The Springfield Spirit were a women's professional basketball team in the

National Women's Basketball League The National Women's Basketball League, often abbreviated to the NWBL, was an organization governing professional basketball leagues for women in the United States. The league was founded in 1997 and began play in the Fall of that year. The leagu ...

(NWBL), based in Springfield,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. The team finished in last place in the league in 2001. In 2002, the Spirit signed former

UConn Huskies women's basketball The UConn Huskies women's basketball team is the college basketball program representing the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut, in the NCAA Division I women's basketball competition. They currently play in the Big East Conference. ...

players

Sue Bird Suzanne Brigit Bird (born October 16, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played her entire career with the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Bird was drafted first overall pick by t ...

and

Swin Cash Swintayla Marie Cash Canal (born September 22, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. She played in college for the University of Connecticut and professionally for 15 years in the Women's National Basketball Association (WN ...

. That year, the team recruited cheerleaders, including sixth-, seventh-, and eighth graders, from Holy Cross School.

References

External links

NWBL website
(archive link) Basketball teams in Springfield, Massachusetts Basketball teams established in 2002 Basketball teams disestablished in 2004 2002 establishments in Massachusetts 2004 disestablishments in Massachusetts {{Massachusetts-basketball-team-stub