Mayor Katie Wilson Teams Up with Storm for Mother’s Day Clinic
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - Considering the three major women’s professional sports teams and five pro teams overall that call the city of Seattle home, there may not be a better place on the planet for young women to feel represented. While the Reign, Majestics, Tempest, and Torrent have made their mark over the last decade plus, the Storm have been a pillar of women’s sports and Seattle sports in general, dating back to their inaugural season in 2000.
“Seattle is such an amazing city for women’s sports. I believe we’re the only city that has three professional women’s sports teams that play within city limits, two of them at the same arena. We’re a city that really shows up for that, and the Storm have been a centerpiece of that.”
The Storm have long been the primary torchbearer for women’s sports in Seattle and a symbol of success across the nation, from their four WNBA championship titles to their training facility, one of the first in the league to truly raise the standard. Additionally, with the city’s NBA team ripped away in 2008, the Storm have been Seattle’s lone professional basketball team for 18 years.
“I would say women’s sports in general, I think, is really unique in the sense that I feel the camaraderie and the connectedness between the players more so than I do in other male sports, and that’s what drew me to sports... We don’t have a men’s basketball team here, so as a fan of basketball, I want to be around it. But I will also say the organization itself, the Storm, is an incredible organization serving the community in a number of different ways that I don’t think a lot of people know about.”
The Storm have led the way in several areas, and another example is their community outreach. Seattle’s WNBA franchise regularly holds clinics for people of all ages, from young kids to fully grown adults, and there was a special clinic held at the BECU Storm Center for Basketball Performance on Mother’s Day.
“Sports teach so much about life, and to get to learn about life when you’re young, in doing something that you love, like what could be better? It’s not that there’s no pain in sports, but for the most part, people do sports because they love them. Getting to learn stuff, learn about yourself, learn about how you interact with other people, learn about the world, the reality of how tough things can be in a safe environment, there’s really nothing better.”
Photos from the Seattle Storm Mother’s Day Clinic at the BECU Storm Center for Basketball Performance. (Photos provided by the Seattle Storm)
This Mother’s Day, the clinic saw first-year Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and her daughter Josephine host numerous mothers and their children at the Storm’s training facility while the team itself was on the road in Connecticut to battle the Sun. Moms and their kids were given Storm-branded shirts on the way in, quickly filling the courts where some of the world's best athletes train daily.
“I mean, the Storm are like a Seattle institution, right? They do so much, not just through their athleticism, but through the way that they give back to the community. Holding clinics like this is just so meaningful, because it’s a way for people who maybe normally just like, watch professional sports on TV, to really like, meet the athletes in person, to realize these are real people, this could be me. That spirit of giving back to the community is so important, and the Storm has exemplified it for so many years.”
While Wilson and her daughter don’t have much of a basketball background, as Katie grew up playing soccer and cross-country, while this clinic was Josephine’s first time touching a basketball, the Seattle Mayor is well aware of the importance that sports can bring to the community.
“This is something that I’ve really seen again and again, just in the time that I’ve been in office, right? This has obviously been an amazing year for Seattle sports in many ways, especially the way it really brings people together and that sense of city pride. Just celebrating these amazing athletes who are showing what they can do and representing our city.”
Seattle City Mayor Katie Wilson (Pictured in her #26 Storm green and yellow jersey) and her daughter Josephine, alongside Storm CEO and Team President Alisha Valavanis (In dark navy blue) and Storm co-owner Ginny Gilder (In a yellow and green Storm hoodie), before the Seattle Storm Mother’s Day Clinic at the BECU Storm Center for Basketball Performance. (Photos provided by the Seattle Storm)
Women’s sports have seen a revolution in recent years, with improved visibility for leagues like the WNBA, NWSL, and PWHL, delivering massive returns as fans can now consistently watch and support these stellar athletes. That opportunity hasn’t always been available, as Wilson noted before the clinic began.
“I remember back when I was her age, and the landscape was so different. As a girl growing up in the 80s and 90s, there just were not nearly as many role models in terms of women’s sports, or just women in so many fields. I just really appreciate, even though we have so far to go, the progress that’s been made in the last four years.”
The sports landscape has changed since Wilson’s youth, with the Reign, Majestics, Tempest, and Torrent all joining the Storm as professional women’s teams calling Seattle home. From the athletes on these teams to the women who push the organizations forward, there are far more role models for young women to look towards and feel represented by.
Mayoral appearances are not always a given, especially with sporting events, so it’s meaningful to see that Wilson was intentional about spending time at this Mother’s Day clinic with the Storm.
“I just think that basketball, sports, and the Storm in particular are such a part of Seattle’s fabric and culture. I think it’s important for me as the mayor, as a representative of the city, to really acknowledge that, appreciate that, and to show up.”
“It’s very meaningful to be acknowledged by the city. We are an organization that’s always emblemized the city’s progressive values. It’s a real acknowledgment for her to come and highlight what our role in the community is, again, much more than basketball. And then to see her with her daughter, and her daughter take a basketball and start to figure out, because they’re a soccer family, that’s just delightful. So she gets real time with her daughter, and that’s really what we’re all about.”
In an incredibly divisive time for the United States, sports remain the great unifier. Mothers and kids of all walks of life, all sorts of backgrounds, were able to push anything else in their lives aside to enjoy a morning together inside one of the best basketball facilities in the country. While they may not solve the world's greatest problems, sports remain one of the world's best ways to come together. In that, there is hope, something that Wilson and Gilder both touched on when reflecting on the clinic.
“It made me feel really hopeful. I feel like we live in times where we focus a lot on the problems, so it’s great to be in a place where people are having fun and learning”
“Life is all about young people, it really is. They’re the future of the world, and to give them a chance, of course, always to have fun and learn skills, but to connect with other people, learn about themselves, and start to see themselves, maybe in a way they wouldn’t have before. The Storm, of course, we’re about basketball and entertainment, but we’re really about is having people see that you can dream, and what happens when you pursue your dreams. You have no idea if someone in there could end up being president one day, or be a top athlete herself, or be a scientist, and what happens when she’s here, or he’s, there are some boys out there, starting to learn new skills and get connected to a whole new way of being. That’s what creates opportunity for people.”
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Cover photo provided by the Seattle Storm
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