ACES Girls Take the Court with WNBA Star Paige Bueckers

Aerial shot of the new basketball court at Blackstone Park in St. Louis Park, MN during the dedication event.

Some experiences stick with you long after the day is over. For our ACES girls, meeting hometown WNBA superstar Paige Bueckers and getting the chance to play basketball alongside her is one of them.

WNBA superstar Paige Bueckers pictured with a few of ACES’ superstars

Two weeks ago, our youth had the incredible opportunity to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony for a brand-new basketball court dedicated to hometown WNBA superstar Paige Bueckers right here in Minnesota. The event was part of Gatorade's Fuel Tomorrow initiative, in partnership with Good Sports, and gave our students a chance to meet a professional athlete who has become a role model for young women across the country.

Paige's basketball résumé is extraordinary. She was the nation's top-ranked recruit, a Gatorade Player of the Year, and the first freshman women's basketball player to earn NCAA Player of the Year honors. After major injuries forced her to work through an extensive rehabilitation process, she returned to the court and continued to excel, ultimately leading UConn to a national championship before being selected first overall in the 2025 WNBA Draft by the Dallas Wings. She went on to earn WNBA Rookie of the Year and All-Star honors in her first professional season.

But for our students, the most meaningful part of Paige's story may be how seen she makes them feel.

Paige has spoken openly about the importance of opportunity, equity, and representation in sports. She has used her platform to call attention to disparities in sports media coverage, including the disproportionate attention she has received as a white athlete compared with her Black peers. She has also emphasized the importance of young people seeing themselves represented in the spaces they hope to enter.

That made the opportunity to meet her particularly meaningful for our ACES girls.

They didn't just get to watch Paige play. They got to ask her questions. They got to shoot hoops alongside her. And they got to see firsthand what it looks like when a young athlete's talent, persistence, and hard work become a career.

ACES’ Associate Board Vice Chair, Jenae Alderson, captured the experience beautifully:

"Watching so many girls' dreams come true simply by getting to play alongside you was incredibly special. You showed them what it means—and what it looks like—to be a professional athlete, role model, and businesswoman, and I am personally so grateful to witness it firsthand."

Paige Bueckers poses with some of the youth at the dedication event.

At ACES, we believe those moments matter.

We want young people to see themselves as capable of more, not only in sports, but in the classroom, in their careers, and in their communities. Sports give students opportunities to practice persistence, teamwork, confidence, and leadership. They also give young people access to role models who can make future possibilities feel a little more tangible.

Sometimes, it takes seeing someone who started somewhere not so different from where you are now to begin imagining where you might go.

And the surprises didn't stop there.

Good Sports donated more than $25,000 worth of new sports equipment to ACES for the upcoming year, helping ensure that even more of our students have the equipment they need to play, learn, and grow. Every student also went home with a backpack, T-shirt, and gear from Gatorade to remember the experience.

We are incredibly grateful to Gatorade, Good Sports, ACES’ Board and Associate Board members and volunteers, and everyone who made this experience possible for our students. Thank you for investing in young people and creating opportunities for them to see what their futures might hold.

And to Paige: thank you for coming home, sharing your time with our students, and showing them that being a professional athlete can mean so much more than what happens on the court. You are an inspiration to us all.