The Women’s Lacrosse League is preparing to make history in the Philly area. To Mayor Parker, ‘it’s about opening doors.’
The WLL's inaugural championship is Aug. 15 at Subaru Park in Chester. The league boasts 18 players and two coaches with ties to the area.
The summer of unforgettable sports moments in Philadelphia is far from over, and Mayor Cherelle L. Parker was excited Wednesday for the next event coming to town.
Parker and local youth lacrosse players gathered at Dock Street South to celebrate the inaugural Women’s Lacrosse League championship, which is Aug. 15 (5 p.m., ESPN) at the Union’s Subaru Park in Chester.
“For a long time, women’s sports were treated as an afterthought, a smaller version of the real thing,” said Rachael DeCecco, a USA Lacrosse Hall of Famer and Broomall native who’s the senior vice president of the PLL and WLL.
“Every young girl who’s going to watch this league will understand, without ever having to be told, that this is a real path, a real career, a real sport worth playing at the highest level. And there is no better place to host this historic first-ever WLL championship than right here in Philadelphia.”
The Philly area is a hotbed for women’s lacrosse. Of the WLL’s four teams — the Maryland Charm, California Palms, New York Charging, and Boston Guard — 18 players and two coaches have ties to the region.
Three of those players — California Palms defender Katie Detwiler (Devon, Archbishop Carroll) and the Maryland Charm’s McKenzie Blake (Haddonfield) and Abby Bosco (Penn) attended Wednesday’s event. Also in attendance was Tina Sloan Green, the former Temple women’s lacrosse coach who has been breaking barriers in field hockey and lacrosse since the 1970s.
Now 82, Green said the formation of the WLL, which is in its second season, is her legacy.
“I can’t even believe it,” Green said. “I grew up here and was the only Black female playing the sport. So this means so much to me because I know that my grandchildren, and their children, will get opportunities.”
» READ MORE: Tina Sloan Green opened doors in multiple sports. The NCAA is honoring that legacy. | from 2024
Parker also discussed wanting to create more opportunities in women’s sports. Discussions about hosting the WLL championship, as well as bringing a WNBA team to Philadelphia — which will happen in 2030 — have been on her radar since her days as a City Councilmember from 2015 to 2022.
“We’re proving every year that our interests are in building and growing professional women’s sports in the city of Philadelphia. We’re doing it in a tangible way. We’re at the table,” Parker told the crowd. “This championship, to me, is about more than competition. It’s about opening doors. And in a city like Philadelphia, I can’t begin to talk about the importance of Black and brown young women being able to know that this sport, too, is for them.”
» READ MORE: How did the WNBA wind up in Philly? A look at the road to get here and what’s next.
At the end of her speech, Parker invited the youth lacrosse players in attendance to join her in reciting her signature chant, “one Philly, a united city; one America, a united nation,” before leading an “E-A-G-L-E-S” chant and laughing with the players about spelling it correctly this time.
One of the young players in the crowd was Shiyann Werts, a lacrosse player and rising junior at Germantown Academy. Werts fell in love with the sport in sixth grade after being introduced to it at the Thomas K. Finletter School, where the Harlem Lacrosse program provides year-round academic and athletic support.
Since then, she has seen the sport’s popularity grow.
“It makes me really kind of emotional,” Werts said. “I’ve been seeing all the news on lacrosse, and it’s getting the recognition that I think it deserves. I’m really excited to see what the WLL will bring to that.”
» READ MORE: Here’s how lacrosse became the sport of choice in this North Philly neighborhood
Werts hopes to play college lacrosse, and the opportunity to play professionally after graduation is becoming a realistic pathway for female athletes who previously had few options to continue competing after their NCAA careers ended.
“I think it’s just super crazy growing up in the area,” Detwiler said. “When we were growing up, we didn’t have any of this. We played in college, and then it was on to the real world. So I think it’s really good for them to see what could be possible someday. It’s awesome to see.”
The WLL and the city are working together to ensure the championship reaches all parts of the community. The league is donating 2,500 tickets to nonprofit organizations, youth programs, and community groups.
Ashley Walkowiak, executive director of the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Women, echoed the hopes of the room that the championship is only the beginning of the impact women’s professional sports can have on Philadelphia.
“Seeing the first WLL championship hosted right here in Pennsylvania is a powerful reminder of what’s possible when we invest in expanding opportunities,” Walkowiak said. “Philadelphia has long been a place where history is made, and this championship continues that legacy. But it is more than a game. It’s a celebration of talent, leadership, and the growing momentum around women’s athletics.”