With the WNBA, NWSL and PWHL expanding in recent years, women’s sports have never been more in demand, and there’s arguably no better city in the country for women’s sports than Seattle, one of the few U.S. markets with teams from each of the three big women’s pro leagues. 

With that in mind, The Seattle Times is launching a women’s sports beat this month. 

Times reporter Kate Shefte — whom readers may know from our Seattle Kraken coverage — and assistant sports editor Sean Quinton will lead this endeavor, with the expectation that the entire sports staff will continue covering stories about women’s sports and female athletes. 

Shefte will report and write about issues, topics and trends faced by female athletes at all levels of sport today, while also examining the economics, culture, and social issues at the heart of women’s sports in the Greater Seattle area. She will take over Storm coverage, and her responsibilities also will include stories on Seattle’s other women’s pro franchises, UW women’s sports, and personalities such as Elise Woodward, Natisha Hiedeman and Angie Mentink.

Shefte, previously a sports reporter and copy editor in Colorado and North Carolina, joined The Times in 2022 to cover the Kraken. She also covered the Torrent in their inaugural season with the PWHL and has pitched in on Storm coverage this year.

“I’m excited to get going on this women’s sport beat,” Shefte said. “It’s a true honor to be the latest Times reporter covering the Storm.” 

Quinton has been with The Times since 2014, joining initially as a sports producer before becoming an assistant sports editor in 2019. He currently directs coverage of the Mariners, trending sports and the Olympics. He will assume Kraken and Storm coverage responsibilities as he works with Shefte to build the women’s sports beat.

In conjunction with her new beat, Shefte will continue covering the Kraken but will focus on big-picture stories, in-depth features and analysis. 

“I love hockey dearly and want it to thrive in Seattle,” Shefte said. “Sean and I will think of fun and informative ways to cover the Kraken and Torrent.” 

The change to Shefte’s beat is one of several adjustments we’re making to our sports coverage. We aim to provide more of the kind of unique features, analysis and human interest stories that aren’t ubiquitous online.

This reflects a trend throughout sports journalism around the country. Readers can get game results and other commodity information from so many sources; they look to us to provide a deeper understanding, authoritative breakdowns, inspiring backstories, and a connection to athletes and other fans in our region. Those are things they can’t get just anywhere.

I’m excited to see what Kate, Sean and the rest of our Sports team accomplish with this new approach. And I’d love to hear your thoughts along the way. You can read Kate’s work here.

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