Basketball: Seriously, support the Toronto Stealth

The Toronto Stealth semi-pro team began its maiden season in the Women's Blue-Chip Basketball League on Saturday ... suffice to say, Toronto Star hoops chronicler Doug Smith came away impressed:

"It was a rather interesting, and somewhat surprising to me, night at Ryerson on Saturday. I was fully impressed by the crowd – more than 100 doesn’t sound like much but I’ve been at national team events the past without audiences that big and it was a Saturday night of a long weekend for a team no one’s heard of at a gym that you need a GPS to find.

"The calibre of play wasn't the greatest but you have to figure it's only going to get better and that’s the most important thing. There needs to be places for women – and men – to develop their skills during or after their college careers and this is a perfect opportunity.

"Minor league sports, particularly minor league basketball is this (Toronto) market, is a dicey proposition at best and who knows how long the Stealth will actually last. But I think it deserves a chance, and it deserves some support; I presume I'll be back if time permits and if I had a young daughter interested in the game, I'd take her to see the Stealth play some night.

"You should, too."

The Stealth's CIS contingent includes former Brock star Jodie Ebeling, a five-time OUA all-star who was once invited to a WNBA free-agent camp. Three current or former U of T posts, Laila Bellony, Tara Kinnear and Nicki Schutz, are also on the team, along with guard Kim Lee (Waterloo) and forwards Kerri Jilesen (Laurier) and Ashley Stephen (St. FX).

The Stealth's home games are at Kerr Hall on the Ryerson campus, all on Saturday night at 7 p.m. Their home games include:

• May 30 vs. Flint
• June 6 vs. Detroit
• June 27 vs. Detroit
• July 18 vs. Montreal

Related:
Semi-pro league gives women's hoops a boost (Doug Smith, Toronto Star, May 17)