National Women's Basketball League

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National Women's Basketball League

Sport	Basketball
Founded	1997
No. of teams	3
Country	United States
Current champions	Colorado Chill
Official website	www.nwbl.com

The National Women's Basketball League or NWBL is an organization governing basketball leagues for women in the United States. The league was originally founded in 1997 and begun play in the Fall of that year. Currently the league has its own season during the off-season of the WNBA. During the off-season, some WNBA players play in the NWBL, while some choose to play overseas.

1 History
2 NWBL Pro League teams
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] History

In contrast to the ABL and the WNBA before it, the NWBL was originally founded to govern a competitive amateur league for women. The NWBL was founded in 1997, in the shadow of both the ABL and the WNBA. The league is considered to be the brainchild of Patrick Alexander and Kevin Szotkowski, who saw the rapid growth of women's athletics of the time and decided to go into the business of promoting women athletes. With the assistance of former college basketball players and NWBL co-founders Jolynn Schneider and Jeanine Michealsen, Alexander and Szotkowski launched an aggressive marketing campaign in the Fall of 1997 to recruit players and teams.

Although the recruitment campaign was not without its problems (including the death of Nick Johnson, co-founder of the marketing firm behind the league), the NWBL enrolled four teams by November and held its first championship series in December 1997. The first four teams enrolled were the San Diego Waves (considered to be the first NWBL team), the Columbus Lady Blazers, the Washington DC Defenders and the Long Beach Lightning. By the end of 2000, the league grew to encompass 600 players in 15 states and 26 cities.

The 2001 season was the first season for the NWBL Pro League, which now serves as the primary organization for the NWBL. The first four teams in the newly formed league were the Atlanta Justice, the Birmingham Power, the Mobile Majesty and the Kansas City Legacy. The league managed to finish its first season in April 2001 when the Atlanta Justice won the 1st NWBL Pro Cup.

Since 2001, the NWBL Pro League has played host to such WNBA stars as Sheryl Swoopes, Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings and Becky Hammon and continues operation with four teams.