Full steam ahead for Toronto Tempo as WNBA team readies for inaugural season

With the 2025 WNBA season well underway, the debut of the Toronto Tempo is fast approaching and the month ahead promises to be a busy time for team president Teresa Resch.
She recently hired the team’s first general manager, Monica Wright Rogers, a move which will take some of the spotlight off of Resch, who has pretty much been the face of the franchise since MLSE chair Larry Tannenbaum was first awarded the franchise in May of 2024.
“When I got this job, I didn’t realize I’d be getting to talk to so many people like yourself, journalists telling the story of the team, because I’d worked for the Raptors for 10 seasons, and it was always the players and the coach and even our GM who was telling the story about the Raptors,” Resch told Global News’ Eric Sorensen.
But team meetings remain pretty small for the Tempo as they still need to hire a coach and fill out the roster.
“We’ll have a coach probably at the end of the W’ season in the fall, in October, November,” Resch offered.
“And then we’ll have players starting in the wintertime. So we’ll an expansion draft likely in December, January. We’ll have free agency in January, and we’ll (have) a college draft in April. So then those people will really be truly telling the Tempo story.”
While the roster remains unfilled, a few famous female faces with wildly different backgrounds have bought into the team, including Serena Williams, Lilly Singh and Sukhinder Singh Cassidy.

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“It’s incredible to have that level of female leaders connected to our team,” Resch said.
“They’re invested in this. They have invested their own dollars into this and believe in it.”
Williams immediately chipped in with the hiring of the team’s general manager, and the former tennis star, who was also known for her style, has offered to assist in other areas.

“Serena is passionate about design, so she’s going to help us with uniforms and maybe a collection,” Resch explained. “She was involved in interviewing Monica Rogers, our GM.”
YouTube star Singh also brings a different offering to the table.
“Lily has been incredible,” the team president said of the Canadian media star. “She has the title of ‘Chief Hype Officer’ and boy, oh boy, does she embody that. And I cannot wait for her to really tell our story in a way that only she can”
And while Singh Cassidy may not be quite as famous as the others, the southern Ontario native has been a Silicon Valley star for years, having worked with Google and StubHub before becoming CEO of Xero.
Resch said that she appreciates the opportunity to pick the tech mogul’s brain at times.
“Just her insights being able to mine her and she’s available to provide insights for us as we’re building this organization,” she said. “She’s done it before so it’s incredible to have that type of talent and intellect helping us.”
–with files from Global News’ Eric Sorensen
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.


Spirits maker Diageo will cease operations at its bottling facility in Amherstburg, Ont., early next year, as it shifts some bottling volume to the U.S., the company announced on Thursday.
The facility, which bottles Crown Royal products, will close in February in a move aimed at improving its North American supply chain.

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About 200 jobs will be affected.
“This was a difficult decision, but one that is crucial to improving the efficiency and resiliency of our supply chain network,” Marsha McIntosh, Diageo’s president of North America supply, said in a statement.
Diageo said it will engage with the community and find ways to support its employees through the transition, and work alongside Unifor to assist unionized workers.
The company said it will still maintain a “significant” footprint in Canada — including its headquarters and warehouse operations in the Greater Toronto Area, and bottling and distillation facilities in Manitoba and Quebec.
McIntosh added the company’s Crown Royal products will continue to be mashed, distilled and aged at its Canadian facilities.
© 2025 The Canadian Press

Toronto police say a 33-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly striking two men with his car Wednesday evening.
Officers say they responded to reports of a collision in the area of Don Mills Road and Gateway Boulevard in the city’s North York neighbourhood just before 10:30 p.m.

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Police say two men got into an argument, leading to one man getting into his car and hitting the other man with it.
They say the man then put his car into reverse, striking a second man.
A man in his 50s was transported to hospital with serious injuries and the second man, in his 20s, had minor injuries.
Police say the suspect from Markham, Ont., faces several other charges as well, including two counts of assault with a weapon, uttering threats and dangerous driving.
© 2025 The Canadian Press

A court document shows a Lindsay, Ont., man facing charges for allegedly breaking into an apartment was carrying a crossbow when he was confronted by a tenant.
The resident, Jeremy David McDonald, is also facing assault charges in the incident on Aug. 18 — a fact that has generated widespread interest in the case.
Police information filed in court alleges that Michael Kyle Breen damaged a window and screen at McDonald’s home and carried a crossbow.
The court document says the 41-year-old Breen is charged with break and enter, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, mischief under $5,000 and failing to comply with a probation order.

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Police have said that Breen, who is scheduled to appear in court for a bail hearing next week, was already wanted for unrelated offences.
McDonald, the 44-year-old resident, was charged with aggravated assault and assault with a weapon after he allegedly “did endanger the life” of Breen.
Premier Doug Ford blasted the decision to charge the apartment resident, saying last week that it shows “something is broken.”
Kawartha Lakes Police Chief Kirk Robertson wrote in a statement Wednesday that he recognizes the incident has generated significant public interest and “emotional” responses, but called some of the reaction “unjust and inaccurate.”
Robertson wrote that individuals have the right to defend themselves and their property, but the law requires that any defensive action be proportionate to the threat faced.
“This means that while homeowners do have the right to protect themselves and their property, the use of force must be reasonable given the circumstances,” he wrote.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
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