Kendall Halpern laces up her cleats at dawn in Manhattan—6 a.m. training sessions on a turf field near her apartment, gym time, office hours at CAA sports agency, then stick-ball drills on a nearby wall to keep her game sharp. But this June, the Syosset native and Northwestern graduate will make the journey home to Long Island for something she couldn't have imagined possible a few years ago: playing professional women's lacrosse at the highest level, representing the New York Charging in the inaugural outdoor season of the Women's Lacrosse League.
The WLL, launched in 2024 by the Premier Lacrosse League, begins competition this weekend in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, with the New York Charging facing the Boston Guard in what marks a watershed moment for professional women's sports. After an indoor six-on-six championship series in February 2025 and 2026, the league is now stepping outdoors for the first time to compete in full-field, 10-on-10 play—the sport as millions of girls and women know it.
The timing reflects a seismic shift in how professional sports organizations value female athletes. This year, the WNBA negotiated a collective bargaining agreement that raised average player salaries to nearly $600,000, with maximum salaries reaching $1.4 million. The National Women's Soccer League operates 16 teams, while the Professional Women's Hockey League has grown from six teams at its 2023 launch to eleven. Against this backdrop, women's lacrosse is no longer a footnote—it's part of a recognized, investable sector of professional sports.
"The data is overwhelming," said PLL co-founder Paul Rabil, explaining the league's commitment to invest in the WLL alongside broadcast partner ESPN. "Women's sports is one of the most undervalued asset classes in professional sports."
Four teams comprise the inaugural league: the New York Charging, Boston Guard, California Palms, and Maryland Charm. Each will play four games over eight weekends, with an All-Star Game scheduled for Annapolis on July 5 and a championship final in Philadelphia on August 15. The Charging will host the Maryland Charm at Long Island on June 20 in a doubleheader with the PLL's men's team.
For Halpern, who turned 23 this year, the league represents validation of a dream forged during her college years at Northwestern. But professional play is also a launchpad toward something even larger: the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, where lacrosse will make its debut. Halpern, already part of the Team USA player pool, sees the WLL as her training ground and proving ground. "That's the goal every single day," she said of Olympic selection. "A year ago, never thought that would be possible."
What makes Halpern's story resonate beyond individual achievement is what it reflects about opportunity itself. Young girls watching the NCAA Tournament right now—and, soon, the WLL broadcasts on ESPN—will see professional women's lacrosse not as a distant fantasy but as a viable path. Halpern's 6 a.m. work ethic, her willingness to juggle a full-time job at a sports agency with daily training, her hunger to represent both her country and her home state—these are no longer lonely acts of faith. They're part of a movement that treats women's professional sports not as charity but as business, not as an exception but as an expectation.
"I didn't know this would be possible just a couple years ago," Halpern said of playing for the Charging alongside former college teammates. Being able to compete at the sport's highest level, she added, gives fans "an amazing" chance to see what women's lacrosse is truly about.