Before the W season tips off on May 14th, there’s preseason — and before preseason, there’s training camp. For experienced pros, each team’s camp provides a chance to jell with new and old teammates and get back into the swing of things.
As many as 18 players might sign camp contracts with a team. The club must then whittle that number down to the league-required roster size — at least 11 but no more than 12 players — before the regular season starts.
In a typical year, less than half of newly drafted players suit up for their draft team. Only 15 of the 36 women who heard their name called at last year’s draft made a W team roster, while fan favorites like Iowa alum Monika Czinano were waived and sought pro opportunities overseas.
There’s an abundance of pro-level talent than the W has room for, which can make training camps a cutthroat process. Even among other pro leagues, the W is especially hard to break into, and fans are desperate for a solution. So how do other leagues keep potential stars from the cutting room floor?
Pro baseball has a robust development system: the minor leagues. It’s exceedingly rare to jump straight from the draft to the show — almost everyone spends time in the minors, even big-name MLB players who just need a reset when their game is off.
The NFL doesn’t have a minor league, but there are alternative football leagues like the XFL angling to take on that role. Still, NFL teams can retain promising talent by signing them to practice squads, keeping them within the league’s orbit while giving them valuable reps against the game’s best.
But what’s a realistic solution for the W? Probably something like the NBA’s G League. Each NBA team has an associated minor league squad that (hopefully) helps develop tomorrow’s pro talent.
But while a development league would partially stop the talent-bleed, there’s one potential solution to the W’s roster shortages: expansion.
There’s a lot of layers when it comes to expansion. But one key is increasing current teams’ valuation, which would encourage new owners to invest in expansion clubs. And there’s been great news on that front recently: The Seattle Storm announced last year that they’re valued at $151M, about 15 times more (!!!) than their previous mark, with the Chicago Sky just behind at $85M.
New teams means more roster spots, which means fewer drafted players shut out of the league and fewer training camps that resemble The Hunger Games.
League leadership has clearly been listening to its fan base: Next season, the W is adding its first expansion team in 17 years, a Bay Area sister team to the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. And commissioner Cathy Engelbert recently announced a goal to add three more teams by 2028, bringing the total number back to 16.
If there were ever a time for the league to invest in growth (and in its young talent), it’s now. The women’s collegiate game is more popular than ever thanks to superstars like the two-time reigning Naismith College Player of the Year, the aforementioned Clark, and that momentum is translating to the WNBA — making this season a massive opportunity.
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