“Bounce” Golden State Valkyries Pride Party w/ Free Joyride Pizza (SF)

This one’s for Pride! This live, free, in-person event is a gathering of the BOUNCE podcast community, following the Golden State Valkyries first season in the Bay! Featuring free pizza from our sponsor: Joyride Pizza.

This Month’s Panel: The Valkyries, the W, & the LGBTQ Community

Join BOUNCE host Erin Lim and executive producer Ben Trefny along with a growing cast of special guests, including former WNBA player Dr. Alexis Gray-Lawson and Jockular Podcast producer Charlie Smith.

We’re bringing together bar owners, fans, amateur and pro athletes, and analysts to discuss LGBTQ inclusivity. How has professional sports evolved? Where does it lag? Where do folks gather? What’s changed now that the Valkyries have taken the Bay by storm?

BOUNCE Benefit Auction & Community Party

Support non-profit community media by bidding in our monthly BOUNCE benefit auction. This month’s prizes include a two night weekend (Thursday through Monday) stay in a Studio Suite with breakfast for two in TRACE at the W San Francisco, which hosts the Valkyries and WNBA players for home games!

This Month’s Special Guests

Alexis Gray-Lawson, a Bay Area native and basketball standout from Oakland Tech, earned national recognition as a McDonald’s and Parade All-American before playing at UC Berkeley, where she became Cal’s all-time three-point leader and one of its top scorers. She won gold with Team USA at the 2009 World University Games and played professionally in the WNBA and overseas, later becoming the only female general manager in Israeli pro basketball history. As a coach, she led Como Park High School to historic success, becoming the youngest women’s coach in Minnesota to reach 100 wins and earning multiple honors. In 2019, she founded LEGACY, a nonprofit empowering young girls of color through basketball, STEM education, mentorship, and global opportunities, including participation in the elite Adidas 3SSB girls basketball league.

Charlie Page Smith is originally from Houston, by way of Chicago. They are most proud of their L.A. Sparks and Angel City FC season ticketholder status; with it, they feel like royalty. Catch them in the background of Jockular, or losing their voice cheering at a Sparks or ACFC game.

This Month’s Hosts

Erin Lim is Bay Area born-and-raised. She has called San Francisco home for two decades and has worked in various communication roles around The Bay. Erin started her career in local radio, then moved into newsrooms and cable TV productions, and then landed in PR/marketing. During her years in PR (hotel and film), she founded the award-winning culture podcast Bitch Talk and is producing a documentary called The Nomadic Family Project. Both creative projects continue to inspire her. Recently, Erin graduated from KALW’s Audio Academy and is the host of KALW’s BOUNCE, a podcast about the first season of the Golden State Valkyries.

Ben Trefny, BOUNCE executive producer, has been part of the KALW family since 2004. As Executive News Editor and then News Director, he helped our news department win numerous regional and national awards for long- and short-form journalism. He also helped create numerous training programs — for teenagers, incarcerated people, and early-career journalists — and have taught hundreds of audio producers. He served as interim Executive Director for nearly two years.

His work is currently focused on creating original live events, programming, and building partnerships with like-minded organizations. He oversees KALW’s community space at 220 Montgomery Street in downtown San Francisco where he organizes town hall conversations, film screenings, literature readings, concerts, and fundraisers. He also curates the 111 Minna Street stage for Downtown First Thursdays.

About BOUNCE

“BOUNCE: The Valkyries First Season in the Bay” is a 10-episode, sound-rich, biweekly podcast. It follows the nationally award-winning “BOUNCE: The Warriors Last Season in Oakland.” It’s tracing the origin and evolution of Ballhalla as it unfolds in real time. It also includes features contextualizing this historical moment in women’s sports and what it means to people in the Bay Area.

Episodes include:

– Reviewing the history of women’s team sports in the United States through the sound of its great moments.
– Profiling Valkyries Head Coach Natalie Nakase, the first Asian American to lead a team in the WNBA.
– Launching the Bay Area’s first bar dedicated to women’s sports

And many more.

Subscribe to the podcast here.

Let’s see what happens.

There is a $10 – $20 sliding scale suggested donation for this event. Nobody will be turned away for lack of funds.

Please become a KALW member today and receive your first drink on us at all 220 Montgomery events.

220 Montgomery St., San Francisco, 2 blocks from BART/MUNI
Reception doors open at 6:00
️ Program begins at 7:00
🆓 The event is free with an RSVP — and you are welcome to donate what you want

Please note:

• The event space is just to the left of the main entrance to the Mills Building at 220 Montgomery Street
• We recommend taking BART/MUNI, exiting at Montgomery, and walking two blocks north
• Ride-shares can drop off and pick up directly in front of the venue
• If you drive, there are several garages within two blocks of the event location; free street parking is available across from the venue at 7:00 pm