Hello GS-NYC community! I’m taking today’s intro to invite you to an event I’ve been cooking up with our friends at Blazers Sports Bar: We’re hosting a Sports PowerPoint Party! Join us for a night of talks from local sports heads. We're talking hot takes, unpopular opinions, hear me outs, theories, observations, and more, all about sports. Doors at 6:30 pm, talks at 7 pm.
And I have a specific call-out for my dear readers: If you have an idea for a talk and want to participate as a speaker, I would LOVE to hear from you! For more info + to submit your pitch, head over to the beautiful Google Form here.
Can’t wait to see you there! And with that, here’s your newsletter.
On the Good Sport podcast: Our amazing pod editor Rosabelle hosted last week’s episode and interviewed ME about why I’m building a women’s sports media company. We had such fun! Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
NYC women’s sports news & culture
Here’s what you should know this week.
Former Gotham FC star Esther González sparks backlash after signing with Al-Qadsiah of the Saudi Women’s Premier League. Earlier this month, González announced her departure from the NWSL and mutual contract termination with Gotham FC, citing personal reasons that needed her attention back home in Spain. Last week, it was announced that she signed with Al-Qadsiah in Saudi Arabia. Part of the backlash stems from her identity; González is a publicly out queer woman with a wife and child, who will now be playing in a country that criminalizes same-sex relationships and gender nonconformity. Photos with her family have been removed from her Instagram. The other bit is soccer-related; some Gotham fans are concerned she ended her contract under false pretenses, citing family reasons when really she wanted to leave Gotham after the team signed Sam Kerr. It sparks a lot of questions and feelings in me, and I think I’ll try to write a longer piece about this soon.
Kylie Graham/Imagn Images What’s eating Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu? During Saturday’s game against the Sky, Ionescu missed all 10 of her field goal attempts, including seven inside the arc. She’s 8-for-53 from deep over the last eight games. Naturally, critics and some fans are calling it out and saying she needs to play less, especially as the Liberty bench players like Han Xu and Rebecca Gardner make a case for more time. But Sab isn’t sweating it, at least not outwardly: “It’s not that big of a deal to me…I know who I am. I know what I’m able to do. Kind of felt like the ball was allergic to the rim there for me. Like it’s literally just toilet-bowling out. I’m not really understanding. They’re not bad misses. They’re just literally popping out, so sometimes you just gotta laugh and shake it off.”
Her teammates and coach know who she is, too, and reiterated their support in the post-game presser. So what’s eating her? My take is her injuries are more pesky than she cares to admit, especially back pain when working through a rigorous W schedule. I think her confidence is a bit knocked as a result, and getting snubbed for the US roster for the World Cup couldn’t have helped. That said, a nearly three-week break for the FIBA World Cup to rest and get her shot back is just what the doctor (and NY fans) ordered.
Michelle Farsi for NY Post Seven New York Liberty are headed to the FIBA World Cup in Berlin. We lead the WNBA in the number of players selected from a team to represent their home country in this year’s World Cup. Here’s the breakdown of who’s headed abroad and where they’re from:
Breanna Stewart – United States
Marine Johannes – France
Pauline Astier – France
Han Xu – China
Elizabeth Balogun – Nigeria
Leonie Fiebich – Germany
Raquel Carrera – Spain
What to watch this week
Thursday 9/3
⚾ The New York Heights play the LA Queens at 7:30 pm ET. Watch on ESPN Select.
Friday 9/4
⚾ The New York Heights play the San Francisco Firebells at 7:30 pm ET. Watch on ESPN Select.
Sunday 9/6
⚽ Gotham FC is at Denver Summit FC at 2:00 pm ET. Watch on CBS.
Classifieds
Shouts and calls from the community. Plus some jobs.
✷ Run content ops at the Liberty ✷ Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment—the parent company of the Liberty, Nets, and Barclays Center—is hiring a Content Production Ops Manager. Salary: $85,000-$110,000. Apply and learn more.
✷ Street Lab is hiring Soccer Staff ✷ Soccer Streets—Street Lab’s pop-up youth soccer initiative that takes place in front of public schools—is hiring field staff for the fall. Apply and learn more.
And that’s a wrap…
Thanks as always for reading. See you next time :)