SAN FRANCISCO — The WNBA’s new collective bargaining agreement brought a lot of new things to the league this season. One of the most notable ones was the addition of two developmental roster spots per team. The Golden State Valkyries filled one of their spots with Australian guard Miela Sowah.
For Sowah, being in the WNBA is something she has dreamed of since she was 14. Now that she’s here, she is making the most of every day.
“I always wanted to get [to the] WNBA,” Sowah told The IX Sports. “It was really this past season. It was a little bit before the [WNBL] finals. I’d heard that a WNBA team was interested in me. When I found out it was the Golden State Valkyries, I was like, ‘Oh man, that’s pretty sick.”
Sowah, a native of Brisbane, started dreaming of playing in the WNBA after competing in a national tournament in her home country as a teenager. Her team won the tournament, and Sowah was the top scorer for the whole event. She realized she was pretty good at basketball and it might be able to take her somewhere. She wrote down her goals, and they were quite big: play for the Australian national team at the Olympics and play on a WNBA roster.
After she decided she wanted to play in the WNBA, Sowah saw that other Australian players who played college basketball in the United States had an easier time making it to the league. She trained with Kristy Wallace and watched Wallace succeed during her four years at Baylor. This helped push Sowah to pursue college basketball, which ultimately led her to Duke.
“I just kind of saw [Wallace’s] path over there,” Sowah said, “and I was like, ‘You know what, basketball takes you around the world, and how awesome to play in the U.S., where they are known for basketball.’ So I was like, ‘I might as well learn the game from some of the best.'”
After four years at Duke (where she was known by her maiden name, Miela Goodchild), Sowah went undrafted in 2022. She wasn’t signed to a WNBA training camp roster and returned to Australia to start her professional career. Between 2022 and 2026, Sowah played for four different clubs in the WNBL, Australia’s top professional league. Every year, her scoring increased as she worked toward her ultimate goal.
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In the 2025-26 season with the Townsville Fire, Sowah averaged a career-high 17.8 points per game. Known as an elite shooter, she shot 40.9% from 3-point range on over 200 attempts. She scored a season-high 27 points against the Southside Flyers and helped lead the Fire to a WNBL championship. Sowah knew her consistent improvement and the work she was putting in during her time in the WNBL were preparing her to reach her dream.
“It’s a good league,” Sowah said of the WNBL. “We get plenty of WNBA players who come out there, and a lot of them, even [Valkyries guard] Veronica [Burton], come play there and then get [the WNBA] Most Improved [Player award] when they come back. I think it’s a really good competition to develop your game, and I think just getting the exposure there and the reps.
“One thing for me, I think, from last season was just consistency. I was able to develop a really consistent season. It’s awesome to be out here and take what I’ve learned from those years in Australia and implement them here.”
During the WNBL playoffs, Sowah heard that the Valkyries were interested in her. She thought their style fit her perfectly, and the idea of playing in the same gym as NBA star Steph Curry excited her. She came to training camp excited for the opportunity and ready to show her skills.
Sowah knew coming into training camp that her biggest strength was her 3-point shooting. However, she also wanted to show her hustle and do the nitty-gritty things that would help her stand out. Sowah showed her value in a preseason game on April 25, scoring 14 points in 14 minutes while hitting all four of her threes. After the game, Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase knew Sowah was ready for the moment.
“I was just like, Oh my gosh,” Nakase told reporters. “Just to see … Balhalla respond to Miela. She was just unconscious out there, and so it was really cool just to see all of her hard work come to life.”
Sowah was cut a few days after that game but was re-signed to a developmental roster spot on May 6. She has been active in three regular-season games, playing in two. She has played just six total minutes and missed both of her shots, but the moment she first stepped onto a WNBA court was surreal. It had been 12 years of hard work, and it finally paid off, which is Sowah’s life motto.
Despite playing in only two games, Sowah still goes through everything that all the Valkyries go through. She practices with the team every day, she lifts with the team, and she does all the extra work to be ready to play. One of the biggest areas she knew she needed to work on coming into the WNBA was her strength. She knew that the league was physical and that she needed to be stronger to play in the league.
Sowah has greatly improved her strength, which she is incredibly proud of. She has been trying to soak in everything and learn from Valkyries leaders like Burton, Gabby Williams and Kayla Thornton. They have all helped her grow, and she has loved being part of Golden State’s culture.
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The Valkyries’ culture has consistently been talked about as one of the best in the league, and Sowah saw that immediately once she arrived in the Bay Area.
“Honestly, all the girls have been so awesome,” Sowah said of her teammates. “I think … culture can sometimes be underestimated, but I think that’s what makes the Valkyries super special. I think our leaders, like Veronica and Gabby, really set the standard of what it means to be a Valkyries player. They lead by example, but they also lead vocally as well. They’ve been awesome.”
Being a developmental player is not easy. Developmental players don’t know whether they will be active for any given game, but they still have to show up ready every day and give it their all in practice. Sowah has adapted to the role and is working really hard to get better. She tries to always be ready because she never knows when her number will be called. She feels her job is to show up every day and help the Valkyries however she can.
Sowah knows this role is challenging, but she believes that her outgoing personality and faith have helped her. Any time you see her around the team, she is always smiling and consistently brings joy to others. Sowah said she has always been a bubbly person and tries to bring a positive attitude to everything she does. She loves life and tries to help other people feed off her energy.
Nakase likens what Sowah is doing to being an intern. Sowah puts in all the work, but no one really sees it.
“She brings her energy and her smile. It’s so infectious,” Nakase told reporters. “The coolest thing is she’s so coachable. She soaks everything up. She’s one of those people that you want to look around for and be like, ‘Hey, Miela, how’s your day?’ because she’s giving you energy, and she’s infectious in terms of her positivity. It’s been a perfect fit for her.”
Sowah is living the dream that she’d longed for since she was 14. Waiting 12 years to achieve that has been well worth it, and she smiles every day because of it.
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