The WPBA Tips Off 4th Season on Sunday

The fourth season of the Women’s Premier Basketball Association gets started on Sunday, June 8th. As in previous seasons, the eight teams will all play games at the same site even though they have different Bay Area themed names. Each game day features a quadruple-header with games at 12, 2, 4, and 6. After an exciting offseason that included fielding a team that became the runners-up of the entire Americas and building out their nonprofit element, the league has already announced some exciting new signings alongside returning players ahead of their main season.

League Details

Teams will play an eight game regular season on a mix of Saturdays and Sundays, running June 8th, 15th, 21st, and 28th, July 6th, 19th, and 26th, and finishing on August 2nd before the playoffs. After using the site for exhibitions last year, the league will play their games at Oakland Hills Campus, the former home gym of Holy Names University when it was in operation. There are a variety of ticket options and deals, including the ability to get a free children’s ticket per adult ticket. Games will be broadcast on the Bench Sports platform this season, which includes a revenue-sharing component for the players.

Player Signings

The league has had a history of signing local professionals playing in their offseasons between gigs with more well-known leagues as well as players with significant experience who have settled in the Bay Area for other parts of their careers. Bringing in Erica McCall last offseason so soon after her WNBA career was a big move for the league and there could be other new names this season that would be known to a wider audience than hardcore Bay Area fans.

The league has had the goal of helping get its players other professional opportunities during the offseason since its founding. In a world where it can be difficult for a smaller college player to get that first overseas contract, the league has an excellent track record in facilitating this by developing connections with leagues that are good starting points for less known players. American leagues do not usually bother to participate in the larger FIBA ecosystem of basketball worldwide, but the WPBA specifically went through the process of obtaining sanctioning in order to increase the credibility for their players in the eyes of teams around the world.

That clear pathway means that rookies are joining after solid college careers and even international players are joining the league. The WPBA has already announced some of the rookies who will be playing in the league this season, headlined by Brooke Demetre from Stanford. Bay Area native Kylie Horstmeyer will also play along with Salimatou Kourouma and Kam Shelley from outside the area. Some of the returning players have also been confirmed, including league mainstays like Ameela Li, Rebecca Harris, Mariah Cooks, and Mo Bennett. Impact players who joined last year, like Erica McCall, Rokia Doumbia, and Brandy Huffhines are also playing again.

Offseason Accomplishments

It was certainly a busy offseason for the league as their status as a sanctioned league gave them the opportunity to enter a team into FIBA’s Women’s Basketball League Americas tournament to try to be crowned champions of the entire Americas. A team was fielded under the Bay Area Phoenix banner and they were able to finish as the runners-up with a documentary of their journey scheduled for release this summer.

Plenty of moves were also made off the court since last season with their foundation securing their nonprofit status to facilitate the other goals of the organization. In addition to the people who have helped build the league up to its current point, additional advisors with local and basketball experience have been added to the board and they held a gala to kick off the new season.