“Here’s to Strong Women: May We Know Them. May We Be Them. May We Raise Them.“
Meet our amazing team.
We’re a talented group of creative individuals interested in bringing you the best local women’s sports coverage. Starting with New York Liberty, Gotham FC, USWNT.
WNBA head of content
Brian Fleurantin is a proud CUNY alum and has been writing about basketball for over ten years. He enjoys good basketball, good music, and good vibes.
Along with working at The Local W, you can also find Brian covering the Liberty, Nets, books, basketball books, and more at NetsDaily
editor
Elizabeth Swinton is a contributing editor for The Local W. She spent over seven years writing, editing and running social media for The Brooklyn Game. Currently, Elizabeth is a social media editor for Sports Illustrated.
NWSL head of content
Jenna Tonelli is from Queens, NY and loves all things women’s soccer. She writes about NJ/NY Gotham FC for The Local W and Jersey Sporting News. You can find Jenna at every Gotham home game.
Social Media
Marsh is a social media coordinator from Paterson, New Jersey with a background in Community Engagement and Public Relations. Outside of contributing to The Local W, Marsh serves as the Outreach Coordinator & Social Media director for the Passaic County Police Academy.
Photojournalist
We are looking for more good writers.
The views and opinions expressed on this website are solely those of the original authors and other contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of Linsanity Fan, the thelocalw.com staff, and/or any/all contributors to this site.
Creative Director
Chris Wozniak is the Creative Director for The Local W. Living in Poland he usually chooses to forego sleep, watching basketball instead. His passion can be observed in an excessive number of tweets and spending countless hours trying to bring more visual flair to the coverage through design. You can also see his work at Winsidr.
writer
Sara Ach is a Women’s Soccer Analyst and Owner of the Women’s Soccer Podcast ‘The Women’s Soccer Show’. She has appeared on BBC Newsday World Service, and BBC Manchester. She does play-by-play and color commentary for teams in the local NYC area ranging from youth to Semi-Pro. Sara is also an accomplished completive soccer player and coach herself, having played NCAA Collegiate Soccer in the USA and coached for the Red Bull Academy.
writer
Ella Morrissey is an aspiring writer from Connecticut and a recent graduate of Lehigh University, having majored in journalism. She served as the sports editor of her college newspaper and writes about the WNBA on her own Substack page. She has been an avid fan of the Liberty since 2016.
writer
Hamilton Neill is a contributing writer for The Local W. He has spent the last four years creating content around women’s basketball with various blogs, podcasts and other digital exclusives.
Along with working for The Local W, you can find Hamilton covering the Liberty for The Lead Sports Media.
nwsl writer
Noela Franco is a writer and editor based in Astoria, Queens. She’s writing about all things Gotham FC and NWSL for The Local W.
nwsl writer
Alexis Juárez is a writer for The Local W, covering NJ/NY Gotham. Having previously written for MZ Sports CR, covering men and women’s soccer in México. When he is not writing, he likes to talk and cover Club América and América Femenil on The Eagle Eye Podcast.
NWSL Editor
Adriana Tonelli is from Italy and Queens. When she is not writing/editing NWSL articles, she is cheering on Serie A’s Inter Milan. You can usually find her at Red Bull Arena or at Citi Field cheering on the Mets.
Sunya Bhutta
editor
Sunya Bhutta is a journalist and audience development strategist based in Brooklyn. She is a contributing editor at The Local W and a senior editor at Scientific American. Throughout her career she has covered science, travel, politics, and sports. Her work has also been published in GEN Magazine, Time Out New York, and Chronogram.
Editor / wnba writer
Justin Carter is a women’s basketball writer whose work has appeared widely, including at Dave Campbell’s Texas Basketball, FanSided and Winsidr. He holds a PhD in English and his first book, Brazos, is forthcoming in 2024 from Belle Point Press. Justin currently lives in Des Moines, Iowa.
WNBA Editor/Writer
Myles Ehrlich is from Brooklyn, NY. In addition to his work on the Liberty beat at The Local W, he also writes about the W at Queen Ballers Club and Winsidr, and was formerly a WNBA Staff Writer with TBW. When not writing, Myles is usually playing, watching, or reading about sports.
CONTENT CREATOR
Kristian Cuaresma is a content creator from Toronto with a background in writing, editing, and hosting on-air productions. Outside of contributing to The Local W, Kristian is currently the team writer for NetsGC, the Brooklyn Nets affiliate of the NBA 2K League.
WNBA Content Creator
Kevin Lewis brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to basketball as Co-Host to 2Sixty5Media Hoops Network, “Keep’n It 94×50, Codename: WBB” with fellow Co-Host, Daniel Artest. He will be a contributor to podcast and social media content and writing for the Liberty.
WNBA Reporter
Owen Pence is a freelance reporter specializing in women’s basketball. His work can be found at The Local W, Winsidr, and elsewhere. He has been published in The Boston Globe, Houston Chronicle, Dallas Morning News, and Star Tribune. He is located in Brooklyn.
Writer
I’ve been a diehard Nets fan since the team’s final season in New Jersey. During my later college years, I interned with 97.3 ESPN South Jersey and served as the play-by-play broadcaster for Stockton men’s and women’s basketball. My dream is to one day work for the NBA or a professional sports team in either broadcasting, PR, or journalism.
Writer
Co-host of the Brooklyn Buzz podcast, video breakdown expert and number one Joe Harris stan.
I may be in the Southern Hemisphere but my Nets fandom is strong as anyone’s!
YOUTUBE MASTRO
SeverTheBond is a sportswriter/YouTuber who’s covered New York basketball for over 5 years. He also proudly covers the Atlanta Dream. The rapper can be found on the NewsBreak as well.
Writer
Matt Hardy is a writer for The Local W. A Nets fan since 2013, he started UK Nets Fans in 2019. Host of BK to UK: The British Brooklyn Nets Podcast and NY Liberty UK, Matt flies the flag for all things Brooklyn basketball in the UK.Twitter: twitter.com/UKNetsFans
Twitter 2: twitter.com/NYLibertyUK
Instagram: instagram.com/UKNetsFans
Email: [email protected]
Writer
James is an aspiring writer from northern Michigan, but originally from Staten Island, NY. The game of basketball is something his life revolves around, playing often and watching even more. After graduating from Liberty University, he has made it a life goal to pursue writing as a full time career. Aside from The Local W, James also covers sports for the XFL Newsroom, the USFL Newsroom, and the Brooklyn Netcast.
writer
Nicholas Williams is a writer for The Local W, covering the Brooklyn Nets. When not writing about the Nets, he is a NBA Youtuber who breaks down the X’s and O’s and analyze games for all 30 NBA Teams. He is a fan of post playmakers, floaters and ball movement.
Writer
Migi is from Las Vegas, Nevada and a graduate of UNLV. Outside of The Local W, he hosts the Nephew Hours podcast.
Writer
Geoff Magliocchetti is a sports journalist whose range includes the NFL, WNBA, NASCAR, NBA, college sports, and the G League. On the hardwood, Geoff has covered the New York Liberty for numerous websites since 2018. He is also on the beat for the New York Jets after prior tours with the New York Giants and Army Black Knights. Geoff is an alum of Marist College and misses the Nets’ days in Jersey. He’s also a big fan of New York Rangers hockey and New York Yankees baseball”.
wnba reporter
Pepper Persley is a nine year old journalist who focuses on the WNBA. She has her own talk show, Dish With Pepper, that shares inspiring stories through her interviews. Pepper has interviewed Katie Smith, Natasha Cloud, Liz Plank, Meghan McPeak, and Ari Chambers for the show. She has also interviewed Diana Taurasi, Elena Delle Donne, Tina Charles, and Skylar Diggins-Smith to promote the WNBA. Pepper has interviewed Chadwick Boseman, Chris Evans, and Zoe Saldana on Good Morning America, been featured in a video on Michelle Obama’s Instagram page, and been a part of an anti-bullying video for The Today Show. She also loves playing basketball, soccer, taekwondo, and the violin.