Months of Secret Meetings Culminate in Historic Launch of WLL

Lizzie Colson had been in situations like this before. Just like as a player before a big game, she felt the pregame jitters. She confided in her teammates. They felt the same.

That’s when past experiences kicked in. She knew her teammates had her back. She knew what it was like to deliver in high-pressure situations.

This wasn’t a rivalry game or a clutch moment, though. On November 13, Colson was preparing to go on live television with Charlotte North and Premier Lacrosse League co-founder and president Paul Rabil to announce the launch of the Women’s Lacrosse League (WLL) on ESPN’s “Get Up” hosted by Mike Greenberg.

“There's no going back. There's no, ‘Oopsies,’” Colson said. “Once we got out there, and we were surrounded again by each other, and we just had the confidence of each other to support us and the confidence of knowing that this league was something we all believed in, it was easy.”

Alex Aust Holman watched on television before she and Izzy Scane joined their peers in the studio later on as the new WLL ambassadors. She cheered for Colson and North and was proud of how they represented the sport so confidently and calmy.

On ESPN’s “First Take,” host Stephen A. Smith asked Aust Holman, Scane and Rabil why lacrosse wasn’t appreciated more.  Rabil turned to Aust Holman, who quickly replied, “My biggest thing is everyone’s a lacrosse fan. You just don’t know it yet.”

Rabil loved the answer. At the start of a press conference later that day, he quipped that Aust Holman was now the Chief Marketing Officer of the league.

“As I was saying it, I was like, ‘Is this something I’ve heard [husband and PLL player] Marcus [Holman] say before or read on a T-shirt?’ but it just kind of came to me in the moment,” she said. “I feel like it’s a super simple way of trying to explain our sport to people that have never seen it.”

It was a busy couple days for the ambassadors of the WLL as they went through the famed “Bristol Car Wash,” appearing on all the big ESPN shows to promote the league. They attended a press conference to provide more detail about the launch and had the opportunity to ring the Nasdaq bell in New York City to celebrate.

The WLL will debut at the PLL Championship Series in February. It will feature four teams playing in the Olympic Sixes format competing for the inaugural WLL Championship Series trophy. Players participating in the WLL Championship Series will receive compensation equal to their PLL counterparts, Rabil told Sports Illustrated Swimsuit.

Home cities, rosters and coaches for the four teams will be announced before the end of the year.

Whereas Athletes Unlimited has a unique scoring system with an individual champion, WLL players are excited about the opportunity to compete for a team championship like they did in college.

“It’s a dream to be able to be coached and have a team and compete,” Aust Holman said. “Obviously, every four years, there’s the [World Lacrosse Women’s Championship], but to be able to actually compete and have a team and be coached and get feedback is really what every athlete thrives on.”

The WLL ambassadors were also eager to partner with the PLL. Something the league does best is connect fans to players through videos and stories on its app and social media.

Just during the WLL launch, viewers already got a taste of the players’ personalities.  Aust Holman gave her viral response on “First Take.” Colson and North played catch with pancakes on “Get Up.” Scane shared that she was the last to know about the WLL because she would have had to keep it a secret from her mom because “she talks” and is on social media.

The audience at home saw them having fun and learned about them as players beyond their statistics and accomplishments.

“I have to give props to the PLL and their creativity in being able to showcase our stories and give us athletes the platform to be able to perform in these instances,” Aust Holman said, “Whether it’s on the field or off the field and showcase our personalities and, I’ll say, color a little outside the lines to create a situation where those authentic moments can happen.”

“It’s our time,” Colson said. “Why did it take us so long? Well, let’s build stories around these women and amplify these women and amplify their stories and their talent.”

The announcement comes after months of secret meetings. Colson, who works as the PLL’s Operations Coordinator, said she’s known about the WLL since the 2024 Paris Olympics, when she watched female athletes like swimmer Katie Ledecky, track and field athlete Sha’Carri Richardson, rugby player Ilona Maher and the women’s soccer trio of Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman and Mallory Swanson – dubbed “Triple Espresso” – dominate headlines.

She remembered being a little girl herself, inspired by women’s soccer superstar Mia Hamm, to be a professional athlete. That goal shifted from being a professional to playing at the highest level of college sports because “that was the pinnacle.” The news WLL’s launch reinvigorated her.

“It felt like a real dream again,” Colson said. “For a little while there, OK I lived out my dream. I played at the highest D-I levels. I played [with the U.S. National Team]. I lived out that dream. … But then, when you’re watching these amazing, professional, strong women, it gave me another fire.”

Giving young girls around the world that same feeling was part of conversations throughout the week following the launch.

On ESPN’s “SportsCenter,” North’s talked directly to young girls: “The dream is here. The time is now. The future of lacrosse is in really good hands.”

At the press conference, Scane shared a similar sentiment.

“For the kids now that get to see this and see us up here and the league becoming a thing, it’s really exciting,” Scane said. “So, don’t sell yourself short. You could end up on a stage like this one day as well.”

As important as that message to aspiring female athletes is, Aust Holman and Colson were sure to thank the players that came before them that never had the opportunity to play professionally or didn’t get the coverage and buzz the WLL received.

Aust Holman could only imagine how incredible legends like Jen Adams and Devon Wills would be playing sixes, or what it would be like to play again with former Maryland teammates Katie Haus (formerly Schwarzmann) and Alice Mercer. She might even try to convince Taylor Cummings – the first ever three-time Tewaaraton Award winner – to come out of retirement and play.

USA Lacrosse Hall of Famer and former Maryland head coach Suzanne Tyler came to speak to the Terps last year. She shared her story, which included details about how they had to share uniforms with field hockey, slept in gyms and paid their way to play games.

It’s perspectives like those that make Aust Holman, a Maryland assistant, so appreciative of the opportunity the women in the WLL have today.

“They are the ones that built this,” she said. “Without their love for the game, without their passion, without their fight, I wouldn’t be who I am. It’s just a massive ‘thank you’ to all of them.

“We’re going to continue to do the best that we can to continue the legacy and keep pushing to make the sport that we love so much more available to as many people as possible.”