This Week's Women's Sports Recap
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Premier Lacrosse launching women's league in 2025.
The Premier Lacrosse League is starting a new women's professional lacrosse league that is set to begin competition in the United States in 2025, three years ahead of the return of lacrosse as an Olympic sport for the first time in eight decades.
The Women's Lacrosse League will debut at the PLL's 2025 championship series in February. The league will initially feature four teams in cities that have yet to be announced. The WLL will play in the sixes format, the same style of play that will be featured at the Olympics.
The league is an expansion of PLL's investment in professional women's lacrosse. The league hosted its first women's lacrosse exhibition, the Unleashed All-Star Game, in February.
"We are honored to be a part of the WLL, and we couldn't be more excited to bring this game to the fans in new ways than ever before," said lacrosse star Charlotte North, a former NCAA champion with Boston College who has committed to playing in the new league.
Playing with Caitlin Clark at The Annika pro-am 'felt like two friends hanging out' to partner Nelly Korda.
Although The Annika has not yet gotten underway on the LPGA Tour, Wednesday's pro-am brought more than weekend crowds to the Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida. World No. 1 Nelly Korda and WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark were the main attractions as the two superstars joined forces for nine holes of fun in the morning.
"It was a great to see how relaxed she was," Korda said. "Obviously, with the media attention she has gotten probably in the past year and a half, two years, you can see how she's comfortable playing in front of a larger crowd.
"And she was just really enjoying it. You can tell. Like, she's definitely very talented. She was picking the ball really clean. She was losing a couple shots to the right, but I asked her how many times a week she plays, and I think with the amount of obligations she has she probably gets to the golf course once a week. So just play once a week she was playing really well."
Whoopi Goldberg launches new TV network dedicated entirely to women’s sports.
To celebrate Whoopi Goldberg’s birthday on “The View” on Wednesday, she came with gifts for the audience and a major announcement — the ABC host officially launched a new TV network devoted entirely to women’s sports.
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“Next is something that has been 16 years in the making, that I am proud to announce. We are launching today a women’s sports channel called AWSN. It’s the All Women’s Sports Network,” she revealed. “It will be the home for live women’s sports and we have everything, from soccer, basketball, tennis, volleyball, judo, cricket and more.”
“The channel will also promote women’s health and wellness with the help of our partner CommonSpirit Health, who really looks after women in particular,” Whoopi added.
Shae Graham makes history as first female captain of Australian wheelchair rugby development squad.
Melbourne local Shae Graham, a powerhouse on and off the court, is making history as the first female to captain an Australian wheelchair rugby team. This November, she’ll lead the national Development Squad at Tokyo’s Shibuya Cup, a prestigious four-match series against Japan’s up-and-coming players. For Shae, this achievement is the latest in a journey that has seen her rise from a rookie in the sport to one of Australia’s most respected wheelchair rugby athletes and now, a leader of the next generation.
Shae’s path to wheelchair rugby started in an unexpected place—on the other side of the screen. After a car accident at 18 left her with a spinal cord injury, she watched Murderball, the iconic wheelchair rugby documentary, and, at first, thought the sport looked chaotic. But in 2013, she was encouraged to try it by her brother. The moment she took her first roll in a rugby chair, she was captivated by the sport’s intensity, speed, and strategy.
Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn to come out of retirement ahead of 2026 Games.
Former Olympic gold medalist and world champion Lindsey Vonn is returning to skiing, she announced Thursday.
She said in an interview with the New York Times that her return was not planned and that she only reconsidered after successful knee replacement surgery seven months ago stopped the pain that had prompted her retirement.
“I’m trying not to get too far ahead of myself because I have quite a few hoops to jump through,” she said. “Obviously, I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t hope to be racing. I have aspirations. I love to go fast. How fast can I go? I don’t know."
Vonn, 40, last competed professionally in February 2019 at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Sweden, where she won a bronze in the women’s downhill — becoming the oldest woman to win a medal at a world championship.