They built Bay Area women’s basketball. Now, they’re Valkyries fans

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It’s still the early days of the regular season, but don’t tell that to the fans decked out in violet apparel at Chase Center. A typical Valkyries game inside the arena they’ve dubbed “Balhalla” could easily be mistaken for a playoff elimination matchup, thanks to an enthusiastic fan base that’s sold out each of the team’s eight home dates.

Nearly a third of the way through their first season, the Valkyries are on pace to topple the WNBA single-season sellout record set by the Las Vegas Aces in 2024, when MVP A’ja Wilson and company recorded 15 — playing at an arena that seats 6,000 fewer fans. 

The league’s biggest stars in Caitlin Clark and Sabrina Ionescu have reveled in an atmosphere that’s daunting for road teams.

“It’s very evident that these people are not showing up just to check a box of being here,” Clark said ahead of her Chase Center debut last week. 

It’s because they, indeed, are not. The fans are here to embrace the Bay Area’s newest professional team — and celebrate the years of progress in women’s basketball it represents.

“The arrival of the Valkyries means everything,” Acalanes High School girls basketball coach Margaret Gartner said. “It’s validation that women’s basketball matters, right here, in our own community.”

Gartner, who has spent 40 years immersed in women’s basketball in the East Bay as a player, coach, and mentor, says watching the Valkyries in their inaugural year not only stimulates her basketball-craving mind but tugs on her heart strings.

“Personally, it’s incredibly emotional. I’ve poured my heart into growing this game locally, and to see a professional women’s team in the Bay is powerful. It energizes me as a coach and inspires my players in ways we’ve never seen before.”

The representation is not limited to the court. Golden State has been meticulously constructed as a basketball and business organization that puts women in the driver’s seat. 

Valkyries president Jess Smith, general manager Ohemaa Nyanin, head coach Natalie Nakase, and many more women within the operation’s leadership structure are valuable role models to young girls across the Bay Area. 

“That speaks volumes for little girls, and little boys as well, just to see women in positions of power and being successful,” Cal coach Charmin Smith said of the Valkyries’ female leadership. “Representation matters, and it’s something we talk about in our program, with me being the first Black female head coach at Cal, too.”

As a coach who works with young athletes daily, Gartner has seen the immediate impact.

“It’s been transformational already. Whether they realize it or not, young girls absorb what they see. And now they’re seeing women lead at the highest levels: on the court, in the front office, on coaching staffs, in media coverage. That visibility is changing the narrative,” she said. “Their dreams are expanding in real time. That kind of representation wasn’t there when I was growing up, but now it’s right in front of them.” 

Like Gartner, Sue Phillips has dedicated her career to girls basketball in the greater Bay Area. Phillips balances her powerhouse program at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose with her role as founder and program director for the San Jose Cagers AAU organization and her coaching duties for the junior national team for USA Basketball. She still finds time to cheer on the Valkyries.

“The crowd is a testament to how much the Bay Area wants to support our women’s sports,” Phillips said. “There were some naysayers that might’ve said that a women’s team would not receive the kind of support necessary to be financially viable, but it’s truly proven to be that and more.” 

Before Valkyries owner Joe Lacob brought his expansion team vision to life and the new team suited up for the 2025 season, local fans got their fix watching storied women’s basketball programs at Stanford and Cal. 

Stanford’s near-annual domination earned the program 37 NCAA Tournament appearances and three national titles since the tournament’s inception in 1982. Over in Berkeley, Cal has broken through a back-and-forth history to collect five tournament appearances in the last decade. Now, the two forces are welcoming the Valkyries to the Bay Area basketball community with open arms.

“I’m showing up as a fan for the Valkyries, I’m showing up in any way that I can for the success of the WNBA, because ultimately it leads to more attention and more energy for our programs at the collegiate level,” Smith said. 

But the arrival of the Valkyries doesn’t mean the torch will be passed or heads will be turned from the local rivals. In fact, Smith and former Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer expect the opposite to happen.

“I can see it spreading to increase exposure and increase enthusiasm for youth basketball for girls and boys,” said VanDerveer, who retired last year after a 38-year run at Stanford. “It will help youth sports, and it will help the great programs that are at Stanford and Cal, and other programs in the Bay Area like St. Mary’s, University of San Francisco, and Santa Clara.”

With the Valkyries playing from May to September, fans can enjoy women’s basketball all year round. 

“During the winter, there’s no women’s pro basketball; then they’ll come to college games or come to high school games — just more enthusiasm and getting fired up about women’s basketball — I think it’s phenomenal,” VanDerveer said. 

VanDerveer and Smith envision the untapped energy released by the arrival of the Valkyries bleeding into the college basketball scene.

“Both Stanford and Cal need to capitalize on this moving forward for our collegiate teams, because this energy is palpable,” Smith said. “We both have excellent products for women’s basketball, and there’s so many people that want to see this and want to be a part of it, clearly.”

While women’s college basketball programs hope to see the enthusiasm behind the Valkyries bring attendance growth, high school and youth basketball programs are already seeing an impact from the inspiring role models Golden State provides. 

“As a longtime high school basketball coach, we have seen our numbers dwindle a bit from a participation standpoint, and some kids are specializing at an earlier age,” Phillips said. “But I am a huge proponent of representation, and I believe that if you see it, you can be it.”

“For younger players, this is more than just a team — it’s a vision of what’s possible. It gives them access to a level of play they may have never experienced before,” Gartner, who has run youth basketball camps for nearly 20 years, said.

“These girls can now have hometown heroes — players they can meet at camps, see on social media, and cheer for at games. It’s no longer abstract,” she continued. “The Valkyries have opened doors. Their presence is tangible and reachable.”

Even though the franchise was a long time coming in the hearts and minds of the Bay Area basketball community, its arrival is a watershed moment.

“The timing is everything, and the Valkyries’ timing is perfect,” VanDerveer said. “Women’s basketball has always been a great game for a very long time, but people haven’t really known about it that much. … There is just a lot of enthusiasm, and the marketing of women’s basketball has just taken off in terms of television ratings, corporate sponsorships, just the growth of the game. The Valkyries franchise will be part of that.”

Just as the past 30-plus years of their coaching careers have been rewarding, the four — Vanderveer, Smith, Phillips, and Gartner — feel grateful to be part of the game at this time.

“I’ve watched incredible talent emerge from this region. Even before the Valkyries arrived, this was a hotbed of girls basketball,” Gartner said. “Now, with a professional team in our backyard, there’s a sense that the Bay Area is not just a place to develop talent, it’s also a place to showcase and celebrate it.”