With the rise of WNBA stars like Indiana Fever’s guard Caitlyn Clarke and Chicago Sky’s rookie Angel Reese, women’s basketball has faced a colossal and historic rise in popularity. San Francisco, with its status as a hub of progressiveness and creativity, is certainly a city that needed a WNBA team.
Talks of expansion in the WNBA became a hot debate in 2021, although they have been an ever-present topic of discussion since the league’s beginning. It took nearly two years of negotiations for a Golden State Warriors expansion team to begin. Agreements were finalized in September of 2023, and finally, the team was announced in October: our very own Golden State Valkyries. “[San Francisco has] proven the time is right time and time again. This is such a beautiful moment in women’s sports,” remarked the team’s president, Jess Smith. With over 20 years of experience in the sports business industry, Smith knows that “What we’re building is bigger than sport. It’s a mix of sport, purpose, and pop-culture.”
The impact of the Warriors expansion and addition of the Valkyries to the WNBA will not just reach local fans. As president Smith acknowledges, this is bigger than a sport; it’s a movement. It’s an opportunity to inspire the younger generation of women’s basketball players and ensure they feel seen. The expansion will amplify the audience of women’s basketball and create role models for women and girls with aspirations to play at the professional level. The Valkyries’ “ascent” is a message to San Francisco that women’s basketball deserves equal recognition and a reminder to local girls who love to play ball that they should aim high and chase their dreams.
The Valkyries will hit the court for the first time on May 6th against the Los Angeles Sparks for the upcoming WNBA season. With a mix of up-and-coming talents like Iowa State graduate Kate Martin and North Carolina State graduate Elissa Cunane, who both have only a year of experience in the league, and veterans like guard Tiffany “Tip” Hayes and Spanish national player Maria Conde, the Valkyries are set for an explosive inaugural season. May they fly high as they aim to make their mark on the league, the Bay Area, and the country.
