The NWHL’s decision to rebrand itself as the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) has sparked spirited discussion across social media since Tuesday’s announcement.

The league chose the new name “with respect to differences in the gender identity of current athletes, prospective players, and league stakeholders,” as the press release stated. While some applauded the move to be more inclusive, others questioned the timing and intention behind it.

PHF Commissioner Tyler Tumminia says the timing of the announcement was intentional.

“This was the time that if we were going to do a rebrand, we would do it now, so that it actually mirrors the change that is being made internally, externally,” she said. “This is a new era that we’re bringing this into, and we want the face, the brand, the outlook, the entire exterior to look different as well.”

I was extremely proud to play in the NWHL but when I was asked where I played hockey by strangers it would give me anxiety to state the full league name and essentially out myself.

This is a very important move for non-binary or trans hockey players. Love the new digs PHF! https://t.co/DqyWVOy0rt

— Harrison Browne (@Hbrowne24) September 7, 2021

The league implemented the rebrand after months of conducting focus groups and conversations. As it enters its seventh season on the heels of striking its first national broadcast deal and increasing the team salary cap to $300,000, the PHF was inspired to double down on empowerment, gender equity and inclusivity.

Looking ahead, the league plans to introduce new policies that correspond with those values.

“It’s a cultural acceptance within our teams and our ownerships and who we align ourselves with from a business standpoint,” Tumminia said. “This is very important to exercise as we continue to grow.”

The PHF partnered with Athlete Ally in mid-June in an effort to educate its players, staff and community on inclusivity. The league has been working with the organization to modify its transgender player policy, which is currently hormone-focused. Tumminia says the goal is to have the updated policy ready for the start of the 2021-22 season, but there is no official timeline.

Toronto Six forward Mikyla Grant-Mentis played this past season for Digit Murphy. The former coach and current Toronto Six president was previously involved with Women’s Sports Policy Working Group, an organization that seeks to keep women in sports from competing against “trans athletes with male sex-link physical advantages.”

“This year, I think we’re going to do so much to strive for being inclusive towards everyone,” said Grant-Mentis, the 2021 league MVP.

From a business standpoint, the league chose “Federation” as part of its new name to be more welcoming of international players and organizations.

“It’s allowed us to engage internationally, which I’m in the middle of right now, having conversations with business companies in the international market,” Tumminia said.

The PHF lifted the “W” out of its league name to recognize its players as athletes and not just female athletes. The logo, however, still features a subtle “W” in the crown. Tumminia says the letter’s inclusion is a tribute to the history of the league.

“I love it, honestly,” Grant-Mentis said of the new name. “I hope it encourages other female leagues to rebrand the ‘W’ and just become a professional basketball player, rather than a women’s professional basketball player.”

The NWSL has made a decision, as the league officially moves forward with its new "High Impact Player" rule despite stated opposition from the players union.

Announced last week, the rule change allows clubs to exceed to the NWSL salary cap by up to $1 million to attract or retain players that meet one of eight qualifying metrics set by the league.

Those metrics include major media award rankings like the 30-player Ballon d'Or shortlist and ESPN FC's Top 50 Football Players, as well as marketing power, top USWNT minutes, and end-of-year NWSL awards.

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Developed with Washington Spirit superstar — and current free agent — Trinity Rodman and her potential contract in mind, the "High Impact Player" rule will not go into effect until July 1st, 2026.

Meanwhile, the NWSLPA has spoken out against the mechanism, proposing instead to up the salary cap by $1 million without league-imposed spending regulations.

"Under federal labor law, changes to compensation under the salary cap are a mandatory subject of bargaining — not a matter of unilateral discretion," the union wrote on Wednesday.

Additionally, per The Athletic, NWSLPA executive director Meghann Burke expressed concerns that the rule ties top athlete pay, in part, to player valuations in third party publications — a move that externally defines who a club can consider "high impact."

Led by six Kansas City athletes and five from Gotham FC, just 27 current NWSL players across 10 of the 16 clubs in the expanded 2026 season meet the new HIP qualifying criteria — though all teams could use the mechanism to attract a new athlete to the league.

In a growing global market, the NWSL could be falling into a trap of half-measures, as the union pushes back with league parity potentially on the line.

The Kansas City Current have apparently found a new manager, with ESPN reporting last week that the 2025 NWSL Shield-winners will bring on former MLS head coach Chris Armas to lead the team in 2026.

Armas built his career in the MLS, coaching the New York Red Bulls from 2018 to 2020 before taking over Toronto FC in 2021, then spending the last three years heading up the Colorado Rapids.

The ex-USMNT player also has experience in the women's game at the college level, leading the Division II Adelphi University women's soccer team from 2011 to 2014.

Despite their many victories in 2025, the Current found themselves without a coach after third-year boss Vlatko Andonovski moved into a sporting director role with the club in November.

ESPN reported that Kansas City chose Armas over internal candidates like assistants Milan Ivanovic and ex-Angel City and Gotham manager Freya Coombe.

"I want my staff and people I've worked with to become successful coaches. These are things I'm very passionate about and want to be able to execute," Andonovski told ESPN last month.

Armas would be the first former MLS coach to make the leap to the NWSL, with the winds of change in Kansas City blowing stronger than anticipated.

With the 2026 Winter Olympics fast approaching, US skiing icon Mikaela Shiffrin has started the 2025/26 FIS World Cup cycle in top form — particularly in her favored slalom event.

Closing out last season with a victory, Shiffrin is currently on a multi-event winning streak, earning her sixth straight slalom title in Semmering, Austria, on Sunday.

"It was a really hard day today, tough conditions, a really big fight, and the pressure's on… I did my best, best possible run," Shiffrin said afterwards.

Momentum is on her side, with Shiffrin set to enter the 2026 Winter Games in Italy as the winningest skier in World Cup history, surpassing Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark's 86 wins in March 2023 and becoming the first skier to reach 100 World Cup victories earlier this year.

Sunday's race marked the 30-year-old's 106th career World Cup title, with Shiffrin looking to add to her ever-growing historic record with three more slalom events scheduled before the Olympic women's Alpine skiing events kick off on February 8th.

The 2014 Olympic slalom champion and 2018 Winter Games giant slalom gold medalist is aiming to return to the podium after failing to medal at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

Shiffrin will likely hit the slopes again next weekend, when the women's FIS World Cup lands in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, for a giant slalom and slalom competition.

South Carolina basketball is stocking up, as top-ranked high school senior Jerzy Robinson announced her commitment to join the head coach Dawn Staley and the No. 3 Gamecocks last Tuesday.

"I chose South Carolina because I had a sense of peace when it came down to the decision for me," Robinson told ESPN. "When I visited South Carolina, I was already home. I was already valued there.... I felt like this was where I needed to be for the next four years."

A 6-foot-2 guard who averaged 27 points and 10.2 rebounds in her junior season at Los Angeles's Sierra Canyon High School, Robinson is now the highest-ranked Class of 2026 recruit heading to South Carolina — as well as the final Top 5 player to make a college decision after also visiting No. 1 UConn and No. 5 LSU.

Robinson first made a name for herself at the youth level, winning three gold medals and the 2025 U-19 FIBA World Cup with Team USA.

The young talent also inked one of the first-ever shoe sponsorships for a high school player, signing an NIL deal with Nike in November 2024.

"Basketball has always been my love and my passion," she said. "To see it pay off and the hard work and the hours pay off, in the sense of I get to play for one of the best universities in the country, I just have so much gratitude."