Today on Locked on Women’s Basketball, The Next’s two Canadian writers – Chelsea Leite and Hayley McGoldrick — talk all things WNBA, Toronto Tempo, and women’s sports in Canada.
First, Hayley begins by talking about what it has been like trying to cover the WNBA in Canada.
“It’s definitely difficult, because the landscape wasn’t really here,” she said. “I was one of very few (WNBA writers) in Canada. There’s obviously so many people who came before me who have been covering this league since there were 200 people watching the Liberty instead of a sold-out crowd at Barclays. You know, there’s definitely so many who came before me, but it was hard, and I think of not even being able to watch games here, it was kind of like, ‘okay, I’m like, looking at box scores. I’m trying to see what storylines are relevant when I can’t even watch these games.'”
Later, the two discuss the future of the Tempo being Canada’s first WNBA team and how women’s sports have boomed in Canada.
‘Rare Gems’ is out now!
Howard Megdal, founder and editor of The IX Basketball and The IX Sports, wrote this deeply reported book. “Rare Gems” follows four connected generations of women’s basketball pioneers, from Elvera “Peps” Neuman to Cheryl Reeve and from Lindsay Whalen to Sylvia Fowles and Paige Bueckers.
If you enjoy Megdal’s coverage of women’s basketball every Wednesday at The IX Sports, you will love “Rare Gems: How Four Generations of Women Paved the Way for the WNBA.”
“It’s just so incredible to be at a place where we are, not even just in Toronto, but Canada,” Hayley said. “… I could never imagine that we’d be at a point where this summer in Vancouver, we’re gonna have our third WNBA Canada game, which is so incredible. We’re gonna have an entire (soccer) league that’s playing out this summer, we have the PWHL.”
Make sure to subscribe to the Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast to keep learning about women’s college basketball, the WNBA, basketball history and much more!
“Becoming Caitlin Clark” is out now!
Howard Megdal’s newest book is here! “Becoming Caitlin Clark: The Unknown Origin Story of a Modern Basketball Superstar” captures both the historic nature of Clark’s rise and the critical context over the previous century that helped make it possible, including interviews with Clark, Lisa Bluder (who also wrote the foreword), C. Vivian Stringer, Jan Jensen, Molly Kazmer and many others.
