every single game’ to make it worth it.’
And, backing up a little bit, when I went to college [at LSU], I very much was consciously, like, ‘Oh my God, I don't have to watch men’s sports.’ I realized I didn't really care to watch football, so I worked at the football stadium because they pay you like crazy because nobody wants to work during the “best” part of the year, which is SEC football, right? So I'd work at the football games and then I would wake up early on Sundays and watch, like, Arsenal women's games, and go to as much as I could of LSU women's sports. I had control of the remote for the first time, all I wanted was just women's sports.
My roommate and I are watching March Madness in 2023 like, ‘Do we think [this person]’s gay, like, her shoes, her shirt, her hair, we're going through it all.’ And then we looked it up. So I made a video doing just that, and that video didn't go viral but it did prompt somebody to say, ‘Oh, please keep doing this.’ So I did it again and again, and it was the Kim Mulkey video that was the first one that really, really took off.
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And then I was getting a lot of traction and I was like, ‘Well, how do I make most of this?’ And in my mind, I was like, ‘Well, it's the gay part that’s really enticing people. And so instead of trying to go into the women's sports of it all, I first pivoted into the sexuality of it all. I would go on campus with a sign that said, ‘Let me guess your sexuality.’ And I would guess people's sexuality in the street—they would walk up to the sign, so I'm not shouting at people going, ‘You're gay!’ Those videos did insanely well and for a long time, I was known for that more than anything. But again, you can only do that for so long. It's a bit of a one-bit gimmick.
So then it was going to be the women's World Cup. I've watched every women's World Cup since I can remember. My family has this thing we do during the World Cup—we make all the flags that are in the tournament, we make them from unconventional materials. Then we shoot them down with a Nerf gun when the country would get out. We would do it for both women's and men's, so I knew a lot about international soccer. I started making videos before the World Cup about why you should watch it, and during the World Cup, about every story I thought was cool. That was when I really took off in the women's sports space. When the World Cup ended, I realized there's so much other women's sports stuff and stuff that I want to learn more about so I just kept making videos about other sports. And now here we are.
OOYL: Is this your full-time job now? You seem to travel a lot to make this content.
CJJ: It's not! I have a very nice boss. I’m actually a video editor and I have the coolest job ever. It’s my dream job, but I won't be able to sustain both for that much longer. I'm still managing doing both right now, which is a lot, but it still feels good and fun.
OOYL: How are you deciding which events to go to? Are people reaching out to offer you tickets or media passes, or are these things you're doing on your own dime? I ask because I think someone like you, who makes content in the women’s sports space, is a relatively new role and career and I’m curious how it works.
CJJ: I’m trying to think of when I last paid for it myself because I really, really wanted to go—oh, the U.S. Open Final in 2023. I made all this content and I really got into tennis for, like, a month. I'm in D.C., and the U.S. Open is in New York, and I was like, ‘I'm just gonna go.’ My friend was living in New York, and I was like, ‘If I pay for our U.S. Open ticket, can I sleep on your floor?’ I still didn't have a manager or anything, and I would email so many brands but I didn’t always have those connections. We had nosebleeds, but the coolest live sporting event I've ever witnessed is watching Coco [Gauff] win the U.S. Open that year. That was awesome.
But now I really just go when I get invited, and it's typically in conjunction with a brand that is sponsoring something. So I'll make some content, and then I get to go for free. It is the craziest thing in the world to me that I get paid to do this. I was just telling somebody else—I was on a trip and at the Liberty game [recently]—I would pay, obviously, to be sitting courtside at this game, and yet, we are literally being paid to do it. I'm pinching myself.
OOYL: I saw you on TV at that Liberty game! I'm sure a lot of people did, your phone must have been going nuts.
CJJ: Oh my God. When I realized I was right behind Becky [Hammon, the Las Vegas Aces’ coach], I was like, ‘Oh, I think I'm gonna get some air time.’
OOYL: How do you see your role in the content ecosystem? I think that the women's sports media space is really interesting because it was under-covered for so long that there was this massive space that I think content creators have been able to fill. They're not traditional journalists, but they have a lot of access in ways that content creators don't always in other industries. As someone who is in that space, how do you feel your work fits into the larger women's sports media landscape?
CJJ: I would never call myself a journalist. I have done a couple of videos where I reach out to somebody and do my own interviews, but it's very rare. I typically just read a bunch of stuff and give credit where it's due. I think it’s kind of the Wild Wild West—I always want to make sure that I'm being respectful of the work that other people do when I'm making my videos, but I also want to make sure that I'm never having a take that’s your take or someone else’s take. Because I have a platform, people will automatically assume it's mine, and that's never, ever what I want.
I see myself as more of a meta commentary on the fan experience. I'm just a fan, and I feel like I'm the fans’ coach. I try to comment on things but still keep that “fan” part of myself alive. It's also 100% about entertainment. I always think of the message I want to say and how I want to use my platform, but I also know that the best way to get eyes on important things is to make them interesting. I do want to go viral. I do want to make really engaging content that's social-first. I could be better about interviewing people when I'm in these spaces, but I'm still just a fan and I freeze up.
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OOYL: I think it's been very cool to see your access evolve and who pops up in your content. I can tell that you're a fan—I think that's what makes you relatable.
CJJ: It's weird to be a fan and suddenly have this kind of access to your heroes. I was just at [that Liberty game], sitting behind Megan [Rapinoe] and Sue [Bird]. I had met them at the hotel that I stayed in during March Madness. They follow me on Instagram and so I said, ‘Hi, it's so weird to see you guys in real life,’ and they were like, ‘It’s weird seeing you out of our phone.’
And so anyway, I was sat right behind them at this game, and Sue turned around in the beginning and she waved to me. And then later in the game, a fashion influencer came and sat down next to me, and Megan turns around because I was standing up to let him sit, and she's holding her hand out for a handshake, and looking at me right in the eyes. And for some reason I'm like, ‘Oh, she has to be wanting me to get this fashion person's attention, she's not trying to shake my hand right now.’ So I'm being awkward and she says, ‘Jackie, how are you?’ My brain cannot compute that she is making eye contact with me and wanting to talk to me and knows my name.
OOYL: It's funny, because I'm a fan of sports, too. That's how I got interested in doing this job in the first place. But I cover it in ways that often make people upset, and that's such a hard place to be because I'm like, ‘Oh man, I’ve upset this person that I look up to so much and think is so great.’ And they don't want to talk to me for my exposé or whatever. It’s a very different place to be.
CJJ: But you do such important work. I have been following your work for a very long time. I just love really good queer-focused journalism around women's sports. Like, it's the best.
OOYL: Thank you! I appreciate that. Okay, speed round questions for you. What is your favorite event that you've gotten to cover?
CJJ: When we were in middle school, I remember being in science class and my best friend, Audrey [Meyers], showing me Paige Beuckers and being like, ‘Look at this girl. She's our age. She's going to be awesome.’ My friend played basketball. We actually tried out for the middle school team the same day, and then I didn't go back because I was like, ‘That is too much turning around for me. I'll stick with soccer.’ But Audrey stuck with basketball and she played D1, and so she’s always been playing during March Madness.
She went to High Point this last year, and then they lost in the first four so she was free for the first time since I've known her to go to one of these things with me. So I took her to March Madness and we got to sit courtside for the Final. I know it's not necessarily answering the question of the event itself, but this is how we see sports—it’s for the the fans’ experience and the story. And for me, personally, in my story, it was such an amalgamation of my success but also being able to credit where credit's due. She's the person that made me watch the WNBA for the first time, and watch college basketball for the first time, and to do that with her… I've not experienced something that was so full circle.
OOYL: I love that so much. Okay, who is the person you were most excited to meet?
CJJ: It's probably Megan [Rapinoe], that’s still crazy to me. I did the RE—CAP Show with Tobin Heath. My favorite player ever is Christen Press, I had a poster for my room in high school. I just love Christen. And I did a RE—CAP Show after one of the Olympic Games, and I wasn't with Christen, just Tobin and so I've yet to meet Christen for real. That is my ultimate—if I were to meet Christen. But I think that the universe knows I'm not ready yet. So when it's time, it's time.
OOYL: This all makes sense, since you are a soccer girlie at heart. What is the most surprising thing you've learned from getting to be behind the scenes and more in-the-know than when you started this journey?
CJJ: The first thing that comes to mind is so trite, but celebrities are just like us. That's so annoying, but it's kind of the truth. When I am in these conversations with people that I really respect, they're just really cool. I could talk about women’s sports—I'm sure you could, too—for hours and hours and hours, about all my different thoughts and about what I think is the right way to cover it and what I think is the wrong way to cover it, all these different things. And what I most enjoy about behind the scenes is that everybody wants to have those conversations all the time. I don't think anyone gets tired of it, because it's what all of our shared passion is.
I went to this event recently with Delta, they made a little three-part series about women’s basketball and the videos are going to be on Delta flights. I really do think they did a good job with them. They made these videos, and then they brought Stewie and Cameron Brink and Nneka Ogwumike in to watch these things about themselves and it was cool to see them react to it. And Cameron had this interesting thing that she said about the guilt of being a rookie after all the success—the guilt of the chartered flights and knowing that she's only ever known it like this, but it’s the first year for everybody else and she feels guilty reaping the rewards of something she didn't necessarily do herself.
And Nneka was like, ‘Don't feel guilty. You should just feel inspired to do the same for the people after you. What can you do to up the ante and what can you do to make it better?’ And not that it's the same, but that's kind of how I feel.
Yes, I've been a fan for a long time. But my prominence in this space and my ability to work with brands and get paid to do this has a lot to do with the recent growth and boom of women's sports. I just happened to be in this market that blew up right when I was doing it. I'm going to these events, and they're super cool and fancy, and they might not have been two years ago. Just hearing what Nneka said, that's so true, even relevant to content creation. Yes, it used to be a lot more difficult. But what can I do to continue to push that boundary and continue to make a difference?
OOYL: I saw a video of Nneka recently that was, similarly, so classy and generous. Somebody had made a video of her taking a hard screen from Paige Bueckers and being like, ‘Welcome to the W,’ and she responded essentially, “Yeah, I'm playing with the best in the world, and I'm gonna have ‘Welcome to the W’ moments in my whole career and I'm honored to take this one.” Just an all-around class act, Nneka is.
OK, my last question for you: why is queer-specific women's sports content important?
CJJ: When I was a kid, truly the first time I ever was able to put a queer person and “excellence” in the same thought, was when I watched the World Cup and I watched somebody like Abby Wambach score and win the game, and I knew she was gay. It's as simple as that—understanding that somebody who does something so great is also gay. For a kid like me who was raised religiously and had some connotations that weren't good, I was like, ‘Oh, I can be gay and still be the best in the world.’ And that's what women's sports is to me, and it's not any more complicated than that.
That is why for me, it's important to tell the queer stories. Because one, the excellence that is women's sports is built on queer stories, and if we don't tell the queer stories, we're not telling the women's sports stories. But two, because I know firsthand how absolutely life changing it can be to idolize somebody who's queer and to idolize somebody who is so talented and fiercely themselves.
You can follow Coach Jackie on TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube.