City of Basketball Love

Kate Harman (@KateHarmanCoBL)
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Dawn Staley. Laura Harper. Kahleah Copper. Natasha Cloud. 

These are just some of the names from the local girls’ and women’s basketball scene of the past three decades. And they are big names. Names that have won championships at the highest levels. Names that are still involved in the game.

Kristen “Ace” Clement. Caroline Doty. Maggie Lucas. Shelly Pennefather. The Immaculata Mighty Macs.

On and on and on. 

Of course, there are more - many more -  than just those previously mentioned (I apologize for missing your favorite). Those with stories that include lauded programs, tough coaches, top teams, and generational players. You’ve probably read about some of them (shoutout to Mel Greenberg). In fact, the success of Southeastern Pa. in the women’s basketball world is pretty astounding and has reverberated throughout the country, whether at the high school, collegiate, or professional level.

You may ask, why I am seemingly trying to sell you on the local girls’ and women’s basketball scene.

Well, because I have to. 

It shouldn’t be that way, but when it comes to girls’ and women’s sports, we have been conditioned to think they have to prove themselves to get the coverage, the TV time, the front pages, the advertising, the marketing. That the stories shouldn’t - or couldn’t - just speak for themselves. 

We don’t do that to boys and men - they are considered the default, something everyone will want to read about or watch, no questions asked. 

As I said back in 2017, “There is a huge void in coverage of girls’ athletics on all scales, but especially at the high school level, where, theoretically, more parity in how sports are reported should exist. The boys get the headlines, the profiles, the pictures, while the girls are often treated like second class citizens.“

Four years later and the statement still rings true - exacerbated by prevailing societal inequities at every turn. From this year’s March Madness (and frankly, every one before that, too), to Nike youth basketball, to the time slots given at the PIAA state championships, girls and women are still not treated the same as their male counterparts. 

Which is why we need your help. 

City of Basketball Love is making a push to change the way girls’ and women’s basketball is covered in the area, dedicating itself to the local high school and college game. We are excited to get started and to provide a space to tell the stories that have often been overlooked. Stories that are both remarkable and ordinary. Game stories and features and previews and everything in-between - just like we’ve been doing for the men since 2012. 

This area deserves this commitment - and has for decades - as the excellence of the aforementioned names, and those omitted, demonstrate. 

I shouldn’t have to prove that to you. The girls and women we will be writing about shouldn’t, either. But we all will anyway, until Nike Elite provides the same goods to both its boys’ and girls’ youth teams, March Madness isn’t synonymous with just the men’s tournament, and girls’ teams aren’t the only ones relegated to the noon championship game. And then we'll keep on writing.

Thanks for reading. And thanks for donating to support this effort.