5 years on, HoopQueens basketball league thrives on providing opportunity for female athletes

Tara De Boer · CBC Sports

· Posted: Jul 04, 2025 12:59 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

Five years aft its inception, Toronto's first-ever paid women's sports league is witnessing unprecedented success.

HoopQueens, which played its inaugural play successful 2022, present has 40 athletes crossed 4 teams, and hosts games astatine the University of Toronto — an upgrade from its erstwhile venue astatine Humber College.

The mastermind down the league, Keesa Koomalsingh, says that this play she's yet sitting backmost and enjoying each that she's created.

"I'm truly stepping backmost and witnessing and truly soaking successful that this is the interaction that we're making," Koomalsingh told CBC Sports.

WATCH | Koomalsingh talks astir the value of creating opportunities:

"We person built a true, authentic, genuine assemblage that supports and has seen america turn from twelvemonth 1 to present twelvemonth five."

The 2025 HoopQueens championship crippled volition watercourse connected CBC Sports Youtube Channel connected Sunday astatine 4:30 p.m. ET

The league was initially founded arsenic a mode to make opportunities for women to proceed their hoops careers pursuing post-secondary education, and has present expanded to connection mentorship and nonrecreational improvement arsenic well.

Keeping homegrown hoops endowment successful Canada arsenic opposed to going overseas to play, is besides 1 of the main pillars of the league. 

"That's the extremity each year," Koomalsingh said. "How bash we benignant of get amended and revolutionize women's hoops and the opportunities that it has present successful Canada and crossed the world?"

Time is present for women's basketball

A batch has changed successful the satellite of women's sports since the motorboat of HoopQueens.

Women's hoops unsocial has grown immensely successful popularity, some the NCAA and WNBA are seeing accrued viewership arsenic large streaming deals amended accessibility and thrust popularity.

For a grassroots enactment that requires backing from donors and sponsors to stay operational, Koomalsingh says the biggest displacement she's seen successful caller years is successful opportunities to person concern dollars.

When the league started successful 2022, Koomalsingh says the lone extremity was to get the players paid, and everyone other progressive was volunteering their time.

"We're truly waking up the industry," Koomalsingh said.

"Larger organizations [and] smaller organizations are truly starting to wage attraction to women's sports and truly enactment their wealth wherever their rima is and enactment it."

Now, immoderate of the league's partners see TikTok, Foot Locker, RedBull, Canada Basketball and the CBC.

Toronto a increasing women's hoops hub

When Koomalsingh heard the quality that Toronto would beryllium getting its archetypal WNBA franchise, the Toronto Tempo, she said it was "surreal."

"I don't deliberation it's going to consciousness existent until I really measurement into the stadium and ticker the game," she said.

"I'm yet blessed that there's different nonrecreational league present successful Canada, wherever young girls tin spot themselves and say, 'Hey, I privation to get to that position,' whether it's HoopQueens oregon Tempo."

While the Tempo volition beryllium importantly bigger than HoopQueens, there's country for everyone, and some leagues lend to a greater ecosystem for women's hoops successful Canada. 

"I privation to truly beryllium a portion of a harmless abstraction that we're creating arsenic a community. I truly deliberation that assemblage facet is wherefore we're truthful successful," Koomalsingh said.

On Sunday, the HoopQueens 2025 play title crippled volition instrumentality spot astatine 4:30 p.m. ET erstwhile the Reign instrumentality connected the Tide astatine the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.

"If you are successful the gym itself, the vigor is truthful different, due to the fact that you're witnessing history, and you're witnessing women spell distant successful their journey," she said.