Though Basketdolls only started meeting on June 1 of this year, its growth has been rapid. The league operates on what its director, Devin Myers, calls “the three c’s: casual, competitive, community.”
Myers is an unlikely candidate to start a pickup basketball league in Brooklyn. For one thing, the 23-year-old had never played organized basketball prior to 2023. For another, she had only moved to Brooklyn from Tallahassee, Florida, less than a year before and was still finding her footing and building community in New York City. After getting a taste of playing streetball last summer with Froot Hoops, a lesbian basketball meetup at Tompkins Square Park in Manhattan, Myers was hooked—but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing from the experience.
“When I played last year, I felt really insecure—not because of anyone else, but because of what I projected on myself,” she tells SELF. “I was the only trans woman in the tournament and the whole time I was wondering, ‘Am I playing too physical? Am I too tall?’ I felt this weird presence on the court, and I knew I couldn’t be the only person feeling this. I really wanted to create a space for trans people who are brand-new to the game to have a space to really develop a relationship with their body.”
And so Basketdolls was born. The players’ experience ranges from people who have never played organized basketball to those who have years of ball under their belts. They are a diverse group, including in age. While most are in their 20s or 30s, the oldest athlete is a woman they affectionately refer to as Mama Lisa—she’s been transitioning for more than 25 years and is still hooping at 51, “shooting jumpers like Larry Bird,” jokes Myers.
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