WNBA Includes Makeup, Fashion Seminars For Rookie Orientation
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WNBA Offers Rookies, Like Hornbuckle,
Courses On Makeup, Fashion At Orientation |
The WNBA, as part of its rookies' orientation, for the first time this weekend offered "hour-long courses on makeup and fashion tips," according to Shannon Ryan of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. The makeup and fashion courses made up "about a third of the two-day orientation, which also featured seminars on financial advice, media training and fitness and nutrition." Sparks F Candace Parker: "I think it's very important. I'm the type who likes to put on basketball shorts and a white T, but I love to dress up and wear makeup. But as time goes on, I think (looks) will be less and less important." Shock G Alexis Hornbuckle said that she "rarely wears makeup but will start thinking about it more now." Hornbuckle: "Appearance is important, whether you're an athlete or not." Ryan noted marketing players is "perhaps more important than ever, and the WNBA realizes that it's still a tough sell." WNBA President Donna Orender: "It's all contributing to how to be a professional. I do believe there's more focus on a woman's physical appearance. Men are straight out accepted for their athletic ability. That's reality. I think it's true in every aspect of the work force. This is all about a broader-based education."
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| Many Feel Parker Will Be Next Face Of WNBA |
IMAGE-CONSCIOUS: Cleveland State Univ. sports psychology professor Susan Ziegler said that the WNBA "seems to be becoming more image-conscious." Ziegler: "No. 1 is, of course, the need for the image of WNBA players to be seen as real women. That comes from the lesbian homophobia that surrounds women in sports in general. ... Once you begin to worry about how the person looks as opposed to how she plays, you've crossed the line into dangerous play. We're not really focused on marketing them as athletes but as feminine objects." Ryan noted Parker's appearance is "considered as marketable as her basketball skills," and she "could be just the boost the league needs to help its bottom line." Sparks coach Michael Cooper: "She's already changed the interest in the WNBA. Hopefully we can get some of those single guys who only watch the NBA to come watch the WNBA." Sky President & CEO Margaret Stender: "All of our public impressions are so important because women are covered so much less than men."
READY FOR THEIR CLOSE-UP: Ryan reported the WNBA has extended its contract with ESPN through 2016, and the league's new ad campaign "aims to reintroduce sports fans to the league while emphasizing the vast improvement in pace and play over the years" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 5/3).
CREATING A SPARK: The AP's Vin Cherwoo reported the Sparks during the first week after the April 9 WNBA Draft, in which they chose Parker with the first pick, sold "seven times the number of season tickets" as compared to the same period last year. Additionally, individual game ticket sales for the first eight days after the draft "increased nearly threefold." The WNBA reported that teams around the league are "selling three times as many individual game tickets for when the Sparks are scheduled to visit compared to their overall average." And WNBAStore.com sold "more Parker jerseys ... in the first two weeks after the draft than any other rookie in league history during a similar time period" (AP, 5/4).
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