Thank you for being here! I am a full-time freelance sportswriter and your support allows me to continue doing work like this. If you appreciate my work, I would be really grateful if you considered upgrading to a paid subscription.

A paid subscription also supports the community that we are building here, which includes events like the Out of Your League Book Club and our (very active) paid subscriber Discord server. You can upgrade here:

This past weekend I went to Dallas for a reporting trip (you’ll have to wait until the fall to see the results of that!). It was a quick trip—flew in Friday morning, had events to report from on Friday and Saturday nights, flew home early Sunday morning. But I had the entire day free on Saturday and the WNBA season had begun the night before. The Dallas Wings played the Indiana Fever at noon that day and I figured there had to be somewhere in town to watch the game.

I Googled sports bars in the area, searched for watch parties, and messaged establishments to see if the game would be on. I was just about to give up when someone sent me a Threads post from a group called DFW GamechangHERS. There was very little information, just a time and a place to show up to watch the Wings. I decided to drive over.

I figured that, at the very least, I could post up and get some work done while the game played in the background. Instead, I met the most welcoming group of people—some of whom I saw later that night at the event I was actually in town to report on! DFW GamechangHERS and WBB Club Dallas are run by D’Ebony (“DeeCee”) and her wife, Stefany. GamechangHERS is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit with the goal of “getting butts in seats” at women’s sporting events in and around Dallas, DeeCee told me.

There hadn’t initially been plans for a watch party for the Fever game because the group will be rolling 75 deep to the Wings home opener on Tuesday, May 12th, but DeeCee said she had gotten enough messages asking where they were going to watch the game that she decided to make some calls and find a place for folks to meet. It was a small group thanks to Mothers’ Day weekend—DeeCee wanted me to know that their watch parties are usually “lit”—but we gathered at Sidecar Social in Addison and they put the game on a giant TV in the backroom.

Among the attendees was Lauren Daniels, an Out of Your League subscriber (hi, Lauren!) who moved to Dallas from Chicago specifically for the WNBA season. “I decided I wanted to be a season ticket holder [somewhere] at the end of last season,” Lauren told me. “I reached out to Chicago, Dallas, and Minnesota to explore season tickets.”

Ultimately, it was cost and community that led Lauren to choose Dallas for her first ever season ticket holder package. “I’ve spent a lot of time in the WNBA community on Threads and the Wings fans were so welcoming, putting me in contact with their ticket reps, introducing me to DFW GamechangeHERS, and even helping me find an apartment for the season,” Lauren said.

The intentional community around women’s sports fandom is something that DeeCee and Stephany work hard to cultivate, treating everyone who comes to their events like part of a family. Of the 75 tickets they purchased for the Wings’ home opener, they gave 50 away to people who had been supporting and coming to their events over the years. Some members of the group will even be able to line up in the Dallas Wings tunnel for pregame to cheer on the players as they run out.

Egypt Beach, who moved to Dallas just last week from Atlanta, saw the Threads post about the watch party and decided to make the GamechangHERS event one of her first outings in her new city. She arrived wearing an Aces t-shirt (sleeves cut off, natch) that she’d fished out of a still-unpacked box, and DeeCee gifted her tickets to a game against the Aces as a thank you for showing up.

“Due to the event being six miles from me and LGBT friendly, I just couldn’t resist,” Ebony said of her decision to come out and watch the game with a group. “The vibe was immaculate, not too big of a crowd. It was a very intentional space.”

The vibe at the watch party was immaculate. Everyone was excited about the new-look Wings, though they were puzzled as to why Azzi Fudd was coming off the bench. They’re thrilled to have Odyssey Sims back with the franchise, and feel positive about Jose Fernandez in the coaching role. Because this is the WNBA, fans cheered for Raven Johnson’s first W points even though she was on the opposing team. And towards the end of the game—which was close the entire time—the cheering got so loud that a man came over to ask what we were watching.

The GamechangHERS don’t just support the WNBA, though. They bring players to local women’s football games, showed up en masse to NCAA March Madness games, and watch the Dallas Pulse volleyball team, too.

I’m really grateful to everyone at the GamechanHERS watch party for making me feel welcome (and insisting I be in their group photo!). I am so glad I made it out of my hotel room to watch the game with a group and if you’re in the Dallas area, I highly suggest connecting with them!

By pure coincidence, the event I attended on Saturday night happened to be honoring women’s football legends. There were several players from the NWFL in attendance and I got to meet them and have them sign my book! I reported my book during the pandemic so I never got to take a road trip to meet sources in person. It was so special to get to thank these women for everything they did, everything they shared, and for making Hail Mary possible in the first place.

What a gift.