The Toronto Tempo is just days away from tipping off as the first WNBA team in Canada, and some of the team’s stars say they’re already liking the rhythm of their new home.
“It’s kind of like a community (here). I see people on the street and they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, this place is really good. (Or) don’t go there. don’t go there,” guard Marina Mabrey said at a Monday morning press conference, noting that people “wouldn’t do that” in her hometown of New Jersey.
“Walking down the street, and they’re like, yelling out, like, ‘Go Tempo!’ Or like, they’re literally yelling out your name. That’s something to get used to...They have so much love for us, and we haven’t even dribbled a basketball on the court yet,” echoed guard Brittney Sykes.
The Tempo is one of two expansion teams launching in 2026, the other being Portland Fire, but the only WNBA franchise to operate outside of the United States.
The team is set two play two pre-season games on Wednesday and Friday of this week, before they open their season at home against the Washington Mystics on May 8. The game is sold out.
“We’re making history here, aren’t we?” head coach Sandy Brondello said, when asked how it felt walking into the Tempo locker room at Coca-Cola Coliseum for the first time.
“What they did to Coca-Cola to make it a fun space for the players, they have everything there that they need to prepare and get ready to play. It looks all brand new and all fresh. I think it’s great facility.”
The team will share the space with the PWHL’s Toronto Sceptres and the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. The team announced earlier this month that it will open a brand-new training facility at Exhibition Place in 2028.
“I’m very excited for the players and the coaches to be able to have that space to call it theirs as they prepare to take on opponents and prepare for a game and post game,” general manager Monica Wright said of the Tempo’s home court.
Wright added that, from what she’s seen from the team so far, the lineup looks stellar.
“It’s very well organized, it’s upbeat, the energy is amazing. And so I’ve just had a lot of fun, from a basketball standpoint, being able to observe practice. And so that’s been fun.”
Toronto-based billionaire Larry Tanenbaum paid US$50 million in 2024 to bring the expansion franchise north of the border.
Kia Nurse acting as de facto Canadian consigliere
One of the team’s most recent signees is Canadian Kia Nurse.
The Hamilton native admits she’s been acting as a bit of a liaison for some of her American teammates as they adjust to life in Toronto. That includes introducing them to ketchup chips.
“Izzy (Isabelle Harrison), I believe, said it was interesting. And I told her, it’s one of those things you got to keep going. You know? Like the first time is just like, okay, but they will enhance your life if you continue to give them the opportunity to do so,” she said jokingly of the flavour that’s not widely available in the States.
Nurse, who also plays for Team Canada’s basketball team and has played professionally since 2018, said she’s looking forward to May 8, noting that playing on home soil on a go-forward basis is “really special.”
“Because usually I’m gone for six months, I don’t get to come back to these kind of quiet places that are very much my own and very much me. And so I feel very grateful for that opportunity. I’m grateful for the opportunity to be on this stage and to be given this platform for growing Canada women’s basketball in Canada.”
