“On June 2, the Chicago Sky suit up for their first matchup of the 2026 Commissioner’s Cup—locally supported by Magellan—against the Washington Mystics.” The competition marks the Windy City squad’s first of six head-to-head matchups in the annual WNBA tournament—which commenced in 2021— and is described by the league as a mesh of both “elite competition” and “community impact”.

This year, the Sky selected local nonprofit Girls in the Game as their Commissioner’s Cup beneficiary, spotlighting the 31-year-old organization nestled in the city’s Douglass Park in the North Lawndalecommunity. Their vision, reinforced on the organization’s website, details their commitment to “[empowering] all girls to speak up, stand out, and inspire future generations.”

For Executive Director Meghan Morgan, the partnership with the 2021 WNBA champions felt personal.

“I was thrilled,” Morgan said on her initial reaction to the selection. “We’re such big Sky fans, both personally and as an organization. Part of it is that we feel a responsibility to champion women’s sports at all levels and to introduce girls to female athletes they can look up to. And another part is that many of our staff just really love to watch the Sky play.”

That connection to women’s basketball runs deep within Girls in the Game. Inside the organization’s space sits a mural of former Sky star and soon-to be Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame member, Candace Parker, serving as a daily reminder of what representation can mean for young girls learning to dream bigger. After all, Parker herself is a Naperville, Illinois native who grew up approximately 30 miles away from Girls in the Game’s home base.

Building Confidence Through Basketball

Girls in the Game serves thousands of girls across Chicago each year through programs centered around sports, leadership, and mental wellness. Many participants come from communities where access to athletics and extracurricular activities can be limited, particularly for girls.

Per the organization’s 2025 impact report, Girls in the Game served over 3000 girls in Chicagoland through camps, clinics, after school sessions and partner-backed activations, with basketball as one of its many tools for confidence-building through movement and play.

“At Girls in the Game we focus on play, fundamentals, and interactive games that make basketball approachable and enjoyable, so girls may find a newfound love for it,” Morgan affirmed. 

“For a lot of girls in our program, basketball is new to them or if they have played, it’s been limited. We start with the basics to help girls feel successful early on, which builds their confidence and encourages them to keep participating,” she elaborated. “As they grow more comfortable, we’re able to dive deeper into skills and see how communication, leadership, and teamwork is learned through basketball. That’swhen we see girls’ confidence grow, and it keeps them coming back”

Creating Access Where It is Needed Most

While Girls in the Game has reached over 40 schools and notched nearly $2 million dollars in “support and revenue”— $1,905,091to be exact— Morgan also emphasized that there is still more work to be done “to level the playing field”. For young ballers, this could mean exposure to both healthy competition and mentorship opportunities.

“Most people know the benefits of girls playing sports and how those benefits translate into life skills as adults but if girls aren’t given the opportunity they miss out on all of those great benefits” Morgan explained, and later added, “We prioritize reaching girls who need our programs the most—namely girls who don’t have access to other sports and leadership programs [in their communities] … .”

As the Sky continue to bring visibility to women’s basketball on one of the sport’s biggest stages, Girls in the Game hopes that excitement surrounding the Commissioner’s Cup can inspire lasting impact throughout Chicago communities.

The organization’s mission remains simple: provide every girl with an opportunity to step onto the court, discover her confidence, and see a future for herself in the game. Because, who knows, perhaps she’ll be tying up her laces at Wintrust Arena someday.

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