How Abbey Forbes (UNC Women's Tennis) Stacks All of the Wins
How Abbey Forbes (UNC Women's Tennis) Stacks All of the Wins
Women's tennis national champion excels in athletics, NIL, academics, and advocacy
In the spring of 2020, the United States was in turmoil. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by police sent the nation into upheaval. Abbey Forbes, then a tennis player at the University of California, Los Angeles, and her teammates felt like they needed to take action.
“We all were just so distraught by what was happening around us and we were even seeing sparks of racism on our own campus,” Forbes said. “We wanted to do something about what was happening here in LA. I reached out to a few of my fellow student-athletes, and we wanted to start a Black Student Athlete Alliance at UCLA.”
At a university where around five percent of the population is Black, Forbes and her teammates had to convince the people around them of the need for the institution to achieve funding and establish the organization. With the effort of herself and her fellow student-athletes, Forbes overcame pushback and worked with the athletics department to co-found the Black Student-Athlete Alliance (BSAA) at UCLA, which is still in effect today.
After the pandemic canceled the season and sent students home, Forbes finished her undergraduate degree one year early and chose to study for an MBA in finance at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, wanting to go home to be near family as her brother was finishing treatment for leukemia.
At UNC, Forbes is continuing her advocacy efforts, earning her MBA at a top program and dominating on the tennis court, winning a national championship last year. In the 2023 season, she was ranked No. 39 in singles and was named to the 2023 ITA Indoor Championships All-Tournament team with her doubles teammate.
In her time at UCLA, Forbes became a member of the National College Players Association (NCPA) working as a grassroots member to get student-athletes registered to vote and involved in passing bills supporting athlete rights. In her final year in California, NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) was established.
“I'm really fortunate that I went to college in the age of NIL,” Forbes said. “I learned how to market myself not just as a student-athlete, but most importantly as a person. And I feel like I gained so much business expertise that I'm so grateful for now that I'm going to be entering the workforce next year.”
As an advocate, Forbes has learned about the importance of getting involved in whatever capacity possible and emphasizes the value of giving student-athletes the same rights and protections that the schools and companies they work for get.
“I think advocacy gets misconstrued sometimes and people believe that you need to be in Congress to advocate for something or you need to be a political leader,” Forbes said. “No, you really don't. You just need to be a member of your community who cares about people in your community.”
Forbes learned that in advocating for what she believes in, she is helping those who may not have a voice be heard.
“You never know who you're advocating for, because that person might not be willing to speak up,” Forbes said. “They might be afraid, and you might be championing their efforts, and you have no idea.”
You can learn more about Abbey Forbes by following her on Instagram, X/Twitter or LinkedIn and in her interview with The Athlete's Bureau Podcast.
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