{"id":635052,"date":"2026-04-28T22:26:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T22:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/635052\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T22:26:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T22:26:13","slug":"young-mystics-find-joy-in-wnba-crash-course-ahead-of-season-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/635052\/","title":{"rendered":"Young Mystics find joy in WNBA crash course ahead of season opener"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many of the Washington Mystics<\/a>\u2019 rookies, including top pick Lauren Betts<\/a>,\u00a0are less than a month removed from the end of their collegiate careers.\u00a0They have just under a week to prepare for their WNBA debuts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Mystics are, once again, the youngest team in the league. The franchise has just two players with more than a year of WNBA\u00a0experience.\u00a0One of those players \u2014 center Shakira Austin<\/a> \u2014 has missed the start of training camp as she vies for a title in China\u2019s WCBA.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Back in the District, the youngsters are learning on the fly together.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very comforting knowing that I\u2019m not the only rookie here, so I\u2019m not the only person\u00a0who\u2019s\u00a0making mistakes,\u201d Betts said Tuesday. \u201cWe\u2019re all making mistakes and growing together.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trial-and-error approach is encouraged by second-year coach Sydney Johnson<\/a>. It\u2019s how they get better, he reasoned.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Part of his job as the team\u2019s leader is to spotlight the work that leads to growth. The Mystics\u2019 training sessions end with the team \u2014 including the male practice players, coaches and the rest of the roster \u2014 circling up on the practice court.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The players briefly assemble on their own, deciding who to spotlight in front of the group. They then shower their teammates with praise and applause in front of the coaching staff.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLucy [Olsen] is consistent throughout training camp,\u201d Kiki Iriafen, who was an All-Star during her rookie campaign last year, said. \u201cShe brings the energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson then leads by example.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if anyone plays harder than Christine [Iwuala.] I just think you\u2019re exceptional,\u201d he told the group this week. \u201cLucy, well done. Michaela [Onyenwere,] we appreciate your leadership. Sonia [Citron] speaking up in huddles. Georgia [Amoore] does a wonderful job thinking about others at all times.\u201d<\/p>\n

The list goes on as the applause, cheers and laughter echo around the court.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fundamental to who we are. We want to see each other,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cSometimes the season can move so fast. There\u2019s all kinds of stuff going on. For us, we just want to slow it down a little bit, make sure we\u2019re seeing each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mystics aren\u2019t unique in their post-practice praise sessions, but the effort is still appreciated by the new blood.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s just really sweet,\u201d Betts said. \u201cIt\u2019s good to recognize that, though all the horror, there\u2019s a lot of positives we can get from practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The effort is intentional. Olsen said joy is mentioned as a pillar of the Mystics\u2019 blossoming culture, with players regularly reminded to have fun as they pursue their WNBA dreams.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They don\u2019t have to try.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just the energy we have,\u201d Olsen said. \u201cIt\u2019s like, we don\u2019t have to force having fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

The work itself is difficult. Johnson is frantically trying to prepare a roster for a WNBA season that begins May 8 with a game against the Toronto Tempo. Less than a month ago, most of his players were playing in college or overseas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Mystics\u2019 coaching staff has been tasked with not only building chemistry but also preparing the fresh faces for the speed and intensity of the WNBA.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have a lot of time. We\u2019re going to need games for that. That is a big difference between us and some of the older teams; that\u2019s life,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to take that head-on. I\u2019m not going to lie or say anything different. We\u2019ll work through it as a group.\u201d<\/p>\n

But while his players learn to become WNBA players, Johnson has had to learn the ropes of being a WNBA executive. The Mystics cut ties with former general manager Jamila Wideman this month, just days before the draft and free agency period began.\u00a0 Johnson was given control of the roster decisions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not nothing,\u201d he confessed. \u201cBut I am doing more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Winger, the executive who oversees the Wizards and Mystics, has assisted Johnson so the long-time coach can focus on the season. A slew of other Mystics front-office staff, including former Georgetown coach John Thomson III, have also pitched in.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not really doing it by myself,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI might lose a couple of hours, but not all night.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many of the Washington Mystics\u2019 rookies, including top pick Lauren Betts,\u00a0are less than a month removed from the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":635053,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,82,630],"class_list":["post-635052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=635052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/635053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=635052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=635052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=635052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}