WNBA team coming to Canada a 'boost' of inspiration, says London basketball pro
CBC's Matt Allen spoke with basketball pro Miranda Ayim
The WNBA is coming north of the border with news of a Toronto team's launch. It's a move fans have been waiting on, and will mark the WNBA's first Canadian team. For some, it's a sign that the sports industry is finally taking women's basketball seriously.
Afternoon Drive host Matt Allen spoke with Londoner and former Olympian Miranda Ayim for her take on the WNBA team coming to Toronto.
LISTEN: London basketball pro talks WNBA expansion
The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Matt Allen: What was your reaction when you found out that Toronto would be getting its own WNBA team?
Miranda Ayim: I think my reaction was similar to most people when they saw that my messages and inboxes definitely blowing up that day as everybody was reaching out having that same impression.
It's something that has been in the works for the longest time. You hear the murmurs and the waves of 'OK, is it this time that we're getting it?' and to see it finally come to fruition is pretty exciting.
Allen: There's all of glowing things the WNBA had to say about Toronto as a sports town and the way that the fans will be able to support a WNBA team. How do you think the fans are going to respond to that team?
Ayim: Toronto is a sports city and I think especially for basketball because the demographic that supports and follows basketball is really, really diverse — and Toronto reflects that same sort of diversity.
I think there's going to be a lot of people who are pretty excited to come out and support. We take our excitement just from the success of the the PWHL and the excitement mounting around Project 8 with the soccer. It's a pretty exciting time, and we're excited in the basketball communities that we get to participate in that as well.
The excitement of not just proximity but to actually have a Canadian team is different, right? It taps into our national pride. It gives us something to really hang our hat on. I'm excited not just for what this will do in the WNBA sphere, but the trickle down effect that it will have on basketball in Canada more broadly.
Allen: For young female players to have players that they can look up to, what does that mean even for their game and for their development and what they can aspire to?
Ayim: The power of an image is really impactful. You don't always have to see something to be it, but it makes it a heck of a lot easier to envision and then follow in those those steps. It's highly motivating, especially for a town like London.
For Londoners to be able to look to take a quick weekend trip down to Toronto and see their favourite player live and see that as a possibility, not having to go down through the States or spend decades overseas and see that as a viable job opportunity, will just add even more motivation in a population that's actually rapidly decreasing.
Because we know a lot of young female athletes are leaving the sport, so this will just be a boost of motivation and inspiration for those people.
CBC's Afternoon Drive airs from 4 to 6 p.m. on weekdays across southwestern Ontario.