How one North Park bar became a hub for women's sports

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Welcome in San Diego. It's Jade Hindman. On this episode of KPBS Midday Edition, one of us is a new sports bar with a focus on women's sports, how it's building community around women athletes. This is KPBS Midday Edition, connecting our communities through conversation. So WNBA playoffs started this past weekend. And for many fans, it hasn't always been easy finding a place to watch at WNBA games. Even at sports bars, it can be difficult. But that's changing as people are headed to one bar on University Ave. It's called One of Us. And it's San Diego's first women's sports bar. And while it opened just earlier this year, it reflects a longtime desire for community around women's sports in our city. I'm joined now by two of the co-founders, Kehlani Millsaps and Patricia Sebold. Kehlani and Patricia, welcome to the show and welcome into the studio.

Thank you. Thank you for having us.

Glad to have you both here. Kehlani, what inspired you to open one of us?

I mean, it's many, many things. You know, women's sports have been growing exponentially over the last several years. And we wanted to just have that space where we could go enjoy the games and, you know, be amongst our peers in a positive environment. But feel, you know, that that packed energy of a stadium. So here we are today.

That's great. And why San Diego? I mean, we obviously have a lot of sporting events going on here lately, but what makes it the perfect place for a bar like this?

San Diego is a big soccer town. Everybody knows that. We do have a lot of sports here that really showcase, you know, the young talent that comes up from the community. And, yeah, we just really love San Diego so much. It helps that we live here, too. San Diego's home. Yeah.

The hometown. Well, I mean, the name One of Us. What's the story and significance behind that, Patricia? There's just so

many. It like the name came of us being together in a group and just being together. sports related in terms of like, let me bring it back to like our mascot, right? Our mascot is a wolf. It's like our spirit animal in terms of being in a pack, being a lone wolf. And we know women, a lot of the times we're alone, right? And watching sports at home alone. And we don't want that, right? We want to be together in a pack. And it just makes it so much better. Let's being together and fighting the good fight. That's

great. So yeah, when you're here at the bar, you're one of us. Right, right. Everyone, you're welcome. You know, you found community. You mentioned this earlier, Kehlani, but the interest and industry for women's sports has seen huge growth over the past few years. In fact, it's projected to grow by 250% by 2030. So what's been your experience with that? How have you felt that in the bar itself? Well,

I mean, access to these sports, it's still an issue. Like, yes, we're seeing all these broadcast deals and all that sort of thing pop up. And, you know, we get more access, but