Women’s athletics have long been forced into the backseat while men’s sports were given priority. The NFL, MLB and various other men’s sports leagues are televised, advertised and promoted over the smaller, less popular women’s associations. The Bay Area, however, is on a path to taking back women’s places in professional sports through the Golden State Valkyries, Bay FC and numerous nonprofit organizations encouraging young players to get involved with each sport no matter their economic status.
In their debut 2025 WNBA season, the Valkyries were a commercial success, becoming the first team in the WNBA to sell out every home game with 22 regular-season sellouts at Chase Center. In their first year as a team, they set a new league attendance record, averaging 18,064 fans per home game and drawing a total of 397,408 attendees over the course of the season. One of these spectators is Varsity girls basketball player Stella Kitch, who sees this addition to the bay a step in the right direction for women’s sports.
“As a basketball player it’s helpful to see role models in your own community,” she said. “The closest WNBA team was the Los Angeles Sparks which is at least an eight hour drive, so having a team to look up to thats so close is a big motivator for people like me and other girls who are playing basketball.”
The influence goes beyond just the stats: The Valkyries have made a mark on the community, specifically Asians in the Bay Area, by hosting the first Taiwanese player in the WNBA, Kaitlyn Chen, along with Asian-American WNBA coach Natalie Nakase. Varsity girls’ basketball player senior Jocelyn Lu has seen the impacts within her community.
“I think it’s important for everyone to be represented and its cool to have influential Asian-American women to look up to,” she said. “ When I was younger, I didn’t really get to see anyone who looks like me playing professional ball, so I think it’s really cool.”
The widespread rise in popularity of women’s sports allows for new teams to form and expand women’s leagues, improving their outreach. Bay FC, a relatively new soccer team formed in 2023, represents the Bay Area in the National Women’s Soccer League. In just three years, the team has already made a significant impact on their community. Through initiatives such as hosting soccer clinics, visits to local hospitals, and their Bay it Forward program provides access to sports for marginalized communities while simultaneously teaching leadership skills, they reached hundreds, if not thousands.
Giving women a separate channel helps boost confidence in their play and provides strong examples of equity and inclusivity. The Baseball For All nonprofit organization allows women to play the sport they love by hosting tournaments and offering opportunities for players, coaches and leaders to make a difference within the sport. Following the Valkyries’ successful launch in San Francisco, Baseball For All and the newly founded Women’s Baseball League announced their arrival to the city. Although the area will not be hosting teams for their first year, the hope for the future is to bring the Bay Area love to the baseball community as they have done in the past.
Smaller environments are looking to further their options for women’s sports as well: Gunn added the girls flag football team as a fall sport in 2024, increasing participation in football as a whole. Although girls are allowed to play football, having their own space to express themselves and play feels a lot more comfortable. Sophomore varsity flag football player Emily Podulk reflects on the importance of bringing equality and fairness to the sport.
“I think it’s really important to have (girls flag football teams) because I feel that football has always been seen as a men’s sport, and bringing a girls flag football team can bring a new angle on looking at sports,” she said.
