Richmond Roadrunners gear up for another season of women’s professional basketball

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The Richmond Roadrunners of the Women’s American Basketball Association (WABA) are ready to begin their fourth season of play this Saturday against the Philadelphia Fury at Hermitage High School.

The Roadrunners hope to capitalize on the success of women’s sports nationwide. Head coach Barvenia Wooten says that the team’s goal for this season is to try to increase their attendance at games.

“Our goal for this season is to basically bring fans to the games. We really want Richmond to know that we have a women’s professional basketball team and allow them to watch, because women’s basketball has taken off.”

The opportunity to play professional basketball is also a big draw for the Roadrunners, who have multiple Richmond area players on their team, including guard Jazzmin Dabney, who said that playing for Richmond has been great.

“It’s a dream come true, honestly,” Dabney said. “I played for Highland Springs High School back in 2012 and I wanted to take my talents to the professional level eventually one day, and bringing this organization here to Richmond was a great deal.”

Bringing a professional women’s basketball team to Richmond was a family affair. Coach Wooten, who played at Virginia Union University, and her daughter, Vicki Collier, who played at Old Dominion University, wanted to bring high-level professional women’s basketball to the River City and the team has increased attendance and players’ skill level with each passing season.

“We kind of talked about starting a professional team and she told me about the WABA, so starting from the first thought of it, it just keeps getting better.” Collier said.

The Richmond Roadrunners will play four home games this summer, both of which will be on July 13 and July 14 at Hermitage High School. The team will then play their final two games at Henrico High School on Aug. 17 and Aug. 31.