I love watching individual games and sporting events, but one of my favorite things as a sports fan is watching how a season unfolds across several weeks and months. With the WNBA season beginning and the NWSL and LPGA seasons heating up, now seems like the perfect time to take a look at five storylines I will keep an eye on across women’s sports this summer.

1. Can the Lynx, Liberty and Aces maintain their dominance for one more season?

The Liberty and Aces have combined to win the last three WNBA Championships. The Lynx knocked off the Aces in last year’s playoffs before narrowly losing to the Liberty in overtime of the decisive fifth game. All three teams are expected to contend for the title again. Along with the upstart Indiana Fever, they are the only teams with better than 5.3% implied odds to win the title. That being said, all three teams have new challenges to overcome to remain at the top of the game.

The Liberty lost Hall of Fame point guard Courtney Vandersloot but have seemingly replaced her with Natasha Cloud. Cloud should be an upgrade on the defensive end, but the Liberty may miss Vandersloot’s passing, creativity and leadership. On paper, the Liberty should be in good shape by adding Cloud, Rebekah Gardner and Isabelle Harrison, but we won’t know for sure until we see how they fit with their new teammates on the court.

The Aces are in a similar situation after trading Kelsey Plum for Jewell Loyd. Loyd is a three-time All-WNBA player, so it is hard to argue the Aces got much worse, but there may be growing pains as Loyd settles into three guard lineups with Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray. Young, Gray and Plum had played together since Gray joined the Aces in 2021, and it may take time to develop similar chemistry with Loyd.

An even bigger problem may be the Aces frontcourt injuries. They have always struggled to get production next to A’ja Wilson but with Megan Gustafson and Elizabeth Kitley out with injuries and Cheyenne Parker-Tyus announcing she is expecting her second child and will miss at least the first three months of the season, the Aces will be relying on Kiah Stokes and Queen Egbo for the foreseeable future.

The Lynx may have the fewest questions of these three teams, but they also have the shortest track record. They won 11 more games in 2024 than the year before and if they are to get back to the WNBA finals, they will have to do so without Cecilia Zandalasini, their big signing from last offseason. The Lynx will likely miss her shooting and creativity after she was selected by the Valkyries in the expansion draft. The Lynx will likely suffer even more losses when they have to cut down rosters, which could hurt their chances even more.

The reason why I’m looking so closely at these three teams is that if they suffer any slippage from previous seasons, the Indiana Fever look poised to pass them by. With DeWanna Bonner, Natasha Howard and Sophie Cunningham joining Kelsey Mitchell, Cailtin Clark and Aliyah Boston, the Fever should contend for the first time since 2015.

2. Is there a changing of the guard on the LPGA?

Last year was dominated by Lydia Ko and Nelly Korda, who combined to win 10 of the Tour’s 35 events. They were relatively quiet in the LPGA’s first major of 2025, the Chevron Championship. Instead, we may have witnessed the beginnings of a youth movement on tour. Mao Saigo, the 2024 LPGA rookie of the year, picked up her first career LPGA win, coming out on top in a five-player playoff. One of the players she defeated in that playoff, 22-year-old Yin Ruoning, followed up that performance with a T2 the next week at the Black Desert Championship. I’m not expecting Ko or Korda to go away anytime soon, but it is exciting to see the next generation begin to step up, especially in the majors.

3. Can anyone challenge Paige Bueckers for Rookie of the Year?

Bueckers is -300 to win the award this season. By way of comparison, Caitlin Clark was -750 last season. She was pushed to the brink by Angel Reese, who was drafted seventh overall with the Sky’s second pick in the first round.

My best guess is that someone will rise to challenge Bueckers, but I don’t know who it is. Number two overall pick Dominique Malonga has the talent to challenge Bueckers, but it remains to be seen if she will get enough playing time and touches in Seattle’s crowded backcourt.

At +5000 Hailey Van Lith might be the best bet to challenge Bueckers. Like Reese, Van Lith was an accomplished college player who was the second rookie selected by the Sky. Unlike Reese, Van Lith probably needs an injury to Courtney Vandersloot to get enough playing time to challenge Bueckers. A handful of other first-rounders should have opportunities to make an impression, mostly notably Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen in Washington and Juste Jocyte for Golden State. Aneesah Morrow’s game shares some similarities with Angel Reese, whom she followed at LSU. The Connecticut depth chart appears wide open, so both Morrow and Saniya Rivers should have opportunities.

My dark horse is second-round pick Te-Hina Paopao. She shot 40% on 4.8 three-point attempts per game in her college career, and that skill should make her a perfect fit with her new coach (more on that later). Only one WNBA second-round pick has won Rookie of the Year, Crystal Dangerfield in 2020. If anyone is going to buck that trend this season, Paopao should have the best shot.

4. Will the NWSL continue to embrace its youth movement?

So far this season 21 teenagers have appeared in NWSL games. Last season 22 teenagers played in at least one game. From 2021 through 2023 just 16 teenagers total made it onto the pitch. I will be interested to see not only if those numbers continue to grow but also what kind of impact these young players will have. Rookie Riley Tiernan, who is 22 years old, is currently second in the league with five goals scored for Angel City. She is just one of several rookies who could shape the league table this summer.

5. What Impact will the new coaches have around the league?

Eight of the 13 WNBA teams have new coaches this season. Seven of those are first-time head coaches. It stands to reason that those teams, and the league in general, will look substantially different than what we are used to, in ways that we might not foresee.

The Chicago Sky seem committed to making Kamilla Cardoso the hub of their offense under head coach Tyler Marsh. Cardoso got a late start as a rookie last season and by the time she made it on the floor, Angel Reese was in the midst of setting double-double records. Reese has openly discussed expanding her game outside of the paint this season, at least in part to open up space for Cardoso.

The most obvious coaching impact could be Karl Smesko, who took over the Atlanta Dream following 23 seasons at Florida Gulf Coast. His teams won 25 or more games in each of the last 14 seasons and made at least 300 3-pointers in each of the last 15 seasons. The Dream were 10th out of 12 teams in made 3-pointers last season, while finishing ninth in 3-point attempts and 11th in 3-point percentage. Their two biggest additions, Brionna Jones and Brittney Griner, are bigs who are not known for shooting threes. I can’t wait to see how Smesko’s system meshes with his personnel.

Only one new coach is taking over an expected title contender: Fever head coach Stephanie White. White previously coached the 2015 Fever squad that lost in the WNBA finals, as well as the 2023 and 2024 Connecticut teams that lost in the Semifinals. It will be her job to blend the newcomers with the returning talent and make sure this team plays enough defense to supplement their offensive firepower. Her ability to do so will help shape the WNBA this season.