All Scores

Gwen Svekis Says Athletes Unlimited Has Given Softball a Future

Softball catcher Gwen Svekis / JWS
Softball catcher Gwen Svekis / JWS

Gwen Svekis is a professional softball catcher who recently competed in the inaugural season of Athletes Unlimited softball. A graduate of the University of Oregon, Svekis led the Ducks to three College World Series appearances and was named the NFCA Catcher of the Year. Below, she spoke with Just Women’s Sports about her first season with Athletes Unlimited and what it means for the future of softball. 

Looking back at your first season with AU, what are your overall thoughts on how it went?

We thought it was going to be super dramatic and high stress. What we found was we created a culture off the field within the 56 athletes that fostered the exact opposite. It was no drama. It was a super empowering environment off the field, which I think made it extremely enjoyable on the field with the rotating teams. It was pretty easy to gel immediately because it really, really felt like one gigantic 56 person team rather than just a bunch of random groups of people thrown together. That was a huge takeaway. I think the other thing is just, it’s so exciting to see the future of our sport. Now there’s a group of us that talk almost every day. And it’s hard for us to watch baseball or college softball games or travel ball games without thinking through the Athletes Unlimited point system, which is really cool. We were watching a baseball game after the season ended, and we were like, “Oh my God, that was a 70 point hit.” It’s been really cool just to sort of feel like we truly did revolutionize our sport and we’re just so excited for the future and what it has to hold.

What surprised you about the scoring system?

I was surprised at how well it went for our first year. I was expecting a few more hiccups, a few more outliers within the ranks. I think what we found is it truly did work itself out. Is it perfect? No, I think we definitely will make some tweaks to it at some point, but I think overall for the first year, it was surprising how successful it was. I know on social media, there’s a lot of chit-chat about things that need to be changed. But I think from within our system, we don’t feel like it needs to be that much different.

Did you find yourself thinking about the point system as you were playing or was it an afterthought? 

For me, it was mostly an afterthought and that was for a few reasons. I didn’t want to think about it during the season. I went into the season thinking I can’t get caught thinking about the point system or I will plummet. It’s the same way in normal softball. If you get caught thinking about your stats, you’re not going to do well. So I tried not to think about it. I would check at the beginning of every week and be like, “Wow, I dropped X amount of spots this week. I need to really get it together.” In that way, I thought about it, but I would not be mid-game and be like, “Oh my God, I need 10 points here to jump X, Y, and Z.”

You placed in the top 5 leaderboard at the end of it all. What did that mean to end up there? 

I thought it was super rewarding, especially because I had won a lot of games being on Cat Osterman’s teams the whole time. But it was nice to feel like at the end I did well enough to get myself where I was rather than just being Cat’s catcher the whole time. It was nice to have a breakout final week and to feel like I earned that spot for my defensive play.

You mentioned Cat — she obviously proved she is still the GOAT despite her age. And you and her obviously had amazing chemistry. Throughout the six weeks, she picked you first in the draft a number of times. Can you speak to what it was like to play with her and why you think you worked so well together?

For starters, the eight year old in me was just so ecstatic about it. I think it was just so cool because I was tasked with trying to get Cat in the league at first. I called her giving her the first sales pitch. And when she signed up, I was like, “Okay, I want to play with someone as elite as she is.” I wanted to pick her brain, and so when we got together the first week, I was like, “Hey, I want to catch your bullpen.” I think that set the tone for our relationship.

Then straight out of the gates, we were super successful together. Some of that’s just Cat being Cat, but I also think she was immediately comfortable with me behind the plate. And then after that, we quickly got to the point where I probably didn’t even have to call pitches, and we still would have thrown a successful game together, which is every battery’s dream.

AU has already announced a 2021 season. Will you return next year?

If I get offered another contract, yes, I will be playing next year. It’s cool. I’m on the player executive committee. We recruited all the players for this year and we’re starting the recruitment for next year. It’s really cool being in the conversations and re-going through it. Now there’s obviously a lot of hype backing us. Before, we were trying to convince people to take the leap of faith without really knowing what we were doing. And now there’s a lot of hype and there’s a lot of excitement.

It’s awesome that college players now have something to look forward to.

That’s been something that’s been really exciting for us because, like I said at the beginning,  it’s just so exciting to know there’s a future for our sport. The NPF [National Pro Fastpitch], we’ve survived 17 years, but I use the word “survived.” We haven’t thrived. It’s just players that aren’t ready to hang it up or that love the game and want to pay it forward to the next generation. Now, I truly feel like there’s another opportunity on the horizon that could really, really be a professional environment for these young players.

I talked to a college team yesterday and I’m looking around at the freshmen thinking, “God, I hope what we’re doing right now makes it so that you guys can play professionally one day and actually truly make it an option to play rather than playing just because you don’t know what’s next.”

I heard that you are continuing to work with AU on the business side as a player coordinator during the February volleyball season. What will that look like?

I’ve been involved with Athletes Unlimited since last October. That’s when I signed on as a player, became a part of the player executive committee, and then I was consulting for them for the whole year. Right when I finished my master’s degree, I reached out and said, “Hey, listen. This is what I want to do. I want to dive into this full-time.” I went through an interview process and got hired on as the manager of player care and coordination across all sports under Athletes Unlimited. I’ve been building the volleyball league, and am now involved in our lacrosse league, handling player relations.

What are your other softball plans for the rest of the year until next season?

I work remotely, so I’m moving to Colorado with my former college roommate. I’m excited to have that quality of life, be in that environment, be able to go hiking and be outdoors. And then I’ll just be training, and then I will be in Nashville for the volleyball season. I’ll go move for that, be there for the duration of that, and then just start training again. Hopefully there’s an NPF season to supplement Athletes Unlimited. I haven’t really thought very long and hard about that and what that looks like for me, but I’ll definitely be training because I definitely plan to play in Athletes Unlimited next year.

WSL and WSL2 Clubs Vote in Favor of English League Expansion

Chelsea FC attacker Aggie Beever-Jones celebrates a goal during a 2025 WSL match.
Despite previous proposals, the expanding WSL will not forgo relegation. (Chris Lee - Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

The Women's Super League (WSL) is growing, with the UK league's top two flights deciding in a Monday expansion vote to enlarge its top tier from 12 to 14 teams ahead of the 2026/27 season.

The number of matches played each season will also balloon from 22 to 26 games to accommodate the incoming clubs, as will established cup competitions.

Monday also saw the WSL vote down a prior proposal to temporarily suspend the relegation and promotion process to accommodate this expansion, deciding instead to adopt a "two up, one down" model for the second-tier WSL2 next season.

As such, the top two finishers of the 2025/26 WSL2 season will automatically join the higher-tier WSL, while the WSL's last-place team will battle the WSL2's third-place club in "a high-profile, high stakes match" for the final spot in the top flight.

After reaching 14 teams, both leagues will return to relegating the last-place WSL finisher while promoting the WSL2's top team for the following season.

Along with the increased investment in club infrastructure, a 14-team WSL keeps pace with the global women's game — most notably, the NWSL, which will become a 16-team league in 2026.

"Our priority was to find a route that would benefit the whole women's game pyramid, and we believe this next evolution of women's professional football will raise minimum standards, create distinction, and incentivize investment across the board," said WSL Football CEO Nikki Doucet.

WNBA Teams Offset Injuries, EuroBasket Departures with Short-Term Contracts

Golden State Valkyries rookie Kaitlyn Chen dribbles the ball up the court during a 2025 WNBA preseason game.
2025 WNBA draftee Kaitlyn Chen returned to the Golden State Valkyries to offset EuroBasket roster departures. (Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)

With EuroBasket set to tip off on Wednesday and injuries mounting league-wide, WNBA teams are filling out dwindling rosters with more short-term contracts — and calling back some familiar faces along the way.

While some European standouts withdrew from EuroBasket consideration — including Phoenix's Satou Sabally and Seattle's Gabby Williams — others, like New York's Leonie Fiebich and Golden State's Temi Fagbenle, will join their national teams for the regional FIBA tournament through the end of June.

Due to these planned absences, WNBA teams temporarily suspend their EuroBasket players' contracts, allowing squads to add others to their rosters.

Players signed due to temporary absences are technically on rest-of-season deals, though the agreements can end whenever the missing athletes return.

In contrast, the league requires that teams release any hardship signings due to injury once squads tally enough healthy original players to satisfy the WNBA's 10-athlete roster minimum.

Featuring a lineup stacked with international talent, Golden State made the most transactions this week, temporarily suspending four regular contracts as 2025 EuroBasket stars departed for the annual competition.

To bolster their depleted bench, the Valkyries brought back 2025 WNBA Draft Cinderella pick Kaitlyn Chen and recent training camp participant Laeticia Amihere on short-term contracts, in addition to guard Aerial Powers and forward Chloe Bibby.

Elsewhere, after losing forward Maddy Siegrist to injury and temporarily suspending the contracts of centers Teaira McCowan and Luisa Geiselsöder, Dallas acquired center Li Yueru from Seattle — with the Wings possibly needing additional hardship signings in the coming days.

The Storm snagged two future draft picks in the Saturday deal — a second-round selection in 2026 and a third-round pick in 2027.

Ultimately, teams are striving to find a balance between stocking up and maintaining consistency, all while operating under the WNBA's roster constraints — with further league expansion fast approaching.

WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Conference Play Comes Down to the Wire

Seattle Storm forward Ezi Magbegor tries to defend a jump-shot from Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier during a 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup game.
Napheesa Collier and the Minnesota Lynx will advance to a second straight WNBA Commissioner's Cup final with a Tuesday win. (Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

The 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup will wrap up its conference play on Tuesday, as both Eastern and Western teams battle for a ticket to the in-season competition's championship game — and a cut of the $500,000 prize pool.

With 12 of the league's 13 teams facing off across Tuesday's WNBA courts, the results will set the stage by minting the two squads who will battle in the July 1st final showdown.

Reigning Commissioner's Cup champs Minnesota have the West's easiest path, as a win over the Las Vegas Aces will send the Lynx to a second straight final.

Should the Lynx fall to the Aces, however, Seattle can grab the Western Conference berth by beating the Los Angeles Sparks.

Meanwhile in the East, a surging Atlanta could land a trip to the final by topping New York, while the Liberty need both a win over the Dream plus a loss by the Indiana Fever to clinch their own return ticket to the Cup's grand finale.

If New York does take down Atlanta, the Fever could advance to the team's first-ever Commissioner's Cup final by beating the struggling Connecticut Sun.

How to watch Tuesday's 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup games

All of Tuesday's six WNBA games count toward the 2025 Commissioner's Cup tally.

The action begins with the Atlanta Dream tipping off against the New York Liberty while the Indiana Fever battles the Connecticut Sun at 7 PM ET, live on WNBA League Pass.

Chicago Sky Star Angel Reese Files Trademark for ‘Mebounds’ to Silence Internet Trolls

Chicago Sky star Angel Reese grabs a rebound during a 2024 WNBA game.
Chicago Sky star Angel Reese is trademarking a term often used to criticize her play. (Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images)

Chicago Sky star Angel Reese made headlines this week, with the second-year WNBA forward announcing that she has trademarked word "mebounds" — a slang term opposing fans use to describe Reese rebounding her own missed shots.

"Whoever came up with the 'mebounds' thing, y’all ate that up, because mebounds, rebounds, keybounds...anything that comes off that board, it's mine," Reese said in a TikTok video on Saturday.

"And a brand? That's six figures right there," she continued, referencing her trademark application. "The trolling — I love when y'all do it because the ideas be good!"

Currently averaging 11.9 boards per matchup, Reese is leading the WNBA in rebounds for the second straight season.

Her rookie campaign saw Reese average 13.1 boards per game, a rate that set a single-season league record. She also blasted through the WNBA's consecutive double-double record last season, claiming it with 10 straight before extending it to an impressive 15 games.

Along with the average rebounds record, Reese also broke the single-season total rebounds record previously held by retired Minnesota Lynx legend Sylvia Fowles — a mark that was later surpassed by 2024 MVP A'ja Wilson following Reese's season-ending wrist injury.

"Statistically, all the rebounds that I get aren't always just mine," Reese added in her Saturday social media post. "They're the defense's, too, or somebody else on my team."

Start your morning off right with Just Women’s Sports’ free, 5x-a-week newsletter.