Marisa Ingemi: The Sports Reporter Giving Women’s Games More Space

Introduction

Marisa Ingemi has built her reporting career around sports.

But there is a clear thread.

Women’s sports matter in her work.

She has covered major professional teams, college programs, new leagues, and stories far outside the usual game recap. Her reporting has appeared across established newspapers and sports outlets, while her recent work includes her own Golden State Valkyries publication.

Actually, her career did not begin with the WNBA.

Hockey came first.

Then her beat grew.

Today, readers may know her for Golden State Valkyries coverage, women’s basketball, Bay FC, hockey reporting, and stories about athletes and communities that do not always get regular national attention.

Quick Facts

Fact	Detail
Full Name	Marisa Ingemi
Profession	Sports journalist and reporter
Known For	Women’s sports, basketball, hockey, soccer, and sports features
Background	New Hampshire native
Education	Boston University
Graduation Year	2017
Major Career Stops	Boston Herald, Seattle Times, San Francisco Chronicle
Current Public Work	Valkyries Beat and reporting for outlets including the Los Angeles Times
Major Award	2025 USBWA Women’s Rising Star Award
NSMA Honor	2024 California co-Sportswriter of the Year
Professional Role	President of the Association for Women in Sports Media

Who Is Marisa Ingemi?

Marisa Ingemi is an American sports journalist from New Hampshire.

She became known through hockey reporting and later built a much wider body of work around women’s sports.

That shift makes sense.

She has written about basketball. Soccer too. Hockey remains part of the story.

Her work has also covered less traditional subjects such as roller derby and the people around sports communities.

The San Francisco Chronicle identifies her as a New Hampshire native who graduated from Boston University in 2017. Its public author profile lists her coverage areas as the Golden State Valkyries, Bay FC, Stanford and Cal women’s basketball, plus enterprise and investigative sports reporting.

Early Life and Background

Public professional sources give only limited information about Ingemi’s early life.

That is worth respecting.

What can be confirmed is simple: she is a New Hampshire native.

Details about her parents, siblings, exact birthplace, or private family life are not clearly documented by strong public sources.

So they should not be guessed.

Her later career shows an early connection with sports and media, though her professional path becomes much clearer once she reaches Boston University.

Education at Boston University

Marisa Ingemi graduated from Boston University in 2017.

That period helped build the base for her reporting career.

Boston University later profiled her work in women’s sports journalism, noting the path that took her from professional hockey coverage to assignments involving the WNBA and other women’s leagues.

College gave her a direct route into sports media.

Then came real newsroom work.

Fast.

Her career soon included one of the most demanding jobs in sports journalism: covering a professional hockey team on a daily beat.

Starting Out in Hockey

Hockey was a major part of Ingemi’s early professional identity.

She worked for the Boston Herald, where she covered the NHL and the Boston Bruins.

That meant daily reporting.

Games. Practices. Player news. Travel.

It was the kind of beat where a reporter has to work quickly and keep up with constant changes.

Her hockey background never fully disappeared.

Even as her work moved toward women’s basketball, soccer, and broader reporting, hockey remained one of the sports closely tied to her career.

The U.S. Basketball Writers Association also lists the Boston Herald among her previous stops and notes that she covered the NHL there.

Seattle Times and the Kraken Beat

Ingemi later moved to the Seattle Times.

Her assignment was tied to the Seattle Kraken, the NHL expansion franchise.

That was an interesting reporting job.

A brand-new team meant almost everything had to be covered from the beginning.

Roster building.

Team identity.

Games.

Fans.

And the day-to-day work of following an NHL organization trying to establish itself.

Her Seattle period was shorter than her other major newspaper roles, but it remains part of her professional record. USBWA lists the Seattle Times among her career stops before her work at the San Francisco Chronicle.

A Move Toward Women’s Sports Coverage

The next part of her career changed the type of stories attached to her name.

Ingemi joined the San Francisco Chronicle in 2022.

Her focus became women’s sports.

That opened a very wide beat.

College basketball was part of it.

So was professional soccer.

Then the Bay Area gained the Golden State Valkyries in the WNBA.

Suddenly, she was covering a growing professional sports market while still writing longer features and reported pieces away from the biggest arenas.

The Chronicle says her work has included the Golden State Valkyries, Bay FC, Stanford and Cal women’s basketball, along with enterprise and investigative stories.

That is a broad job.

And honestly, that range is one of the clearest parts of her public career.

Covering the Golden State Valkyries

The arrival of the Golden State Valkyries gave Ingemi another major basketball beat.

She covered the franchise during its early WNBA years.

That meant following a team from near the start of its life.

For sports reporters, that is different from entering a beat with decades of history already written.

There are new players.

New fans.

New team traditions.

New questions every week.

Ingemi eventually took that experience into an independent project.

Starting Valkyries Beat

In April 2026, Ingemi launched Valkyries Beat, a publication focused on the Golden State Valkyries.

She introduced it as a new home for reporting and analysis on the Bay Area WNBA team.

She also described herself as a San Francisco-based women’s sports reporter and explained that the project would carry regular beat reporting, features, and exclusive coverage.

The publication remained active through the 2026 WNBA season.

For example, she published Valkyries reporting from Minnesota in August 2026.

This gave her direct control over one part of her work.

Basically, instead of depending only on a traditional sports desk, she could publish team coverage through a reader-supported outlet built around one beat.

Los Angeles Sparks Coverage

Ingemi’s 2026 work also includes the Los Angeles Sparks.

Recent Los Angeles Times bylines show her reporting on the WNBA team throughout the season.

Her coverage included games, team decisions, players, and season-long developments.

A September 24, 2026 article carried her byline on the Sparks’ season-ending game against the Golden State Valkyries.

She also reported on Nneka Ogwumike’s final WNBA season and retirement.

So right now, her public work reaches beyond one Bay Area team.

She is still writing across major women’s basketball stories.

Reporting Beyond Game Scores

Ingemi’s work is not limited to who won.

That matters.

One of her most recognized stories focused on Bay Area Derby, an Oakland roller derby community trying to rebuild after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The story looked closely at the LGBTQ+ community around the league.

NLGJA, the Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists, gave Ingemi its Excellence in Sports Writing award for the piece.

That award gives a clear idea of the type of reporting she also does.

Sports can be the starting point.

But the people matter too.

Community, access, identity, league growth, and working conditions can all become part of the story.

Major Journalism Awards

Ingemi has received several professional honors.

One of the biggest came from the National Sports Media Association.

She was named a 2024 California co-Sportswriter of the Year, sharing the state honor with San Francisco Chronicle columnist Scott Ostler. NSMA’s official records list Ingemi among California’s 2024 sportswriting winners.

Another major honor came in 2025.

The U.S. Basketball Writers Association selected her for its Women’s Rising Star Award.

USBWA said the award recognizes journalistic excellence among younger basketball reporters and cited her work covering women’s basketball, Stanford, Cal, Bay FC, and the Golden State Valkyries.

She has also been recognized for sports feature writing.

That gives her award record some range.

It is not based on one team or one type of article.

Association for Women in Sports Media

Ingemi also works on the professional side of sports journalism.

She serves as president of the Association for Women in Sports Media, commonly called AWSM.

AWSM supports women working in sports media through professional programs, networking, mentoring, and career opportunities.

A September 2026 AWSM announcement still identifies Ingemi as the organization’s board president.

That work puts her in a different position.

She reports sports.

But she also takes part in the professional community around sports journalism.

San Francisco Press Club

Her journalism work has also extended into the San Francisco Press Club.

The organization announced in July 2025 that Ingemi had joined its board of directors.

Its current board page continues to list her as a director.

Again, this is outside ordinary game coverage.

It connects her with the wider Bay Area journalism community.

What Sports Does Marisa Ingemi Cover?

Her reporting history crosses several sports.

Hockey has been there for years.

Basketball is now a major part.

Soccer has also been a regular beat through Bay FC and wider women’s sports coverage.

Then there are stories beyond those leagues.

Roller derby is one example.

This mix gives her career a slightly unusual shape.

She did not stay boxed into a single sport.

She moved where the reporting work took her.

Why Her Career Stands Out

There is a simple reason Ingemi’s work has received attention.

She has spent much of her recent career reporting women’s sports as a regular beat, rather than treating those games as occasional side stories.

That means showing up repeatedly.

One game after another.

One season after another.

Boston University’s 2025 profile focused on this part of her work and how her career moved from NHL reporting toward a dedicated women’s sports beat.

The timing has been interesting too.

Women’s professional sports in the United States have been adding teams and gaining more regular coverage.

Ingemi has been reporting inside that growth.

Current Work

As of September 2026, Ingemi’s public work spans more than one publishing model.

Her Valkyries Beat project is active.

She also has recent Los Angeles Times bylines covering the Sparks.

The San Francisco Chronicle continues to maintain an author page that identifies her as a women’s sports staff writer.

So the cleanest description is this:

She is a sports journalist whose current published work includes women’s basketball reporting across traditional newspapers and independent media.

That wording fits the public record without forcing her into one job title.

Final Thought

Marisa Ingemi’s career started with strong roots in hockey reporting.

Then the work widened.

Women’s basketball became a major beat. Soccer followed. Independent publishing became part of the mix too.

She has reported from established newsrooms, covered new professional teams, won journalism awards, and taken leadership roles inside sports media organizations.

The basic idea is simple.

She keeps reporting.

And much of that reporting gives regular space to women’s sports and the people around them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Marisa Ingemi?

Marisa Ingemi is an American sports journalist known for reporting on women’s sports, basketball, hockey, soccer, and sports culture.

Where is Marisa Ingemi from?

Professional sources describe her as a New Hampshire native.

Where did Marisa Ingemi study?

She graduated from Boston University in 2017.

What teams has Marisa Ingemi covered?

Her reporting history includes the Boston Bruins, Seattle Kraken, Golden State Valkyries, Los Angeles Sparks, Bay FC, Stanford women’s basketball, and Cal women’s basketball.

What is Valkyries Beat?

Valkyries Beat is Ingemi’s independent publication focused on news, features, analysis, and reporting about the Golden State Valkyries. She launched it in April 2026.

What awards has Marisa Ingemi won?

Her documented honors include the 2025 USBWA Women’s Rising Star Award, a share of the 2024 NSMA California Sportswriter of the Year honor, and an NLGJA Excellence in Sports Writing award.

Is Marisa Ingemi involved with AWSM?

Yes. Current AWSM material identifies her as president of the Association for Women in Sports Media.

What does Marisa Ingemi cover now?

Her 2026 public work includes Golden State Valkyries reporting through Valkyries Beat and Los Angeles Sparks coverage for the Los Angeles Times, while her San Francisco Chronicle author page continues to list her as a women’s sports reporter.

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