Meet the Oakland woman behind a female basketball league helping WNBA hopefuls ‘dream big’

OAKLAND, Calif. – The WNBA is about two months away from tipping off training camp ahead of the 2026 season.

Experts say the league is seeing record growth, with ticket prices up 2 ½ times the price from two years ago.

Against that backdrop, an Oakland woman is working to ensure there’s a new crop of players to take the court in the coming years.

Five years ago, the sights and sounds of a women’s developmental basketball league were thoughts permeating the consciousness of Faatimah Amen-Ra A.

“I think when I first started, I had the vision of this, you know getting to this level,” said Amen-Ra A, the founder of the Women’s Premier Basketball Association. “But as time progressed, people started to take notice, and I was like, ‘okay, this is definitely going to be something.’ But also just being reminded to always dream big.”

That dream has come to fruition in the form of the Women’s Premier Basketball Association.

Women’s Premier Basketball Association

Why you should care:

Amen-Ra A turned her passion as a basketball player in Mexico into an Oakland-based league where young women who dream of scoring it big in the WNBA can begin, improve and thrive.

“I really wanted to put the Bay on the map as much as possible,” she said.

Amen-Ra A added: “It’s really hard if you’re not a first, second, or third round draft pick, you don’t really know what that path looks like. And if we’re better able to educate everybody that’s here, we’re really able to create longevity within their careers. But just set the standard and set a great example for the next generation of athletes.”

Those efforts have effects on the court, and far from the court.

Coaches and sponsors have also had opportunities to groom players and grow revenue.

“After one Zoom call talking about her league and her vision for her league, I was hooked,” said Chad Lindstrom, senior marketing director for Baden Sports.

Lindstrom added that as the league casts a wider net in the Bay Area, it helps publicize Baden’s basketball brand.

“The wider she grows that net, especially in the Bay Area, the more our brand name, Baden, is gonna get out there and we’re gonna get that return back as our basketballs get played with more and more.”

System to create trans-generational wealth in Black and Brown communities

What’s next:

Experts say beyond race, the reality is that Amen-Ra A is creating a system that can create trans-generational wealth in Black and Brown communities.

“We need positive role models in our culture and in our communities,” said Sean Allen, the president of the Silicon Valley-San Jose branch of the NAACP.

He reiterated that in almost every professional sport, the organizations are owned by white men.

“And when we see something like this established in our community by someone who is a woman of colour, it definitely impacts our youth and gives them that they can do it too,” Allen said. “Anything’s possible. We just need those examples like everyone else has.”

The WNBA season is set to start in May and a month later, tip-off of the WPBA in the Bay.

“I’m incredibly appreciative of where women’s sports is right now, but there’s still a lot more work to be done,” Amen-Ra A said.

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