Whether it's hockey, basketball, or soccer, women are all fighting the same fight in Canadian professional sport, and the WNBA's game in Canada is set to combat the issue.

The WNBA is set to tip off in Canada for the first time in league history. While the game will be a celebration of women's sport, and a showcase for possible WNBA expansion into Canada, it will also be an opportunity for advocates to voice the ongoing issues professional Canadian women's athletes face.

On display in the game will be several of Canada's prominent WNBA stars including Minnesota Lynx players Bridget Carleton and Natalie Achonwa, as they take on the Chicago Sky.

According to National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) player, and Olympic gold and bronze medal winning Canadian athlete Janine Beckie, while the push for equity and to close the pay gap in women's sport has come a long way, the work is not over. It's why Beckie has taken on a spokesperson role with Fast & Female, a charity aimed at keeping self-identifying girls in sport longer.

At this weekend's WNBA game, that campaigning will also include the introduction of "Ally Hoop," a new mascot for pay equity. As Beckie says, the market for professional women's sport, whether it be basketball, soccer, or hockey, is alive and well, if an investor wants to cease the opportunity.

"There’s people everywhere that want to see professional women’s sports in Canada," said Beckie. "So for me it’s a little confusing that no one has stepped up and taken that opportunity because it’s a huge opportunity. Put desire and want to see it to the side, it’s an incredible investment opportunity as well, the stats are all around investing in women’s sport right now and you see the upside to it."

Beckie, a Canadian, knows that hockey in Canada is at the core of that discussion. The top women's hockey players in Canada, athletes like Marie-Philip Poulin, have chosen to fight for equity through the PWHPA in hopes of starting their own professional league. Other Canadian woman such as Elizabeth Giguere of the Montreal Force and Loren Gabel of the Boston Pride, two players who have seen national team interest, are playing in the PHF, which expanded its salary cap to $1.5 million per team this season.

"When you talk about the identity of Canadian sports, the first thing everyone thinks of is hockey, and to be so far behind in the sense the NHL has been established in Canada for a very long time, Canadian men’s hockey has been successful for a very long time, and our Canadian women’s hockey team has been successful for a very long time," said Beckie. 

The PHF recently expanded to Canada adding the Toronto Six, who won this year's Isobel Cup championship in 2021, and the Montreal Force prior to last season. For Beckie, watching hockey fight to achieve the same success leagues like the WNBA and NWSL are now experiencing, as well as the absence from the majority of national team players from a professional league, hits close to home. Despite there being two Canadian professional women's hockey teams, compared to the NHL's seven, and another six in the AHL, it's not enough.

"It feels very close to home to me that the Canadian national women’s soccer team, we’re two time bronze medalists, and Olympic gold medallists, it’s 2023 and we’re still two years away from actually seeing professional women’s soccer in Canada, and we’re just as far for professional women’s hockey. The fact no one has stepped up and says I want to see our youth be able to watch their idols in their own back yards, and that’s what it takes, it’s not easy, it takes time, and it takes a lot of difficult conversations."

The recent announcement that Project 8, a group aiming to launch a professional women's soccer league in Canada in two years received sanctioning from Soccer Canada is a major step forward. Beckie hopes it's only the beginning.

"My hope for all those women who play hockey in Canada is that somebody takes that leap of faith to invest in not just hockey, but bringing the WNBA to Canada, and hopefully this project, Project 8, pushes people over the fence to say this is doable here."