A New Sports Team In Town: The Minnesota Jaguars
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- There is a new game in town -- or at least a new team. It's the first semi-pro basketball team in the market for women, a collection of former college players with some hoop dreams.
It looks like a regular basketball practice, but this is actually ground breaking. The Minnesota Jaguars are the first semi-pro women's team in the state -- made up of an assortment of past college players with different goals.
"Some of the players are looking to get back into the WNBA and some of the players are looking to get overseas contracts," said Melissa Young, Minnesota Jaguars coach. "Jenna Smith is coming to play for us when she gets back from overseas. So hopefully we can get them some money somewhere else."
Tanisha Gilbert played at Champlin Park, Winona State and
for the Gophers. She's now part of the Jaguars, having played in this league before coming home.
"Got connected because I was playing in Chicago for the last two years and trying to get an overseas contract, always looking for a better opportunity, trying to stay in shape, giving everybody else an opportunity in Minnesota, saying that we are the first team to go semi-pro here," she said.
Tamara Moore was a star at Minneapolis North, Wisconsin
and played for the Lynx. That's where she wants to go after a three year absence -- back to the big league.
"I've kind of been off the scene for a while, a lot of people haven't seen me, I mean, I played up until '08 in the WNBA, '09 overseas, had a couple injuries, but now my goal is to just kind of work my way back into, just getting into a training camp. That's my first goal and then going from there and worrying about the rest later," Moore said.
The plan for the team is a national tour.
"We're in the Midwest region, so we play teams from Kansas City, St. Louis and Beloit, Wisconsin. We're going to a tournament in Miami in a couple of weeks," Young said.
In the process, they hope to showcase Minnesota talent to the locals.
"Overall, I think the goal is to bring some more awareness to basketball in Minnesota," Moore said. "I mean, as you know, we just got two girls that got drafted to the Lynx, they were from Minnesota, and had dominant careers in college. I think just putting a showcase on the fact that we have good women's basketball here."
And they hope that there is a market for their own skill set and the team's.
