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With new-look front office, Premier Hockey Federation is aiming high

Reagan Carey served as USA Hockey’s director of women’s hockey from 2010 through 2018. (Ker Robertson/Getty Images)

As Kacey Bellamy reached the end of her playing career, she knew she wanted to stay involved in women’s hockey. So when the chance came to work for the Premier Hockey Federation, it was too good for her to pass up.

The former U.S. women’s national team player and three-time Olympic medalist joined the PHF as a scout and player relations liaison in May.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to continue to help grow women’s hockey at a professional level,” Bellamy told Just Women’s Sports.

As an added bonus, she once again gets to work with Reagan Carey, who was named PHF commissioner in April.

Carey and Bellamy are no strangers to one another. Carey served as USA Hockey’s director of women’s hockey from 2010-18, helping the team to an Olympic silver medal in Sochi in 2014 and a gold medal in PyeongChang in 2018. Bellamy played for both those teams.

“I wanted to jump on board because I know that [Carey] is one hundred percent fully invested in trying to make this the league to be in and she’s not gonna stop until she gets there,” Bellamy said. “I saw what she did with the national team from 2010 to 2018 to get to the end goal of winning a gold medal, and that was just setting expectations, holding people accountable, building this culture of, we’re not gonna expect anything less than giving it a 100 percent.”

Carey sees that same drive in Bellamy, and she looks for it in all her hires. Take Melody Davidson, whom Carey brought on as the director of hockey operations in May, as an example. A former head coach and general manager for the Canada women’s national team, Davidson helped the team win four straight gold medals, including in 2014 against Carey’s Team USA.

“There’s a lot to be said for people that go out and get it done and win,” Carey told Just Women’s Sports in early June.

We’ve got a tall order, but we’re out there doing it.

The Premier Hockey Federation aims to be just what its name says: a premier destination for professional hockey. The league is positioning itself as such after a decade of explosive growth and change in the women’s game.

The PHF entered the scene in 2015 as the National Women’s Hockey League, and despite early clashes with the now-defunct Canadian Women’s Hockey League and some recent turmoil at the team level, the league is cementing itself as an option for athletes to continue their careers after college.

Bellamy will help athletes navigate that journey. In her role for the PHF, she’ll be tasked with establishing relationships with college players and coaches and ensuring open lines of communication between players and the league.

In 2017, the U.S. women’s hockey team was one of the first national teams across sports to begin the fight for equal pay. Having found herself in the middle of that fight, Bellamy understands the importance of her role as a player liaison.

“It’s so important to have someone that you trust and that you can talk to, not just someone in the league, but someone who’s been through several Olympics, fighting for equality and all the things that we’ve experienced as a group,” Bellamy said.

She wants “to give my advice in any way, shape or form that I can to help these girls feel confident and comfortable and help them in their decision to hopefully join the league,” she continued.

Increased player salaries should help Bellamy make her case to prospective athletes.

In February, the PHF’s Board of Governors announced a $25 million investment. As a result ,the salary cap for the six-team league has increased to $750,000 per team for the upcoming season.

Mikyla Grant-Mentis is one of those players reaping the benefits of the investment. Her one-year, $80,000 deal with the Buffalo Beauts makes her the highest-paid women’s professional hockey player.

As other players negotiate salaries, transparency will be key. The salary cap floor is $562,500 for the upcoming season, and the minimum salary for players is $13,500.

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Mikyla Grant-Mentis, center, signed an $80,000 deal with the Buffalo Beauts in May. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

While the league does not publicly disclose salaries, there is an unofficial spreadsheet circulating that details player’s salaries, compiled by The Ice Garden’s Mike Murphy.

At the same time, the league and players’ association are holding discussions and paying special attention to players’ voices.

“Everyone appears to be on the same page,” PHFPA executive director Nicole Corriero told NBC’s Alex Azzi in a statement. “We acknowledge the benefits to having such disclosure take place, including empowerment, transparency and accountability. We also appreciate that each player’s individual circumstances are different and want to ensure we respect their ability to opt out if that is their preference.”

At the league level, Carey acknowledges that, while they’re moving in the right direction to get player’s salaries to where they want them to be, there’s more work to be done.

“Until we get further down the line in this process, we’re going to be very mindful of the players that aren’t at the top of that salary grouping so that we can ensure that their experience is just as great in other ways,” Carey said. “We’ve got a tall order, but we’re out there doing it and making it happen with the intent on improving upon it every season.”

I think the sky’s the limit for this league.

Meanwhile, a competitor also has been gaining steam. The Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) is preparing to form its own six-team league and debut in January 2023.

Carey, though, isn’t worried about the PHF’s position. In fact, she respects the PWHPA for trying to grow the game.

“Anybody that is supporting the growth of women’s hockey, regardless of the jersey and logo they’re wearing on the front of their jersey, they’re a teammate in my eyes,” she said. “They’re doing what they can to grow the sport and in ways that they feel is best.

“There’s nothing but a positive and respectful lens on that, from my standpoint.”

Carey likens the relationship between the PHF and the PWHPA to that of the relationship between the U.S. and Canada national teams. While fans have seen the rivalry come to fruition on the ice, there’s also been collaboration behind the scenes in efforts to lift women’s hockey to its current status.

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Reagan Carey served as USA Hockey’s director of women’s hockey from 2010 through 2018. (Ker Robertson/Getty Images)

“It’s a great rivalry, but at the same time in order to grow the game and to support the sport, we had to work together to make sure that we were creating opportunities to grow our sport,” Carey said of her time with Team USA.

No matter how the PWHPA’s plans shake out, Carey said she hopes the relationship between the PHF and the PWHPA will still allow the organizations to support one another and collaborate in some way.

Several players have made the jump from the PWHPA to the PHF this offseason, including Brittany Howard and U.S. Olympian Amanda Pelkey. The PHF remains committed to not only signing high-profile players, but building them up as well.

“I think right now we’re at a great position of starting to be able to bring in some big names because I really believe in the structure of this,” Bellamy said. “I think the sky’s the limit for this league.”

Emma Hruby is an Associate Editor at Just Women’s Sports.

PWHL Announces Vancouver Expansion Franchise Ahead of 2025/26 Season

New York's Jade Downie-Landry and Ottawa's Shiann Darkangelo face-off during a 2025 PWHL game.
The seventh PWHL team will be in Vancouver. (Troy Parla/Getty Images)

The PWHL is officially expanding, with the second-year pro women's hockey league awarding Vancouver its seventh franchise on Wednesday.

The league's first-ever expansion squad faces a short run-up, joining the current six-team roster when the puck drops on the 2025/26 PWHL season.

"To be able to grow this fast is just a testament to the great sport, our great athletes, and how people feel about the work that we’re doing and what our players are putting out on the ice," said PWHL EVP of business operations Amy Scheer.

Vancouver fanbase bolstered city's PWHL bid

Commenting on the eight-month expansion evaluation process, Scheer called Vancouver's bid "unbelievably robust," and noted that the city's "engaged, vibrant, fun" fanbase and its "remarkable commitment to growing the game of hockey" helped earn the Canadian community a team.

That commitment was on display at the PWHL's recent 2025 Takeover Tour, which drew major crowds as the league tested expansion prospects in non-market cities across North America.

Vancouver stood out, notching the the fourth-largest crowd in PWHL history when 19,038 fans showed up on January 8th — and claiming the highest social media engagement across all nine Tour stops.

That fan enthusiasm helped push Vancouver across the PWHL's expansion line, with the new team already making league history.

Besides marking the league's first-ever footprint on the the West Coast, Vancouver will become the first PWHL team to serve as the primary tenant in its home venue at the Pacific Coliseum.

The 17,713-seat arena and its adjacent PNE Agrodome — PWHL Vancouver's main training facility — will undergo extensive upgrades for the incoming franchise.

"The expansion brings greater visibility to the West Coast, expands out geographic footprint, and, most importantly, grows the game," said PWHL EVP of hockey operations Jayna Hefford.

A young fan holds up a sign reading "Just finished my 1st hockey season, PWHL here I come!" at a PWHL 2025 Takeover Tour game in Detroit.
PWHL execs said expansion adds roster spots for current and future league stars. (Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

League eyes next steps for expansion team

While the PWHL still has over 20 proposals from markets requesting a team — and rumors swirling that Seattle could join Vancouver as a 2025/26 season expansion contingent — the league is currently making more concrete plans for its official seventh squad.

"With this team comes more opportunities for the best women's hockey players in the world to continue competing in one league," remarked Hefford. "The talent pool has never been deeper, and with a strong 2025 draft class ahead, we're pleased that even more women are going to be able to play at the professional level."

Details for an upcoming expansion draft to begin stocking Vancouver's roster will be announced shortly, and the team will also take part in the 2025 PWHL Draft on June 24th.

"The PWHL is setting a new standard for women's hockey. The game has never been faster, more physical, or more skilled," Hefford added. "We're so excited for this city to experience the parity and the competitiveness that our league has every single game."

Bay FC to Host Washington at SF Giants Ballpark, Eye NWSL Attendance Record

A wide view of San Francisco's Oracle Park set up for a 2022 soccer match.
Oracle Park’s 40,000-seat capacity could set a new NWSL attendance record. (Doug Zimmerman/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

The NWSL is heading back to the ballparkwith 2024 expansion side Bay FC announcing Tuesday that the club will take on the Washington Spirit inside Oracle Park, the home of MLB's San Francisco Giants.

Shifting the August 23rd match to the baseball diamond isn't just a spectacle — the move builds on Bay FC's continuous ambitions to claim the top NWSL attendance record by filling the Bay Area ballpark's 40,260 seats.

Though the 25-year-old Oracle Park has previously hosted men's contests, August's NWSL match will be the first professional women's soccer game in the venue's history.

Similarly, while this will be the first NWSL competition in San Francisco's baseball venue, it's not the first league match in an MLB stadium.

Last summer, the Chicago Stars hosted Bay FC at Wrigley Field, packing an NWSL-record 35,038 soccer fans into the MLB home of the Chicago Cubs.

That June 8th, 2024, attendance surpassed the previous league-record crowd of 34,130 that attended USWNT icon Megan Rapinoe's final Seattle home game in 2023.

How to attend Bay FC vs. Washington at Oracle Park

To be a part of the potentially record-breaking August 23rd crowd, tickets will be available for general purchase beginning at 12 PM ET on May 6th.

Fans interested in securing pre-sale tickets can add their names to the online list.

Portland Rookies Top Gotham in Midweek NWSL Action

Portland forward Deyna Castellanos celebrates scoring a goal with her teammates in a 2025 NWSL win over Gotham.
Three Portland Thorns rookies scored their first NWSL goals on Tuesday. (Soobum Im/NWSL via Getty Images)

In Tuesday night's NWSL action, Portland upset a rising Gotham side 4-1 behind three debut goals from the Thorns' promising rookie class.

The rare midweek match came courtesy of next month's Concacaf W Champions Cup. Both Gotham and Portland advanced to the international club event's semifinals last October, forcing them to pull double-duty and add this week's extra regular-season NWSL game to accommodate the tournament's schedule.

The tight turnaround certainly didn't rattle the Thorns.

Portland newcomers Marie-Yasmine "Mimi" Alidou, Caiya Hanks, and Jayden Perry all earned their first NWSL goals in the match, before offseason signee Deyna Castellanos reinforced the victory with an 80th-minute chip.

As for Gotham, 32-year-old star forward Esther provided a bright spot for the NJ/NY squad, notching her fifth goal of the young season to boost herself to the top of the league's early Golden Boot race.

Despite the loss, Friday's strong outing against Angel City has Gotham still holding steady at No. 4 in the standings. However, both No. 5 Portland and No. 6 ACFC are close on the Bats' heels, with all three teams currently tied at eight points apiece.

"What I told the team is that we lost the battle tonight, but this is a long war," said Gotham head coach Juan Carlos Amoros following the match. "We're there together on this."

How to watch Gotham, Portland this weekend

Gotham will take the pitch once again on Saturday, when they'll face East Coast rivals Washington at 1 PM ET. Live coverage will air on CBS.

Meanwhile, Portland will close out the NWSL's sixth matchday by hosting Racing Louisville at 4 PM ET on Sunday, streaming live on Paramount+.

TST Drops Expanded Women’s 7v7 Tournament Bracket

USWNT jerseys for Carli Lloyd and Ali Krieger hand in lockers before their 2019 World Cup quarterfinal.
Carli Lloyd and Ali Krieger will feature for the US Women’s 2025 TST 7v7 team. (Catherine Ivill - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

The Soccer Tournament (TST) presented by RBC Wealth Management revealed its 2025 women's bracket on Tuesday, with 16 7v7 teams gearing up to compete for the $1 million winner-take-all grand prize this June.

The US Women's Team is back to defend their 2024 title, fueled by World Cup-winning USWNT vets Heather O'Reilly, Carli Lloyd, and Ali Krieger, plus retired Scotland national and Bay FC defender Jen Beattie.

Additional teams participating in the competition include 7v7 offshoots of NWSL clubs Angel City, KC Current, and 2024 runners-up NC Courage, as well as former USWNT goalkeeper Hope Solo's Solo FC.

Returning to Cary, North Carolina, for its third year, TST doubled the size of its women's bracket after a successful eight-team debut in 2024.

"Our inaugural women's championship game viewership performed exceptionally well, as we grew our audience 452% from the beginning of the game until the moment the game-winning goal was scored," TST founder and CEO Jon Mugar told The Athletic.

"TST soccer is electrifying," Mugar added. "Our goal is to become the preeminent soccer festival in the world. Judging by the number of returning fans and teams, we are well on our way."

How to attend, watch the 2025 TST 7v7 contest

TST's 7v7 women's competition kicks off on June 5th and runs through the $1 million championship game on June 9th.

Tickets to attend are currently available online.

All matches will air live on either YouTube or ESPN platforms.

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