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When Canada’s national anthem was played at the Coca-Cola Coliseum during the Toronto Tempo’s first pre-season game on April 29th, there was joy reverberating throughout the arena. It gave the country a glimpse of what is to come.
The lights focused on the flag drawing cheers . The camera panned to Kia Nurse, the first Canadian on the team. (Yvonne Ejim, a 24-year-old from Calgary, was signed to a training-camp contract on Tuesday.) Nurse, who was in the starting lineup, was singing loudly as her signature smile radiated. I couldn’t help but feel a lump in my throat as I stood in the home of Canada’s newest professional women’s team.
This moment was real and it was here. I was planted in the press box but took a moment to dash over to a friend undergoing cancer treatment who made it out to the game. A longtime women’s basketball fan, she said it was a dream come true for her. That interaction made the reality of more opportunity for women’s basketball in Canada more profound.
The game was sold out and the 8,210 fans chanted and roared the entire night. When Nurse sank the first bucket (a 3-pointer) for the Tempo, the noise was raucous. It wasn’t only a welcome home moment for Nurse, but for the entire largely international squad.
In a post-game interview, Tempo forward and Lithuanian international Laura Juškaitė said that the game itself was not “beautiful,” but the moment was something.
“I will not remember this game because of basketball,” she said. “I will remember because of the crowd and how they loved us tonight.”
Two years ago, I broke the story at CBC Sports about the WNBA coming to Canada. I knew it would be massively impactful but until I stood at the realization of that story, surrounded by people in borealis blue and Tempo bordeaux — the team colours — it felt surreal.
Four years ago, there were no stable professional women’s sports leagues in Canada. The CWHL had shuttered and although the PHF had the Toronto Six, the league was later folded into what is now the PWHL. The Northern Super League had not happened yet. So when Toronto got a WNBA team it felt overdue and necessary.
This is a real moment of growth for women’s sports in Canada. Sports news now covers women’s stories more regularly, there are reels shared liberally on social media, and there is broadcast attention. In addition to the growth of women’s basketball culture in this country, there are also the opportunities made for women who work in the sport.
Tempo assistant coach Carly Clarke is currently the only Canadian on the team’s coaching staff. The Haligonian joins head coach Sandy Brondello’s staff as an accomplished Canadian presence. Clarke led the TMU Bold women’s basketball team to a national championship in 2022 and served as assistant coach of the Olympic women’s team in 2020 and 2024.
The importance of being part of the Tempo franchise is not lost on her.
”To know that this team and franchise would be in my backyard, I think I was hopeful to build a relationship and have an opportunity to open up that next step for me in my career,” she said.
While it is no small feat to build a team from scratch, Clarke said the goal is to become a world-class organization, to compete, win championships and grow basketball for women’s and girls.
“One of our biggest gaps, or if not the biggest gap, is we are one of the only countries in the world that doesn’t have our own professional women’s basketball league,” Clarke said. “So to now have a franchise here in Canada that is going to provide more exposure to our young players, our young girls, and inspire and create some dreams, I think it will bring more eyes to the talent level in every realm, from coaching to playing and everything in between.”
The spark has been lit and we are well on our way to having a well-stoked fire. The Tempo will play games in Montreal and Vancouver to offer Canadian fans a chance to get onboard with a league they may not have been as attached to because it was non-existent in Canada.
What is even more exciting about the Tempo is that the team is made up of so many internationals, including players from Spain, the U.S., Germany, Belgium, Nigeria, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Russia. Having a roster with international talent helps reframe what women’s basketball can be (arguably dominated by the U.S.) on a global scale. Toronto is a multicultural city that boasts strong fan communities from all over the world. Fans can dive in and support different players from their own home countries and get behind this team.
Toronto is a fantastic sports city and the players have experienced this already. At the Tempo’s media day in April, Brittney “Slim” Sykes and Marina Mabrey told me that their favourite experiences in Toronto so far were attending a Toronto Raptors playoff game and a Toronto Sceptres game. Women’s sports crossovers are not only golden social media content, they are essential for showing stability and recognition across the sports ecosystem. And I love it.
The journey here has not been seamless and it is more a continuation rather than a culmination. We may see more expansion teams in Canada. The crowds are ready and the talent is growing; why couldn’t there be another WNBA team in a Canadian market?
The PWHL finished its third regular season with record attendances and the NSL is growing with momentum. With the storylines, the drama and the superstars that the WNBA brings, it’s fair to expect that the Toronto Tempo will join the ranks of exceptional teams in this country’s history.
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