Sometimes you just get lucky

Telling the story of Becky Smith's jai alai career

Earlier this month, I published “They Call Her La Primera, Jai Alai’s Last Hope” on Longreads. It tells the story of Becky Smith, who, in the mid-1980s, attempted to become the first female professional jai alai player (definitely in the U.S., probably in the world). This spring, over 30 years after she first tried, she signed a professional contract. A…