Steve Milton: Kia Nurse to help in capitalizing women’s sport opportunities
Hamilton's Kia Nurse will be an important participant in a new, and necessary, consulting group designed to help sports entities in Canada capitalize on the potential of professional women's sports.
The 26-year-old professional basketball player, two-time Olympian and celebrated TSN analyst was named last week to Canadian Women & Sport's Commercial Women Sport Advisory Group which, according to a release, will provide Canada-specific insights to sport properties, media and brands by sharing their experiences.
We believe that gender equity builds better sport," Allison Sandmeyer-Graves, CEO of Canadian Women & Sport said in the release. A thriving commercial women's sport market in Canada will enrich the sport landscape in Canada and help expand opportunities for women and girls at all levels of sport."
Nurse has spoken clearly and loudly in favour of gender equity, inclusion and creating broader opportunities in sport and has embraced her chance to be a role model and advocate for all females in the playing, broadcast and business of sport. She stars for the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, has played in the league all-star game, helped University of Connecticut to two national championships and was the dominant scorer in Canada's famous upset of the heavily favoured U.S. for the gold medal at the 2015 Pan-Am Games.
The advisory committee will be chaired by Nathalie Cook, the former vice-president of TSN and RDS.
Other prominent members of the group include: Stacey Allaster, Chief Executive, Professional Tennis and US Open Tournament Director, United States Tennis Association; Ashley Curran, Associate Vice-President of sports partnerships for Canadian Tire Corporation; former Canadian national women's team goal keeper, Karina LeBlanc, the general manager of the Portland Thorns of the National Women's Soccer League and head of women's football for CONCACAF the governing body for North and Central America; Teresa Resch, Toronto Raptors Vice-President of basketball operations; Alyson Walker, Chief Commercial Officer of OverActive Media Group; Camille Wallace, Sports Media Partnerships lead for TikTok; and Dr. Cheri Bradish, founder of the Future of Sport Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University.
The Advisory Group's perspectives and conclusions will be part of a report due to be released this fall to a primary audience of sports partners, ownership groups, marketing agencies and media.
Steve Milton is a Hamilton-based sports columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: smilton@thespec.com