What I’ve learned: Teresa Resch

Inaugural president of the WNBA’s Toronto Temp, champion of women’s sports, new Canadian

Comparing my little hometown of Lakefield, Minn.—with a population of 1,400—to Toronto is night and day. We had one dentist, one lawyer, one doctor. You either lived on a farm, or your parents did.

This isn’t the first time I’ve been president. I was president of my 4-H Club. I showed sheep at the fair. I sewed, refinished wood and did some cooking. I even did a meat-judging contest—I can pick out a great steak for you.

I’m six feet tall, so of course I played high school basketball. I love the game, but I ended up playing more volleyball, mostly because I had an incredible coach. She was such a good teacher—a real technician—so I was just better at it. It’s way more fun when you know what you’re doing.

We would practise for hours. We hated it at the time, but it made us good. Like all good coaches, her motivation rubbed off on us.

I studied communications but ended up changing majors to business. Plus, I joined the volleyball team as a freshman. When we hosted the NCAA finals, I met this woman whose job was something like director of championships. I thought, That’s a cool job I’d love to do. That’s the moment I turned down this path to work in sports.

I started at the Raptors in 2013. I’d known Larry Tanenbaum, one of the owners of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, who was very passionate about Toronto as the 14th WNBA franchise. I was very motivated to join him—if it was something Larry believed in, it was probably going to happen.

There’s never been a WNBA team in Canada, so we get to build everything from scratch. But that also means we have to build everything from scratch. We’re launching a name; we’re launching a logo. That’s a lot of work and, like I said, nobody’s done it before.

The biggest difference for me between men’s and women’s sports is our startup nature. The Raptors were already 20 years old when I joined, so they’d gone through those growing pains. Men’s teams have been around for hundreds of years; the WNBA is only 30. We’re on a different timeline of evolution.

We were awarded the team in May 2024, and our first game is in May. It’s going to be historic. I need to be sure that I stay present for that moment and embrace what it means for the city, the country, the players and our community.

I’m an extreme extrovert, so I recharge by being around people. I think I’ll celebrate our first game just by sharing that moment, reliving some of the highlights and chatting about it with those people who’ve been along for the ride.

Sports and business are very similar. When you’re on a team, everyone has to be good at passing and setting and serving. The weak link can be singled out, but we don’t want that. We’re all stronger together.

We want people to fall in love with the Toronto Tempo. Not because of our stats, but because of our people and their stories, and the story of this team.

I’m Canadian now. I love living here so much that I became a citizen in 2022. After nearly 13 years, the longest I’ve lived anywhere other than Lakefield, I feel Canadian. I feel at home here.