She’s the first general manager of the first WNBA franchise outside the United States. She’s the woman charged with building a basketball team from scratch. And it’s her first time taking on full responsibility for any team at any point in her life.
It’s got to be a daunting challenge, doesn’t it?
Pshaw, says Monica Wright Rogers.
“I think the opposite,” the first GM of the WNBA’s pc28Tempo told the Star in an interview. “I think that’s the most exciting part about this role. There’s a chance here to build a foundation from the ground up, to build a team that is Canada’s team, that caters to the fan base and what’s important to this country.”
The 36-year-old native of San Antonio was officially introduced Thursday morning, about three weeks after the hiring was leaked.
After a successful playing career and some time as an assistant GM, Monica Wright Rogers is the pc28Tempo’s first general manager.
After a successful playing career and some time as an assistant GM, Monica Wright Rogers is the pc28Tempo’s first general manager.
The former guard, a first-round draft pick by Minnesota in 2010 and a two-time WNBA champion with the Lynx, comes to the Tempo after two seasons as the assistant general manager of the Phoenix Mercury.
As her playing career went on, and as she spent time as an assistant coach with the WNBA’s New York Liberty and the University of Virginia, Wright Rogers always had an idea she’d end up here.
“First as a player, then as I started the transition out of my playing career, I quickly realized that I had a passion and love for the business side of the game and that’s what really put me on this path,” she said. “I’ve just been really surrounded by great people to learn and grow from. I’ve been able to really hone in on my soft skills and hard skills to really grow in this profession.”
The culmination of her experiences made Wright Rogers a logical choice, Tempo president Teresa Resch said in a release.
“She’s a proven champion who understands the game from so many different perspectives,” Resch said. “And she’s so much more than the collection of her experiences. Monica is an incredible relationship-builder with a sharp eye for talent who embodies everything we want the Tempo to stand for: she’s warm, welcoming, smart, driven and fiercely competitive.”
Wright Rogers said the right tone and the right representatives of a brand new franchise will mean trying to find people who share her traits.
“I want to people to know, No. 1, I’m a very hard worker,” she said when asked to describe herself. “I have not been given anything. I’ve worked for everything I have and I plan to do that for this franchise, and I’m a competitor as well.
“I love to win, but I do it with integrity and I also do it with courtesy (to) my teammates and the people I work alongside with.”
She takes over with a clean slate and can pick and choose the kind of people she wants for a team that won’t play its first game until May 2026. There’s no urgency to fill vacancies now, so she’ll have all the time the world to seek out the kind of co-workers she wants.
“We need to bring in the right people on the coaching staff and our roster that reflect the right things we’re trying to build here, and that might be the biggest challenge,” she said. “Just ensuring that we’re doing things that are thoughtful and true to this team in this country.
“Overall, I think we want a good person and a player who believes in being a good quality person on and off the court, and we also want a competitor.”
The WNBA expansion team won’t play its first game until 2026 but will have items available for sale through its web sales portal starting Tuesday.
The WNBA expansion team won’t play its first game until 2026 but will have items available for sale through its web sales portal starting Tuesday.
The first task is to familiarize herself with the women’s basketball scene in Canada, representing a Tempo team that plans to play some regular-season games in Montreal and Vancouver and be a truly Canadian entity.
“There’s a lot for me to learn about women’s sports here in Canada,” she said. “I have a small inclination of all the potential that’s ready to be untapped here, so I think first we have to roll up our sleeves and be part of the community. Be open to listening, show up.”
One thing she doesn’t have to worry about is selling WNBA players on the idea of playing in a foreign land. Many have been doing that for years and won’t have to be educated like NBAers were 30 years ago by the Raptors.
“True competitors want to win, no matter where it is,” she said. “You’ve got to remember that, for a long time, W players went overseas in the off-season to play, so international borders have not been a huge boundary for us.
“I know … as a player I really enjoyed my experience overseas (playing in Poland, Turkey, Australia). It shaped me as a human and it made me a better player.”
And it started her on the path to the WNBA’s first international franchise.
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