This team of women are specifically bad at basketball, and they keep showing up to play 🏀 Aria McManus of Downtown Girls Basketball

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Episode at a glance:

GUEST: Aria McManus

COMMUNITY: Downtown Girls Basketball

HOSTS: Bailey Richardson & Kevin Huynh

"The most surprising thing for me was how many people showed up on day one. And that continues to be the most surprising thing - that people are still showing up on day 300. Every time a stranger comes, I'm just like, where did you come from? It is amazing, and it's a huge motivator to keep me going."
- Aria McManus

Show Notes

Aria McManus, an artist and creative director, started Downtown Girls Basketball in 2013.

From the beginning, it was a team for women and people who don’t identify as male “who are specifically bad at basketball.”

At the first practice, 30 of Aria’s artist and designer friends rolled out to play together. They had so much fun, Aria hosted another game the following week.

In the six years since, that core group has ballooned to a rotating crew of 400+ of women (including me). Every week we come together to get exercise, revive our love for basketball, and, most importantly, goof off with other creative, playful women.

I started playing with Downtown Girls when I moved to New York City year and a half ago. Attending that one practice each week has improved and enriched my life here more than anything else I’ve joined in New York City. The players have become my close friends, and we bump into each other on sidewalks in Brooklyn or at art events around the city.

How did Aria build something so special? What makes her approach to women’s basketball different from other leagues and pick up games? What keeps her going six years down the line?

We sat down with Aria in the Lower East Side to learn more.