Tag: Women’s Sports

Philadelphia native Tina Sloan Green, a trailblazer for Black women in lacrosse and field hockey, broke racial barriers on the field.

Growing up at the peak of the Civil Rights Movement, Sloan Green became the first Black athlete selected to the national field hockey and lacrosse teams. Once she made Team USA, she was barred from playing in multiple countries due to legal segregation persisting abroad. Still, she kept pushing.

In 1975, Sloan Green took over the Temple women’s lacrosse team, becoming the first Black head coach in collegiate lacrosse history. Through her 18-year tenure in North Philadelphia, she led the Owls to 11 consecutive Final Four appearances and three national championships.

On Saturday, Sloan Green was honored for her many accomplishments before the inaugural Women’s Lacrosse League championship. The league’s new leadership trophy will be named after the former Temple coach.

“It made me feel so good because I’m 82 years old, and to be able to see this, what’s going on, it wasn’t like that back in the day,” Sloan Green said.

The championship game, which saw the Maryland Charm defeat the California Palms, 16-13, drew a significant crowd to Subaru Park in Chester. It was also broadcast to a national audience on ESPN. The major strides that the league — and women’s lacrosse — have made in recent years are not lost on Sloan Green.

“We’ve shown that it can be done and I’m a prime example of that,” Sloan Green said. “To have this televised and all this stuff, they’ve got to believe it now that they can do it. I’m looking down there [at the] next generations of lacrosse players, and they’re going to be all different types of people. … They’re all going to love the game.”

The Charm’s Sydni Black, a Black woman, was named the championship’s most valuable player after finishing with four goals and one assist. With lacrosse stars from the past and present packed into Subaru Park, Black noted that Sloan Green was “the legend in the house” on Saturday.

“This is her legacy,” Black said. “She has done so many incredible things for the sport. … To be able to do it in the area that she actually carved her own legacy with Temple and everything around here is incredible. When we stand on the backs of giants, she is the biggest giant. Those kind words and even having her own eyes on the game today, that’s why we do it. We’re honoring everyone who came before us and inspiring everyone to come after us.”

When she took the field, Sloan Green was joined by players and coaches of the Eyekonz Sports League — a local field hockey and lacrosse program that looks to create opportunities for Black and Latino children in the Philadelphia area. After having brain tumor surgery in 2021, Sloan Green joined the program as a coach.

Some of Sloan Green’s former Temple players also made it out to Chester to see their coach honored. One was former Owls goalkeeper Jill Marple — who was inducted into the Temple Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022.

“God is going to have to laugh at what they’ve done, what they’ve become,” Sloan Green said about her former players. “It was really an amazing, amazing opportunity for me to see, to be alive, to see my future in all of this. Not just on the field, but administratively, to see people of color in the sport.”

In many ways, the significance of Saturday’s inaugural championship seemed to outweigh the actual result of the game. Fans donning “Everyone Watches Women’s Lacrosse” T-shirts clambered the concourse to get autographs from WLL players. Meanwhile, one attendee, Jaycie Jaskolka, noted that she was excited to see “history happen” on the field.

After the final whistle and the trophy was presented, former U.S. soccer defender Ali Krieger presented the Charm with a check worth $80,000. The amount, courtesy of Cash App, matches the championship bonus the men of the Premier Lacrosse League receive.

“As a girl, I went to the men’s Final Four because I didn’t know anything about the women’s Final Four,” said Charm coach Emily Parros, a Delaware County native. “I would ask for cleats and I would ask for signatures and all the things. And now it’s real for girls and boys as well. They’re the ones asking for these women’s autographs.”

And the sport’s rise would not have been possible without legends like Sloan Green laying out the foundation, Black said.

“I see my future,” Sloan Green said. “I see lacrosse being a headline sport.”

A number of shirts that read “Everyone Watches Women’s Lacrosse” filled the concourse at Subaru Park, as fans filed in for the first-ever Women’s Lacrosse League Championship on Saturday.

And when the Maryland Charm beat the California Palms 16-13 to claim the league’s first championship title, sparklers shot out, champagne was popped, and red, yellow, and white confetti rained down.

Jaycie Jaskolka, a 30-year-old Philly native, chose to root for the Palms because of their pink jerseys, while handing out friendship bracelets for both teams, the Philadelphia Waterdogs of the men’s Premier Lacrosse League, and other WLL teams.

Jaskolka said with the women’s sports history that already exists in Philly, adding the city as a stop to the WLL tour and the site for its first championship game is special.

“It’s so cool to kind of like see history happen,” Jaskolka said. “It’s one of those things that I wish I had this when I was younger, but I’m so glad that we get to have it now. Better late than never.”

For younger fans like Savannah Focht and Harper Willson, two 13-year old lacrosse players who traveled from Maryland to watch the Charm play, watching women pursue lacrosse professionally gives them the hope that they can too someday.

“It’s really inspiring for young athletes, and it makes us want to work harder and motivates us,” Focht said.

During the game, pink and red rally towels rippled through a crowd that included U.S. National Lacrosse Hall of Famer Tina Sloan Green and two-time women’s World Cup champion and Olympian Ali Krieger. Influencer Jackie Johnston, better known on social media as “Coach Jackie” for her women’s sports content, was also in attendance.

There were photo-ops and fan activations around the concourse, a performance from the West Powelton Steppers at halftime, autograph stations, and more to add to the excitement for fans.

But for Charm midfielder Ally Kennedy and her teammates, the job was building up the product on the field to appeal to more fans.

“We know if the best product is not on the field, we’re not going to win a championship, and it’s not going to grow the game either,” Kennedy said. “Goal number one is growing the game. We’re on ESPN. This was a great game, a huge game. I hope people all across the country were watching and became lacrosse fans and fell in love with the Charm.”

Elijah Stobaugh, 23, a Bradenton, Fla. native, understood the gravity of the moment. Like Kennedy, Stobaugh and his friends have high expectations for where the league can go and how Saturday’s championship was a “major step in achieving it.”

“I can’t imagine what this league’s gonna be like in 20 years,” Stobaugh said. “So saying that I was at the first [championship] game is going to be cool 20 years from now because it’s going to be growing.”

Waterdogs clinch top seed in PLL playoffs

Earlier in the day, the Waterdogs had the first game in their homecoming weekend, beating the New York Atlas, 18-10, and securing the No. 1 seed and a bye to the semifinals of the PLL playoffs, which begin next weekend. Although the crowd erupted after the clock ran down on Philly’s victory, it was still the second-loudest moment during the game.

The loudest moment came when Waterdogs attackman CJ Kirst scored his first goal of the day with a little over three minutes to go in the first quarter. Kirst’s 31st goal of the season broke the league’s single-season mark, which was previously held by the Boston Cannons’ Marcus Holman, who scored 30 goals in 10 games in 2023.

The moment that followed, when Kirst’s teammates joined him on the field to celebrate, is when the reality of his milestone hit, he said.

“I think that was pretty special and definitely something that I’m going to carry with me for that moment,” Kirst said. “Not really putting the ball in the back of the net, but being able to celebrate with every guy on the field.”

Philadelphia native Jimmy Pine, 14, was just one of many fans wearing a purple Waterdogs jersey with “Kirst” on the back. Just as it was for the women’s game, Pine said fans being able to experience the PLL in person, especially Kirst’s record-breaking goal, can continue to grow professional lacrosse in the area.

“When they see how fast people can shoot, how cool it is to make a save, or how cool it is to hit, people are gonna love it and watch it,” Pine said.

The relationship goes both ways.

Kirst said playing at home, seeing the purple jerseys in the crowd and the support of the fans during warmups was a cool experience and hopes Sunday’s game against the Maryland Whipsnakes to close out the regular season will draw the same crowd.

“To have the support from Philadelphia and the sport of lacrosse to be so passionate about the Waterdogs, it truly means a lot,” Kirst said.

The Women’s Lacrosse League is filled with players tied to the Philadelphia area, so it’s fitting that the league’s inaugural championship is coming here.

On Saturday, the Maryland Charm (4-3) will face the California Palms (5-2) in the WLL’s championship at Subaru Park in Chester (5 p.m., ESPN). The game will be the finale to a doubleheader with the Premier Lacrosse League.

The Philadelphia Waterdogs (7-3) will take on the New York Atlas (3-8) at 2 p.m. The WLL, which boasts four teams, is owned by the PLL.

Here are some notable names from the Charm and the Palms with ties to the area:

Emily Parros, Maryland Charms coach

Before she was coaching the Charms, Emily Parros turned heads at Strath Haven. Parros (formerly Emily Garrity) was named a first-team U.S. Lacrosse All-American following her senior year with the Panthers in 2009.

“I’m a Delco girl,” Parros said. “So it’s special to me. That stadium’s probably no more than 15 minutes from my house where I grew up. So it’s just a unique experience as a coach.”

After high school, Parros was a two-time captain at the University of North Carolina before launching her coaching career. She has made assistant coaching stops at James Madison, East Carolina, and with the Tar Heels. After a season as an assistant with the Charm, she was named the team’s head coach in December.

As a player, Parros helped lead Team USA to its ninth World Lacrosse Women’s Championship title in 2022. Now, she is looking to win a championship as a coach.

“I think these players have really put in the time on and off the field with each other to be able to create those electric moments on the field,” Parros said. “We have very good talent, and I think anytime you have talent, it can be interesting to see how it meshes on the field. One of my favorite things about this team is that there is no ego. We all go to bat for each other. We celebrate every success, and it’s just been a lot of fun.”

Anna Brandt, California Palms midfielder

Anna Brandt, a former standout at Penn, expects to see action on Saturday for the Palms.

The three-time All-Ivy selection left the Quakers as the program’s all-time leader in goals (206). Brandt, who graduated in 2025, is looking forward to reconnecting with familiar faces this weekend. Penn coach Karin Brower and assistant Nicole Spencer will be in attendance.

“The four years [at Penn] were the best,” Brandt said. “I had the best time with the Penn coaches and staff. And playing on Franklin Field was always really special. I still remember my last game I played there and just how much that meant. I never knew if I would get a chance to be back, or let alone play a championship game in Philly. So to be back in the cities that really I feel like launched my lacrosse career is super special.”

This season, Brandt has logged 11 goals. She will play an important role Saturday as she faces off against the upper echelon of women’s lacrosse players.

“I mean, the level is insane,” Brant said. “It’s like every single person on your scouting report is an All-American, a Tewaaraton winner [honoring the nation’s top college lacrosse player], finalist, national champion. There’s no weak links anywhere throughout this entire league. You really got to put your best foot forward every time you step on the field.”

Cassidy Spilis, Maryland Charm midfielder

Tabernacle (Burlington County) native Cassidy Spilis put together an impressive high school career at Seneca before becoming Rutgers’ all-time leader in career goals (266), points (281), and draw controls (313).

“I got a ton of people coming,” Spilis said. “I think my mom invited probably every person she knows in the South Jersey area, so we’re all really excited. I think playing on the East Coast, there’s just such a big demographic of these girls who are starting to love the game of lacrosse. To have the ability for them to come see a game like this, it’s super awesome.”

On May 29, the Charm and Palms matched up for the only other time this season in Baltimore, and Maryland won, 18-17, in overtime. Spilis scored the game-winning goal with 11 minutes, 40 seconds left in the extra period, and she’s hoping to take lessons learned from that game into Saturday.

“[The Palms] have a lot of great players,” Spilis said. “I think one of their biggest strengths is just their middies and their speed in the midfield. That was something that we really learned on the fly during the last game, just trying to compete with that midi speed and stopping in transition.”

Marie McCool, California Palms midfielder

Moorestown High School alumna Marie McCool has experience playing at Subaru Park. Ten years ago, McCool helped lead North Carolina to a national championship at the Union’s stadium.

“What made it so much even more special — obviously, winning a national championship is amazing — was the fact that I was close to home and I had so many friends and family in the stands and got to enjoy the win with them,” McCool said. “It’s definitely a full-circle moment. … I get to be back here in a championship game, competing in the place that I call home.”

The Moorestown native will have reminders of home behind every corner. The hotel that the Palms are staying in hosted McCool’s high school prom. She is also looking forward to ordering cheesesteaks with Charm goalie Caylee Waters, who played with her at North Carolina.

“I know we’re on different teams,” McCool said. “But when we won the national championship, we got some late-night cheesesteaks together. She’s like, ‘We gotta run it back, no matter what happens.’”

Rachael DeCecco had long believed that her lacrosse career was over.

After years of playing at Marple Newtown High School, then at Princeton and for the U.S. World Cup team in 2005, the Delaware County native had reached the pinnacle of women’s lacrosse at the time.

She had made peace with that and transitioned to work in healthcare administration for senior living facilities. That was until over a decade later, when the Premier Lacrosse League helped her revive her lacrosse muscles, this time on the administrative side, in 2020.

Now, DeCecco is the senior vice president of the PLL and Women’s Lacrosse League, helping pave the way for other women to continue their lacrosse careers with opportunities she didn’t have.

“Playing professionally was never something that was even a whisper of possibility,” DeCecco said. “If it had been a real opportunity, I definitely would have tried.”

Dozens of women have gotten the chance to do just that, and several will compete in the inaugural WLL championship game Saturday at Subaru Park in Chester. The Maryland Charm will face the California Palms (2 p.m., ESPN) at the home of the Union, and the venue was chosen to highlight the lacrosse culture in the Philadelphia area.

“It’s a no-brainer for me, personally,” DeCecco said of the decision. “Philly lacrosse has been something that’s been big forever. It’s a great sports market, and so many of the roots were born in Philly. … It does become sort of this generational expectation that you’re going to play lacrosse. It’s really fun to see that generation over generation.”

Eight players and a coach from the Maryland Charm have ties to the area. Some of the game’s stars are among this group, including Marie McCool, a Moorestown native who recently became a three-time world champion with the U.S. women’s lacrosse team, which won its fifth consecutive championship Aug. 2 in Japan. Fifteen of the 22 players on the U.S. team now play in the WLL.

For DeCecco, who is a two-time NCAA champion and a silver medalist with the U.S. World Cup team in 2005, the WLL championship is an up-close view of female athletes who are playing at the highest level.

“It’s going to be an incredible display of athleticism and skill and competition,” DeCecco said. “This is the beginning of something that everybody’s worked really hard to get to where we are. You only get one — they will be the first champions ever. That only happens once. It’s a really cool opportunity.”

Despite her playing days being “long gone,” she says she’s looking forward to watching some of her favorite players on the field.

“Brigid Duffy, I watch her play and I’m like, ‘Is she on ice skates?’” DeCecco said. “She’s just gliding through it, and then she rips a shot and you’re like, ‘Wow.’”

“I’m watching the games and helping run the games, and it’s really hard for me to not scream, ‘My gosh, did you see that?’ Like, that was one of the most athletic things I’ve ever seen, and it happens 10 times a game. So I’m a fan as well, but it’s hard. I have to keep my business face on.”

Saturday’s championship caps a season that featured 10 games between the league’s four teams, both numbers DeCecco hopes will grow in years to come.

“This isn’t the end goal,” she said. “I think and hope we’ll have more TV distribution, more games, more teams. In 10 years, I fully believe kids will grow up saying, ‘I want to be a professional lacrosse player.’ That didn’t exist before.”

Drexel’s Daskalakis Athletic Center was filled with laughter, hugs, reunions, and lots of stellar basketball on Sunday.

The 21st annual Danny Rumph Classic hosted its fourth women’s championship game Sunday, and though the competition was intense, players and fans were there to support the Daniel E. Rumph II Foundation, and many described Sunday as a “homecoming.”

“This is just one big happy family,” Delaware County native Joy Morton said of Team Harper. “That’s the only way I can put it. You see people that you grew up with, that you played basketball with, all coming out for a good cause.”

The five-day pro-am tournament raises awareness and donations in support of research into hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the heart condition that caused Danny Rumph to die unexpectedly in 2005 while playing the game he loved.

Since then, the Rumph Foundation has been committed to providing defibrillators and CPR training at recreation centers and Boys & Girls Clubs in the area. The pinnacle event of the year is the annual men’s classic, which over the years has welcomed NBA stars, including Jalen Brunson, Jayson Tatum, Tyrese Maxey, and more. On Friday, Jaylen Brown made an appearance to watch from the sideline.

Team Copper and Team Harper faced off Sunday in the final, where Team Copper secured a 62-61 overtime victory. The final point was scored by Ashley Jones, a graduate of Neumann Goretti. She was named co-MVP alongside Azana Davis.

“That’s what excites me,” said Rumph’s mother, Viola Owens, after the game. “We get all these young kids here, and look at her [pointing to Jones] — her mother was carrying her when we first started. I had to go hug her, because her father and Danny were friends, and I remember when she was just a little kid, and now she’s MVP.”

Generations of players were on the court and in the stands. Kids ran around shooting hoops between games, and conversations constantly paused to watch the women dunk or to greet old friends.

“I’ve been coming since they were still holding this at Mallery [Recreation Center],” said Kristen Hart, an assistant principal at Mastery Charter School. “I’m real excited for this game, because I know all these people, some of them were my students, and there’s a lot of good basketball in Philadelphia, and it’s competitive on every level.”

Team Harper held a narrow lead for much of the game, with Taylor O’Brien scoring 27 of the team’s 61 points, until Team Copper shut down O’Brien. That strategy worked, allowing Team Harper — named after Philadelphia basketball legend Laura Harper — to take home the trophy.

“When I got asked to play [for Team Harper], I was honored, of course I’m going to play,” said Molly Masciantonio, who played at La Salle and is now an assistant coach there. “Especially with the women having this sports culture in Philly, all coming together and showing little girls that they can play this game and make a life doing it. I’m really proud of this team and this event.”

The women’s championship is followed by the men’s championship on Monday night, where in years past the gymnasium has sold out, and the excitement for the final was already brewing.