On the rise

It’s a good time to be working in women’s professional sports: According to Deloitte Global, the women’s elite global sports market is predicted to reach at least $3 billion in 2026, an increase of 340% since 2022, with soccer and basketball expected to be at the top of revenue-generating women’s sports.

Kayla Drummond ’24, once a forward on the women’s basketball team, has taken her talents to her hometown of Toronto—this time as a key member of the team’s staff.

Drummond is the team services coordinator for the Toronto Tempo, Canada’s first WNBA team. The Tempo are currently in the midst of their inaugural season, and Drummond has been with them since the beginning, first as a business operations intern before joining the full-time staff.

“As Canada’s first team, everything we do is a first,” Drummond says. “That’s our motto: ‘First never fades.’”

She now works behind the scenes with the operations team to address the day-to-day needs of the players and coaching staff, whether it’s scheduling appointments with nutritionists and trainers, coordinating gym time for practices, finding housing for new players arriving to the city, or handling visas and other immigration documents for international players living in Canada for the first time.

Why is now such an exciting time to be working in women’s professional sports?

The WNBA has completely exploded in recent years, and with this historic new collective bargaining agreement, it has the opportunity to really make some transformative changes to the league and make sure athletes are being paid what they deserve. We’re really on the front stage, joining at this time as Canada’s first team and the first international team in the history of the league.

What was your role in the critical months leading up to the launch of the season?

I had a unique journey with the team as I got to see what the Tempo was like as an organization before we even had a single player or a head coach. I was a member of the business operations team as we prepared for our expansion draft, what it would look like when we did have athletes in the market, and as we prepared for the announcements of the coaching staff. I transitioned to my full-time role a few weeks before the athletes arrived, and that time was all hands on deck as things progressed really rapidly. It’s been amazing as a Canadian and as someone who has played basketball for my whole life to be part of a team at its inception, especially in my hometown.

What kind of passion have you seen from Toronto fans?

Our fans are incredibly loyal. There’s been so much hype around the team, and people are so excited for women’s basketball to take center stage in Toronto. We’ve had sold-out crowds, and we have great attendance for every game. Even at our preseason games and the unveiling of our court, we had loads of fans who were really excited for the team. It’s been our goal to be very much a part of the community—we always want to give back to the city that supports us so immensely. We partner with local youth organizations and Indigenous groups, as we want to make sure we’re representing not just Toronto, but the whole country of Canada.

How have you been able to use the skills you learned during your time as a Division I athlete at Lafayette?

Having played basketball at a high level, I know what it is to be part of a team, and I understand some of the specific needs of our athletes. I’m with them every day, I travel on their bus with them, and I’m their main point of contact for a lot of things. I understand and anticipate a lot of what they go through. Being a student-athlete also taught me skills like resilience, time management, and the ability to juggle multiple projects, all of which are serving me well in my professional career. This has been my dream job, and being a Leopard really prepared me to balance everything I need to do in the role.