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14,018 fans
- The new U.S. attendance record for a professional women's hockey game — set in Denver this week as part of the PWHL Takeover Tour. The first part of the tour included a stop in Vancouver, where over 19,000 fans came out!
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Three big stories to know this week in women's sports
1. We now have not one but three (!) pro volleyball leagues 🏐
League One Volleyball launched this past weekend with six teams that will play for 14 weeks, culminating in mid-April with finals in Kentucky.
Pro Volleyball Federation is starting its second season with eight teams in a more traditional format, starting with games last week that go through May — including an All-Star match on Feb. 22 in Indianapolis.
Athletes Unlimited is a unique player-led model that plays in the fall for five weeks, with no fixed teams. Every week, the top four players become captains and get to draft their new team.
League One Volleyball — abbreviated as LOVB and pronounced as "love"
The new LOVB model utilizes a unique format where two teams meet-up for a head-to-head match in the home stadium. Then, the other four teams play a series of games in that host city over the weekend. All six teams will also compete in the LOVB Classic, a winner-take-all in-season tournament in Kansas City starting Feb. 14.
LOVB has also spent the last four years building youth teams and a development pipeline for one of the fastest-growing girls sports in the U.S.
It seems to be working: There were a record 13,486 fans in attendance for the opening game in Omaha, setting a new pro volleyball record.
WATCH: The next round of LOVB games begin tomorrow |
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(Photo: LOVB)
2. Man arrested for stalking Caitlin Clark
A 55-year-old Texas man was arrested this past weekend for sending threats and sexually violent messages to basketball star Caitlin Clark.
He was arrested after traveling to Indianapolis — a move that Clark reported particularly scared her. Prosecutors wrote that a threat was made "with the intent to place Caitlin Clark in reasonable fear of sexual battery."
Unfortunately, Clark is just the most recent high-profile female athlete to have to deal with threats and stalking. A 40-year-old man pled guilty in December to stalking UConn basketball star Paige Bueckers. LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne has detailed some of the threats she received that caused her to stop attending in-person classes and employ security. And Olympic runner Emily Infield was terrorized by a stalker for three years.
READ: An NCAA study found that online abuse spikes during March Madness and targets female athletes
READ: A World Athletics study found that 60% of abuse targeted female athletes and one-fifth of it was racial
3. Will L.A. rebuild in time for the Olympics?
The fires sweeping through greater Los Angeles are already among the most destructive natural disasters in U.S. history and have destroyed more than 12,000 homes and buildings. And with winds picking up again today, it's not over yet. 💔
In a region known for its connections to the sports and outdoors worlds, the effects have been far-reaching: many athletes and staff have lost homes, races and events have been canceled or rescheduled (the L.A. Rams playoff game moved to Arizona, the USWNT training camp went to Miami), and 12 of LA's pro sports have come together to donate $8 million and launch their own fundraising effort.
💑 In heartwarming news: Angel City FC defender and the New Zealand team captain Ali Riley got married just days after her home was destroyed in Altadena.
The Olympics
L.A. is also scheduled to be home to three mega sports events in the next fours years: the World Cup in 2026, the Super Bowl in 2027, and the Olympics in 2028.
But — with its massive global attendance and infrastructure — it's the Olympics that is raising the most questions about whether the city can prepare at the same time it's rebuilding. While none of the planned venues have been affected, the Rose Bowl and the Riviera Country Club (set to host the golf tournaments) have both been in the evacuation zones, along with the UCLA dorms (where athletes were planned to be housed). There have also been concerns raised about whether it's safe to host the Olympics in a city that can be ravaged like this; but the new reality of climate change hasn't made that more likely in the last week, just more acknowledged.
Right now, there is no plan to move the Olympics and officials have said the event will be a rallying point for the community. If necessary, it's possible plans will be adjusted slightly or venues moved to other parts of California.
How to help
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Tip of the week
What is intuitive eating?
While it sounds complicated, the concept is relatively simple: Learning to trust your body to make the right nutrition and fueling choices for you — not based on a diet or a restrictive plan or societal expectations.
As the experts during our fueled challenge this week said: It's really about being an expert in your own body and learning to trust your body’s internal cues. Our bodies are smart and cravings are the body telling us what we need rather than us trying to fit every meal into a perfect system.
Of course, as active women with goals (whether that's a marathon or a gym session or a new sport), we also sometimes have to fuel even when we don't feel like it in order to get the best from our bodies.
Helping to create a framework for navigating this and fueling our best lives is what our Feisty Fueled course is all about. We only offer it twice each year, and it's on sale right now until the end of the week.
LISTEN: Is Diet Culture a Cult?
SIGN UP: Our comprehensive nutrition course for active women to help them fuel their goals
The highlight reel
- 🎾 Coco Gauff wore a Marvel superhero-inspired outfit in her first round win at the Australia Open, while Aryna Sabalenka beat Sloane Stephens to begin her attempt at a three-peat. The second round begins tomorrow — and because the Australian Open doesn't own all the broadcast rights to their tournament, they're streaming the games with Wii-like cartoon characters on Youtube, mimicking the players even down to smashing racquets.
- 🎾 2022 Wimbledon champ Elena Rybakina's coach was provisionally suspended from the Tour for abusive conduct, but she wants him to return.
- 🚴♀️ The men's Tour of Norway is adding a women's race this year for the first time. (Which is different than the old Ladies Tour of Norway, which morphed into the Tour of Scandanavia. Confusing.)
- ⛷️ American Lauren Macuga won her first World Cup with a gold in the Super G, while teammate Lindsey Vonn took fourth during her comeback tour. Vonn also raced her first downhill in six years and took sixth. Though our favorite thing she did was show up to cheer on the cross-country ski team.
- ⛸️ Jutta Leerdam, who is a social media star in addition to being a 6x European speed skating champion and silver medalist, won another sprint European title and led a Dutch sweep. And with the European Championships in the Netherlands, the winners got a unique victory lap. 🐎
- ⚽ After Canada's soccer team was mired in a drone scandal during this summer's Olympics, they've now hired a new coach. And in the NWSL, the former goalkeeper for the Utah Royals has accused the team of emotional abuse.
- Should the NWSL's 2026 expansion push wait? ⚽
- The 268-mile winter Spine Race in the UK, considered one of the toughest ultras (partially because of the winter weather!), is currently in the midst of a close battle for the top three women's spots. In second is former pro triathlete Lucy Gossage, who returned to the race after her finish last year spread widely enough on social media to unearth the fact that her partner in both the event and romantically was actually living a double life!
- 🥾 Madison Blagden is attempting to be the first woman to complete a border-to-border calendar year triple crown (which covers 7,000 miles over 2025).
- Puma has launched Project3 — giving amateur runners who have run a 3:10 marathon or faster support to try to break 3 hours. We see some of you Feisties thinking about it; go get that big goal! 🏃♀️
- 🚴♀️ Bonnie Tu, the chairperson of Giant Bicycles and one of the highest positioned women in the cycling industry, retired.
- According to the NCAA president, during a Senate hearing, there are about 10 trans athletes out of 510,000 NCAA student-athletes.
- At the NCAA meeting this week, they'll vote to approve women's wrestling 🤼 as the next NCAA championship sport and will consider the proposal to distribute revenue payments 🏀 from the women's March Madness tournament to schools.
Your Feisty recommendations
What to watch: "How We Roll" — follows the mountain bike factory FMD Racing team 🚲 through their 2024 season, including the return of the princess of downhill, Tahnee Seagrave
What to read: "Hailey Davidson Loves Golf, And Golf Wants to Get Rid of Her"
What to listen to: "Why Hybrid Training Rules for Peri- and Menopausal Women"
What made us laugh: In honor of Quitters Day, some things we're happy to be quitting 💜
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The Feist is written by Kelly O'Mara and edited by Drew Jones. Ads by Ella Hnatyshyn
Live Feisty Media Corporation, 2031 Store St #30, Victoria, British Columbia V8T 5L9, Canada
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