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The last year has brought milestones for women’s sports in Canada, paving the way for future generations of athletes. The Canadian women’s hockey team came head-to-head with the United States at the Winter Olympics in Milan, while the Professional Women’s Hockey League expanded to 12 teams and reached record-breaking attendance. The creation of the Toronto Tempo — the WNBA’s first Canadian franchise — represents a massive step. As the Tempo season wraps up at the end of September, Western University students and alumni who have been part of the team since before the first ball was thrown are reflecting on what it means to be part of the fast-growing franchise. Many Western graduates were embedded with the team or supporting its progress even before the inaugural season kicked off, from manager of human resources Karisma Sharma, BMOS’19, to the team’s chief financial officer Patrick Lee, BMOS’07, to Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, HBA’92, LLD’26, who’s part of the Tempo ownership group.

Role models on and off the court

Esra Osman, a fourth-year student at Ivey Business School, was studying for exams when her roommate put on Running Point, a Netflix series about a businesswoman in charge of her family’s professional basketball team. She was inspired to apply for a summer position with the Tempo – the team’s first-ever internship. Three rounds later, Osman landed what she calls the best summer of her life. A business operations intern working to promote the Tempo in different communities, Osman delved deep into the history of women’s sports. She saw firsthand that not everyone has equal access to organized sports the way she did as a child, playing basketball and other sports alongside her brothers. “I realized I had the privilege of access to sports. But that’s not the reality for everyone. The Tempo and all the community work they do was a really big wake-up call for me,” said Osman. The hype around the Tempo is visible at every game and community event. Osman often met girls as young as five who told her they dreamed of playing for the team one day. “A lot of our work was focused on connecting with our community, making sure people from different locations and with a variety of backgrounds are feeling heard and represented – it isn’t just Toronto’s team, but the country’s team,” she said. The internship was also valuable to Osman as a young professional. Her leaders took time to be vulnerable about the challenges of working in a male-dominated industry, she said, sharing personal advice on an issue well-documented in research studies. “They were very keen on protecting me and my experience within the sports industry – not everyone has the luxury of that support early in their career. My colleagues wanted me to have fun, but they were also honest about the struggles and did their best to make sure that I always felt safe and heard,” said Osman. Amy Kong, HBA’24, Toronto Tempo account executive in premium sales and service, can relate to being inspired by the women around her. She sees all-stars like Marina Mabrey on the court at almost every game, but she’s equally inspired by the leaders walking through the team’s office, like coach Sandy Brondello and president Teresa Resch, a former senior leader with the Toronto Raptors. Kong helps sell tickets and manage relationships with season ticketholders, primarily focusing on courtside seats and suites. But because the Tempo operates as a small, independent team, she does a little bit of everything – from helping set up before games, talking with various attendees and repping the team at the Pride parade in Toronto this year. “We have a very different demographic than the traditional sports viewer. You need to have empathy, perspective and be able to listen to people, knowing it’s a unique audience of sports fans,” said Kong.  

Translating education in the classroom to real-life experience

Although the Coca-Cola Coliseum fits a few more fans than Alumni Hall, Kong credits Western with helping her discover her future career path. After playing basketball in her youth, she became a varsity athlete on Western’s ultimate frisbee team and managed its social media. “I never would have been able to understand my love for the sports world without that experience. Western taught me to be a strong communicator and teammate, whether it was in class or on a club or sports team,” Kong said. Another Western alum who has been with the Tempo since the beginning is Aaron Barrett, JD’20, the Toronto Tempo’s general counsel and a graduate of Western Law. His work touches most of the organization, including negotiating deals involving players, sponsors and venues. Before joining the Tempo directly, Barrett was part of the group that helped secure the expansion agreement in 2024. “It’s been really cool because I was working for the team long before we actually started playing games; you honestly had to remind yourself that you were working for a basketball team at some points,” laughed Barrett. But the job became very real very quickly, he says. It was only about six weeks before the start of the season that it was clear a team would hit the court. The roster was finalized 30 days before the first game. Like Kong, Barrett loves to watch thousands of fans fill the stands. “When you go to other sporting events, a lot of time the crowds are very reactive. But Tempo fans are so proactive. We could be down 20 points, and they’re still on their feet, cheering, supporting the players. It’s been really an incredible atmosphere to witness,” said Barrett. Barrett had always dreamed of becoming a sports lawyer, but said Western Law helped broaden his skill set and refine his legal interests, including learning about the intersections between law and sports.  

Making a mark in the sports industry

Barrett and Kong recognize many students who love sports will never compete professionally as athletes, but they encourage young people to consider building careers around the game. It’s rarely a straightforward 9-to-5 gig. Kong’s advice is to be prepared to take on “side quests” outside a traditional job description, and to always show up for women’s sports as a fan. “You have to attend games and be engaged with the teams if you’re a true fan. Never forget there are multiple ways to contribute to a team, even if it’s in a smaller capacity,” said Kong. Working for the Tempo has its perks. She was there as members of Canadian rock band The Beaches took their seats courtside and had the chance to meet Canadian Olympic legends Andre DeGrasse and Christine Sinclair at the home opener. But her favourite part is hearing from people who have waited their whole lives to support WNBA team in Canada. Kong was especially inspired to see the excitement among the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, including older queer couples who followed the league for years but never had a local team in which they could see themselves represented. “People come from far and wide. It is really special to be able to bring something so meaningful to someone who’s waited for so long,” said Kong.