\nRebekah Gardner loved spending the 2025 WNBA season with the New York Liberty. Eying a return and many more minutes in 2026, she\u2019s spending part of this offseason playing with Athletes Unlimited (AU) in Nashville. AU has a unique format in which teams are reassigned every week.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing here, I didn\u2019t know what to expect with the format; it\u2019s unique to Athletes Unlimited, and I wasn\u2019t sure how it was going to be,\u201d said Gardner. \u201cBut I came here and I feel like it turned out much better than I could have even imagined. I\u2019ve been fortunate enough to be on winning teams the first two weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
The four teams \u2014 Rhythm, Glow, Gold Rush, and Eclipse \u2014 play traditional 5\u00d75 but draft a different group of players each week. Teams play three games a week. Players receive individual points for various aspects of each game. At the end of four weeks of play, the player with the most points is league champion. The 2024 champion Allisha Gray and 2025 champion Maddy Siegrist are both playing with Unrivaled this winter. After three weeks of play, Gardner ranks second on the leaderboard and is again a team captain for week four.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been awesome getting to know the other players, so overall I\u2019ve had a great experience,\u201d said Gardner. \u201cIt\u2019s turned out even better than I could have imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each player gets to name a nonprofit to support, and Gardner selected New Heights Youth, a Brooklyn-based youth development organization. In previous years, players essentially coached themselves, and there were facilitators to assist. This AU season, there are four coaches and two player enhancement specialists.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important to get players who have a great IQ for the game because then things flow more easily,\u201d said Gardner. \u201cBeing that I was a captain, I kind of picked players that I like playing with or had great chemistry with [in] the previous weeks. \u2026 That\u2019s been the key, getting players who understand the game and aren\u2019t just focused on scoring, but are trying to play together to win the game. That\u2019s where you get the most points and that\u2019s how you get to the top of the leaderboard. That\u2019s my strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Queens native Tina Charles is also playing with AU this season and currently is third on the leaderboard. After the AU season, Gardner plans to spend some time at home in California before heading back to New York for training camp.<\/p>\n
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