Parting Words: Girls in the stands
I’m a coach’s kid. My dad was a high school basketball coach — the ultimate boy dad who ended up with two daughters. He raised us to be powerful athletes. I, however, did not get that memo. All athletic talent seemed to bypass me and land squarely on my little sister, a great basketball and volleyball player (it helped that she’s nearly 6 feet tall).
Still, my lack of ability never dimmed my love of sports. Athletics were a constant in our house and still are — Saturday mornings tuned to College GameDay, Sunday afternoons at San Antonio Spurs games, spring phone calls filled with optimism about the Cincinnati Reds or Houston Astros seasons. What my dad lacked in Y chromosomes in his offspring, he made up for in passion and access. He taught us the rules, took us to games and shared the thrill of competition.
When the WNBA launched in 1997, my sixth-grade heart could barely contain itself. We lived three hours from Houston, home to one of the league’s original teams, the Comets. They won the league’s first four championships, and in 1998 my dad got us tickets to the Finals.
“I remember the roar of the crowd, the flash of the uniforms, the confetti falling after the win... It was the kind of night you carry with you.”
I remember the roar of the crowd, the flash of the uniforms, the confetti falling after the win. Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson felt larger than life. To me, Cynthia Cooper could do anything — as if her slicked-back ponytail held magical powers. It was the kind of night you carry with you.
Now, nearly 30 years later, I’m the mom of a young son and daughter. Passing along my love of sports feels less like a hobby and more like a responsibility. This winter, sitting at a Spurs–Pacers game (Hi, Obi!), I realized my kids have attended games in nearly every professional league — MLS, MLB, NBA, NHL and NFL. Soon, in 2028, we’ll add the WNBA when Cleveland relaunches its team, just three hours away.
The league has grown in ways I couldn’t have imagined in 1997. Stars are household names. Opportunities for women continue to expand. And when news broke that a franchise was coming to Ohio, it felt fitting that a Flyer is leading the charge.
In this issue’s Alumni Spotlight [Page 40], Allison Howard ’00, president of Cleveland’s WNBA expansion team, talks about building more than a franchise. She's building community. That’s what she loves about women’s sports, she said: “It’s like this utopian society where everybody gets along.”
“We build communities. We form leaders. We send Flyers into the world ready to create spaces where people come together.”
Little girls in jerseys. Parents bringing sons and daughters. Two sisters watching their heroes. Families from every background and lived experience gathering to cheer. That sense of belonging — that’s what sports have always meant to me.
It’s also what UD does best. We build communities. We form leaders. We send Flyers into the world ready to create spaces where people come together. Sometimes that work happens in classrooms and labs. And sometimes it happens on the hardwood — under bright lights, with confetti falling — while the next generation watches.
A version of this article appears in print in the Spring 2026 University of Dayton Magazine, Page 64. EXPLORE THE ISSUE — MORE ONLINE