The end of 2022 closed the book on a landmark year in women’s sports, one full of triumph and turmoil.
We’ll always remember the title runs for the Las Vegas Aces, Portland Thorns and South Carolina basketball, among other champions, just as we’ll never forget the reverberations from the NWSL abuse reports and Brittney Griner’s detention in Russia.
As 2023 dawns, though, Just Women’s Sports looks forward, as our writers and editors provide New Year’s resolutions for women’s sports.
Healing and progress
Women’s sports gave us much to celebrate in 2022, but hanging over all the little victories was a resounding heaviness.
The NWSL reckoned with years of systemic abuse and cover-ups, as multiple investigations revealed the power imbalances that allowed coaches to sexually and emotionally harass players. The WNBA, meanwhile, kept Brittney Griner front and center throughout the 2022 season as was wrongfully detained on drug charges in Russia. Both situations reached a resolution in recent months, with the release of two detailed reports on NWSL abuse and Griner’s return home via a prisoner swap. The NWSL has plans in place to support its players and fix the systems that enabled abuse, while Griner said she intends to play…
