Wnba Not Just For Big-Name Stars Players Such As L.A.’S Toler Will Be Noticed

Penny Toler showed up for her first practice as a member of the new WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, and promptly got stopped at the gym door.

“The guy goes, ‘Excuse me, players only,”’ Toler recalled.

Then she started laughing.

“Trust me, I’m a player,” Toler told the startled security man. “I know you don’t know me, but I’m the one they took in the first round. Penny. OK?”

Pardon security and everyone else who isn’t quite sure of Toler’s identity. She knows there’s going to be a lot of program checking and inquisitive looks when the inaugural 28-game WNBA season begins Saturday.

The Sparks open against Rebecca Lobo and the New York Liberty in a nationally televised, sold-out game at the Forum.

The game pits former U.S. Olympians Lobo and Lisa Leslie, the Sparks’ best-known player, against each other. They teamed to win the gold medal in Atlanta last summer.

“Right now, you probably know me, you know Rebecca, you know Sheryl (Swoopes),” Leslie said, “but I think when this summer ends, you’ll know more than just three players in the WNBA.”

Toler is counting on the recognition she enjoyed at Long Beach State as the Big West Conference player of the year in 1989. After graduation, with no professional leagues for women in the United States, Toler headed overseas. For eight seasons, she saw the world while playing for teams in Italy, Greece and Israel.

“In Europe, my name is still really, really big,” said Toler, a 5-foot-8 guard who remains under contract to her Israeli team.

The Sparks’ roster includes five players from overseas teams, former collegians Tamecka Dixon and Jamila Wideman, ex-Olympian Leslie and two foreigners. Their ages range from 20 to 31.

“They’re all so excited about this,” Sparks coach Linda Sharp said. “I’ve had them tell me they’d play for nothing. They just want to be a part of this.”

The usual fears about the launch of a new sports league don’t seem to bother the Sparks. Several players said they feel the WNBA is on solid footing because it’s being supported by the NBA, a 50-year-old league with plenty of financial muscle.

“I always felt like if it was going to work out, it would only work if the NBA backed it,” Leslie said.

Other reasons players believe the league will succeed:

All eight teams located in major markets.

Games on NBC, ESPN and Lifetime cable.

Marketing partnerships with Sears, Nike and General Motors.

“I don’t see the NBA letting us fail,” Sharp said.

The American Basketball League - the other U.S. women’s pro league - was a success in its first season, although the ABL’s reach doesn’t extend to the nation’s major markets and national TV exposure.

“The national exposure is a huge difference in the leagues as well as the time. We’re playing during the summer, they play during the fall,” Leslie said. “We don’t have as much television competition at all. Being on TV nationally three times a week will develop more names in our league.”

Wideman, who led Stanford to three consecutive NCAA Final Four appearances, has heard the horror stories of missed paychecks, bad food and meager living conditions the veterans endured overseas.

It’s just the opposite for her.

“Everything has been first class so far,” she said. “It’s just exciting, coming straight out of college to be surrounded by all this. I’m very lucky.”

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WNBA GLANCE Teams and some marquee players of the WNBA, which begins its inaugural season Saturday:

Eastern Conference Charlotte Sting - Vicky Bullett, 1988 Olympic gold medalist. Cleveland Rockers - Lynette Woodard, 1984 Olympic gold medalist. Houston Comets - Sheryl Swoopes, 1996 Olympic gold medalist; 1993 NCAA champion, Texas Tech (on maternity leave). New York Liberty - Rebecca Lobo, 1996 Olympic gold medalist; 1995 NCAA champion, Connecticut.

Western Conference Los Angeles Sparks - Lisa Leslie, 1996 Olympic gold medalist. Phoenix Mercury - Nancy Lieberman-Cline, 1976 Olympic silver medalist; 1979, 1980 AIAW champion, Old Dominion. Sacramento Monarchs - Ruthie Bolton-Holifield, 1996 Olympic gold medalist. Utah Starzz - Dena Head, 1991 NCAA champion, Tennessee.