Emma Hruby
Oct 21, 2022
The University of Wisconsin athletic department is investigating a recent leak of private photos and video of its women’s volleyball players.
While the athletic department did not offer up any details of the leaked material in its statement, it did say that the pictures and video were not intended to be made public. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, one of the photos obtained by the outlet appears to have been taken after the team won the Big Ten title last November, showing members of the team with their sports bras lifted.
Similarly, the Wisconsin State Journal reported that the photos were taken from inside the team’s locker room.
Statement from UW Athletics pic.twitter.com/M2lK2OYg8a
— Wisconsin Badgers (@UWBadgers) October 19, 2022
“UWPD is not investigating the volleyball student-athletes for wrongdoing in this matter,” the statement said. “Our top priority is supporting our student-athletes and we are providing them with the appropriate services and resources.”
They called the leak a “significant and wrongful invasion” of the athletes’ privacy, with University of Wisconsin police investigating multiple crimes, “including potential violations of university policies and criminal statutes.”
According to the university, the athletes contacted the police upon becoming aware of the leak.
On Thursday, University of Wisconsin police spokesman Mac Lovicott confirmed the investigation.
Wisconsin won its first national title last year, and is currently ranked fifth in the country with a 13-3 record (7-1 Big Ten). The Badgers are set to play Michigan State on Friday.
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Meredith Heil
Jun 27, 2024
Just over halfway through their Return to Royalty season, the Utah Royals have unveiled a brand new, multimillion-dollar sports medicine and performance facility in a JWS exclusive.
At over 11,000 square feet, the NWSL-specific property boasts top-of-the-line weight and training rooms, including a dedicated hydrotherapy room complete with a sauna, which will include hot and cold tubs, plus a spacious locker room and players’ lounge, and weight and training room equipped with top-of-the-line equipment. The expansive new digs also have on-site childcare and lactation rooms.
As a part of Zions Bank Real Academy in Herriman, Utah, the new facility places the Royals on the same 42-acre campus as the other four Utah Soccer teams, including MLS’s Real Salt Lake. The campus features five natural-grass outdoor fields, two full-size indoor fields, as well as the 5,000-seat capacity Zions Bank Stadium.
When the space officially opens in a few weeks, it will be dedicated as the SharkNinja Performance Center after the global appliance company inked a multi-year naming rights deal.
The Royals’ new home is the latest in a small but growing collection of training facilities created specifically for women’s teams —and the NWSL is leading the way. Three other NWSL clubs — Racing Louisville and Houston Dash — also have dedicated team homes in complexes shared with men’s clubs, while the Orlando Pride the Kansas City Current both work out of their own exclusive facilities.
JWS Staff
Jun 26, 2024
The Minnesota Lynx won another trophy on Tuesday, taking home the Commissioner’s Cup for the first time.
"You got to talk about us now, you've got no choice," Reeve said. "We don't really care what you think, except for right now, when we get to say to you, 'You've got to talk about us.'
They beat the New York Liberty 94-89 to take the Cup. Afterwards, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said she wants there to be more dialogue around her team.
"We just beat a superteam," said Reeve. "You know how hard that is to do? Because you guys love your superteams. That's all you want to talk about. But we just beat a superteam. Let's talk about it."
Minnesota's win on Tuesday — in addition to their 13-3 start to the season — has some talking about whether or not they’re back in contention for more WNBA titles this year. The Lynx ran a dynasty from 2011 to 2017, winning four titles and making it to two other WNBA Finals.
"We have a lot of offensive threats, but on defense, we're so solid," Commissioner's Cup MVP Napheesa Collier told reporters after the game. "That's why it's so hard to play against us. Our aggressiveness, our willingness to sell out on anything [because] we have each other's backs.
"This is the most talented, most fun team I've been on since I've been here. We want to build on this, we don't want to peak here. We want to achieve bigger things than this at the end of the season."
JWS Staff
Jun 26, 2024
The 18-player USWNT Olympic roster dropped on Wednesday, marking manager Emma Hayes’s first major tournament roster.
With Hayes's selections, the team appears to be going big on potential and versatility, while conceding a certain amount of experience. Lindsey Horan and Crystal Dunn as the team’s most experienced players, while the average age of the roster is 26.8 — the fourth-youngest Olympic roster and the youngest overall since 2008.
The current lineup averages 58 international caps per player, down from 111 at the Tokyo Olympics. It will be the first major tournament experience for Jenna Nighswonger, Korbin Albert, Sam Coffey, and Jaedyn Shaw. Additionally, Shaw becomes just the fifth teenager to ever make a USWNT Olympic roster, and the first since Mallory Swanson in 2016.
"Making an Olympic roster is a huge privilege and an honor and there is no denying that it was an extremely competitive process among the players and that there were difficult choices, especially considering how hard everyone has worked over the past 10 months," said Hayes in a US Soccer press release. "Choosing an 18-player roster plus alternates involved many considerations, but I am excited for the group we have selected and I’m looking forward to building on the work from last camp as we head into the send-off matches and then onto France. These are great opportunities for us to continue to show the progress we are making."
Only eight players from the Tokyo Olympics squad punched their tickets to Paris, while nine players will become first-time Olympians.
Hayes appears to be thinking about the future,but this group will be looking to improve upon adisappointing 2023 Women's World Cupshowing — or even top their bronze medal placement at thelast Olympics.
"Everything we're doing is a step-by-step approach to get us as close as we possibly can to our best level, to our best version of ourselves," Hayes told media on Wednesday. "As I explained so far, this is a team that's making really good progress in doing that, and my interest and investment is getting our performances right."
One notable absence is USWNT and NWSL veteran Alex Morgan, who will miss the Summer Games for the first time since 2008. Hayes said Wednesday that it was difficult to adhere to the Olympics' 16 outfield player-limit throughout the roster-honing process.
"It was a tough decision of course, especially considering Alex's history and record with this team," Hayes said. "But I felt that I wanted to go in another direction."
"I want to talk about what an amazing player and human Alex Morgan has been," she continued. "There are players on the roster in the forward areas performing well, and the decision to take those players was one that we certainly deliberated over, but I think it's a balanced roster."
Without Morgan, not a single player on the USWNT Olympic roster has won a gold medal.
"Today, I’m disappointed about not having the opportunity to represent our country on the Olympic stage," Morgan tweeted in response to her exclusion. "This will always be a tournament that is close to my heart and I take immense pride any time I put on the crest," she continued. "In less than a month, I look forward to supporting this team and cheering them on alongside the rest of our country. LFG"
- Goalkeepers: Casey Murphy (NC Courage), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)
- Defenders: Tierna Davidson (Gotham FC), Emily Fox (Arsenal), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave), Casey Krueger (Washington Spirit), Jenna Nighswonger (Gotham FC), Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC)
- Midfielders: Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon), Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC), Catarina Macario (Chelsea)
- Forwards: Crystal Dunn (Gotham FC), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns), Mallory Swanson (Chicago Red Stars)
Alternates: Jane Campbell (Houston Dash), Hal Hershfelt (Washington Spirit), Croix Bethune (Washington Spirit), Lynn Williams (Gotham FC)
JWS Staff
Jun 25, 2024
Reigning Olympic Track & Field champion Athing Mu will not have the opportunity to defend her 800-meter title in Paris after falling during the event's final on Monday.
About 200 meters into the race, Mu uncharacteristically got tangled up in the middle of the track and lost her footing. Coming to her defense, her coach Bobby Kersee said that she had been spiked, suffered track burns, and hurt her ankle. The 22-year-old filed an appeal that saw USA Track and Field officials sorting through replays, but it was later denied.
As a result, Mu did not qualify to run the 800-meter at the 2024 Summer Games, as the US has a standing rule that only the top three Trials finishers make the official Olympic-bound roster.
At her first-ever Olympics in 2021, Mu took home the gold at the 800-meter final, crossing the line in 1:55.21 to break the American record.
"I’ve coached it, I’ve preached it, I’ve watched it," Kersee told The Associated Press after Mu's appeal was rejected. "And here’s another indication that regardless of how good we are, we can leave some better athletes home than other countries have. It’s part of our American way."
Mu finished more than 22 seconds behind eventual winner Nia Akins, but could still make the Olympic team as part of the US relay pool. Mu was a key part of the Team USA's 4x400-meter gold medal win three years ago in Tokyo.
