Meet the San José Sea Lions: The Bay Area’s New Women’s Hockey Team
The latest professional women’s sports team in the Bay Area officially now has a name: the San José Sea Lions.
The name of the new women’s hockey team was announced early Tuesday morning, with a video narrated by Sea Lions player and U.S. Olympic gold medalist Rory Guilday, proclaiming the team as “guardians of the Bay.”
The team’s arrival in the Bay was announced earlier this year, as part of the Professional Women’s Hockey League expansion, which included cities like Detroit and Las Vegas. The league — established in 2023 — had its first season the year after, and now has 12 teams in total across the U.S. and Canada.
Along with sea lions being a beloved fixture on the Bay Area’s coastlines, the team’s press announcement said that the name also has a “special connection” to the region’s sports history.
According to the release, the San Francisco Sea Lions were a team part of the West Coast Negro Baseball Association that played in 1946. It included players like Toni Stone, who was the “first woman to play baseball regularly in a major men’s professional league.”
The Sea Lions will be playing on the same rink as their male counterparts, the San José Sharks, at SAP Center.
The players — which also includes 22-year-old Olympic gold medalist Laila Edwards — will be decked out in bright orange and blue jerseys on the ice. The colors, according to the May announcement, are a nod to the city’s flag as well as “the region’s historic orange groves, while blue evokes the beauty of California’s ocean coastline and sky.”
The opening home game in San José will be on Saturday, Dec. 5, at 4 p.m. against the Minnesota Frost.
It’s been a big moment for new women’s sports teams in the region: a women’s baseball team, the San Francisco Firebells, debuted this year. And two women’s volleyball teams — the San Francisco Signal and NorCal Rumble — are expected to launch in January.
According to the PWHL’s spring release, the support for women’s teams like Bay FC and Golden State Valkyries — who recently won the WNBA championship in their second year of existence — helped usher the PWHL to the region, citing “league attendance records.”
Team forward Brooke Bryant acknowledged that success at an Oct. 10 press conference during a Sharks game intermission.
“Women’s sports in the Bay Area is just getting started,” she said. “I think everyone’s showing love to the Valkyries, and I can’t wait to be here. We can feel the love already.
Want to learn more about how to support or follow women’s hockey? Check out KQED’s guide.