In her first public comments since coming forward as one of the players verbally abused by former-Washington Spirit coach Richie Burke, Jenna Hellstrom is lifting the curtains on what happened during her time in the NWSL.

Speaking with TSN, Hellstrom says that she can’t see herself ever returning to the NWSL after having played just one season in Washington under Burke. Currently, Hellstrom plays for KIF Orebro DFF in Sweden and as a forward on the Canadian national team.

Hellstrom admits that she struggled with coming forward publicly, but wants other Canadian athletes to feel like they can come forward.

In the article, Burke details one instance in which Burke singled her out in practice in the lead up to her debut game. During practice, Hellstrom allowed a player to score on her. She says that Burke screamed at her, “If that happens in the game, you’re never going to play for me.”

Hellstrom recalls feeling nervous, with Burke’s comments heightening her anxiety. Then, as she was about to be subbed into the game, Hellstrom says Burke told her, “If you make an attacking run and they score – that’s on you. You’re going to lose the game for us.

“I was feeling anxiety,” she told TSN. “I never felt anxiety ever in my life. I just felt so much pressure in my chest.”

A player with the team, who chose to remain anonymous, confirmed to TSN that Hellstrom seemed to be visibly shaken by Burke’s comments.

“[She] seemed to be physically struggling, like she couldn’t catch her breath or something,” they said.

Kaiya McCullough, who came forward publicly in the initial Washington Post story, discussed the incident with TSN.

“He wasn’t giving her any room to breathe, basically,” McCullough said. “And you can see her sort of spiraling on the field. I think everybody who knew Richie knew that he wasn’t going to let up.

“It was like watching a car crash – you knew what was going to happen, but there wasn’t really anything you could do about it.”

After the game, as Hellstrom was conversing with another Spirit player, Burke — upon noticing the conversation — interrupted and began to yell at Hellstrom. According to TSN, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed these reports.

Burke allegedly told Hellstrom, “You’re selfish. You took [one of our players] away from our first win… You’re never going to make Canada again. You’re not mentally tough.” According to Hellstrom, Burke berated her for close to 30 minutes following the game.

Hellstrom also details a separate instance in which she was late returning to the team for training due to her grandmother passing away. Upon her return to play, she says Burke said to her, “Okay, you were just on a six-week vacation. Let’s see what you got.”

“Who says that to a player?” Hellstrom said. “It wasn’t a vacation. It was watching my grandma die.”

Despite reporting her experiences in the league’s end-of-the-year survey, Hellstrom says she never heard anything from the league.

In response to a request for comment, Burke made his first public comments regarding the saga in a text message to TSN:

“It was clear that Jenna Hellstrom didn’t like me & I couldn’t stand her either. I couldn’t wait to get her out of the club because she was a cancer in the dressing room. She’d constantly make snarky comments at training & was influencing other players negatively.”

McCullough, however, denies this claim, calling Jenna a “very positive influence around everybody.”

“I tried to move her in several trades,” Burke continued. “But no one was interested in including her in exchange for other players,”

In a separate text, Burke said that the investigation done by independent parties “could NOT SUBSTANTIATE ANY CLAIMS OF VERBAL ABUSE MADE BY PLAYERS IN 2020.”

“I’ve been hounded out of a job, lost my reputation & income & falsely accused by players with an axe to grind,” he said.

Upon conclusion of the league’s independent investigation in September, Burke was fired by the league ”for cause” and is not allowed to work with any NWSL players.

Cameron Brink already has her rookie of the year pick for the upcoming WNBA season, and it’s Indiana-bound star Caitlin Clark. 

In the latest edition of Kelley on the Street, host Kelley O'Hara caught up with Brink in New York hours before the Stanford phenom went No. 2 overall to the Los Angeles Sparks at the 2024 WNBA Draft. When O’Hara asked who would win the WNBA's rookie of the year, she answered without pause.

"Caitlin Clark," she said, while a fan commented that she thought Brink would take home the award. Brink later added that the extra foul granted to WNBA players will be "good for me."

"I hope it’s me," Charisma Osborne, who was later drafted by the Phoenix Mercury, said when asked her ROY prediction. "But, I don’t know — we’ll see."

Watch more of Kelley on the Street:

Maria Sanchez issued a statement on Thursday, confirming recent reports that she has requested a trade from the Houston Dash. 

In it, she revealed that the club has been aware of the request "since late March."

"This has all taken a toll and isn’t an easy thing to talk about, but I want to confirm that I’ve requested an immediate trade," she wrote. "My expectations and reasons have been clear. I trust that my current club’s management will honor my decision in a timely manner and proceed with accepting a trade."

"I’m eager to refocus and dive back into what I love most: playing football," she concluded.

Thank you, everyone, for the outpouring of kindness and support. pic.twitter.com/gcnN7dhCJU

— Maria Sanchez (@Maria17_7) April 19, 2024

Reports of Sanchez's trade request first surfaced on ESPN last week, and were later confirmed by multiple sources. 

In December of last year, Sanchez signed a three-year contract with the Dash valued at $1.5 million including bonuses and an option year. It was the largest contract in NWSL history at the time — a figure that would be eclipsed by multiple contracts in the following months. 

Sanchez spent the offseason as a restricted free agent, meaning that Houston could match any other team's offer to retain her rights. Should the Dash trade Sanchez, her current contract terms would remain intact, limiting potential buyers to teams able to afford to take on an inking of that size.

The Dash has yet to address the trade, instead reiterating to ESPN that Sanchez is "under contract, a choice she made in free agency at the end of 2023." 

Both the NWSL trade window and transfer window close tonight, April 19th, at 12 a.m. ET. The window will stay closed through the next 11 regular season games, reopening on August 1st, 2024.

The four-time league champion Seattle Storm unveiled their new practice facility on Thursday, with Storm co-owner Lisa Brummel dubbing Interbay's Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance the team’s "new home."

"It's just such a special space," Brummel told Fox 13 Seattle. "I think when the players get here, it's gonna be overwhelming."

The sprawling 50,000-square-foot, $64 million property is just the second designated practice facility to be designed and built expressly for a WNBA team, with the Storm further noting that 85% of all design and engineering team members involved in the project's construction were women and people of color. The finished product holds two professional indoor courts, two 3x3 outdoor courts, a state-of-the-art locker room, and players' lounge, plus designated areas for strength and conditioning, kitchen, dining, and nutrition, and recovery. 

"This facility reflects our commitment to providing our athletes an exceptional environment that supports their growth, health, and performance," said Storm co-owner Ginny Gilder in an official team release. "It’s built for women, by women, embodying our dedication to leading the way in professional women’s sports."

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For their part, the team can't wait to make the faciilty their own.

"It's amazing," Storm guard Jewell Loyd told Fox 13. "Not having to drive everywhere around, knowing you have access anytime of the day to get into the gym, to workout." 

Head coach Noelle Quinn said she predicts the team is "never going to leave this building."

"Which is a good thing for me," she continued. "You talk about having an edge in performance. We want our athletes to not only perform on the court, but get whatever they need."

All of the Storm's staff and operations will now live under one roof, and the team also has plans to launch a youth basketball program operating out of the building.

The Caitlin Clark effect is quickly making its mark on the big leagues, as WNBA host teams around the country rush to upgrade their Fever games to larger arenas in order to accommodate surging ticket sales.

With Clark mere weeks away from her Indiana Fever debut, both the Las Vegas Aces and Washington Mystics have officially relocated their scheduled home games with head coach Christie Sides' squad. On Thursday, the Mystics became the latest to adjust their plans, moving their June 7th matchup from Entertainment & Sports Arena in Southwest DC to the more centrally located — and much larger — Capital One Arena "due to unprecedented demand."

The Mystics home court's capacity taps out at 4,200, while Capital One Arena — home to the Wizards, Capitals, and Georgetown Hoya's Men's Basketball — can fit nearly five times that crowd at some 20,000 spectators.

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"The move to Capital One Arena will allow for additional fans in the stands as well as premium hospitality options, including Suites and the all-new all-inclusive courtside Hennessy Lofts," the team announced via Thursday's press release.

The Aces were one of the first teams to switch venues, aiming to take on the Indiana Fever in front of as many as 20,000 fans inside T-Mobile Arena on July 2nd. That’s a sizable a boost from their home venue, which holds just 12,000.

For those still planning to face the Fever in their home arenas, ticket prices have skyrocketed. Previously scheduled construction has already forced the LA Sparks to relocate their first five games — including their May 24th clash with the Fever — to Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid. The temporary venue is quite the downsize, holding just 4,000 in comparison to Crypto.com Arena's near-19,000. As of Friday, the get-in price for that game started around $400.

Despite fans launching a Change.org petition urging relocation, the Chicago Sky say they're unable to move their June 23rd Fever meeting from Wintrust Arena's 10,000-seat facility to the 23,500-seat United Center due to a concert. Tickets for that game start around $325 as of Friday.