Where is she now? Megan Compain

Outstanding Tall Fern Megan Compain remains the only Kiwi woman to have played in the women's NBA, and is just coming to realise how compelling her career in and around sport has been, she tells Ashley Stanley.

Megan Compain will never forget the day she first crossed paths with basketball GOAT Michael Jordan.

Compain was the first, and is still the only Kiwi woman to play in the WNBA in the United States. The now 45-year-old new mum-of-one was the youngest player in the league during the inaugural year of the women’s equivalent of the NBA in 1997.

At the age of 21, the girl from Whanganui had defied the odds, playing in three open trials in the US before being selected by the Utah Starzz for their opening session.

And it was one to remember for many reasons.

Compain recalls walking past Jordan for the very first time in the early stages of the WNBA season.

“Have you watched The Last Dance on Netflix?” she says. “That series between Utah and Chicago, the game where Michael Jordan claims to have been food poisoned, was really sick and won it at the buzzer for them? We were at that game.

“We were presented at halftime as the new WNBA Utah Starzz team. We came out onto the court at that play-off finals game. It was one of those kind of surreal moments where you were like ‘This is the big stage’.

“At the back of the stadium in the concourse area [Jordan] had two of his staff holding him up, he was so sick. Even though I don’t like him as an athlete, it still makes your heart sort of jump."

Years later, when her playing career had ended, Compain spoke to Jordan - albeit briefly. She was at an All Stars game with her job in the Adidas sports marketing team, and talking on the phone to her boyfriend.

“And this guy walks across this big empty courtyard towards me while I’m on the phone. It was one of those times where there's only two people around so you kind of have to acknowledge each other. So we smiled and said hello. And I said to my boyfriend, 'Michael Jordan just said hello to me',” she laughs.

Compain has a few stories to tell, but by choice, not a lot about her own achievements. She admits, though, she’s slowly coming around to realising how powerful her story can be for others.

She's had quite a remarkable career. She left New Zealand at 16 to play basketball in the United States, signed a basketball scholarship with St Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, went on to play in the WNBA and in Europe, represented New Zealand at the Sydney and Athens Olympic Games, and then worked for global sport giant companies like AND1 and Adidas.

She then found her way back home to New Zealand Rugby, where she was the head of the commercial partnerships department for the last 10 years.

Compain has definitely made the most of many opportunities along the way. Understanding the value of nurturing relationships with people wherever she was, coupled with her drive and sweet basketball shot, have taken her around the globe over the years.

Two career highlights were winning the conference finals in her senior college year, against a team who had been undefeated all season, and the 2004 Olympic Games.

The Tall Ferns' goal at those Olympics in Athens was to make the quarter-finals. "Everyone thought we were pretty crazy and that it would never happen,” says Compain. “But we targeted Korea and China to beat. China was ranked about eight in the world at the time and we beat them - I hit the buzzer-beater shot to win the game.”

The 2004 Olympics also stand out to Compain because it was where she ended her Tall Ferns basketball career with a group of women she'd started playing with in the New Zealand age-grades.

She recalls sitting with them afterwards reflecting on their careers. “That’s the memory I kind of come back to with all the different teams I'd played on. It was sitting at the Olympics, on our balcony, with that group of women because we were all basically done," she says.

“It was awesome because it wasn’t always smooth sailing. Like any teams you have conflict, or you have personality clashes, or competitive rivalries. But it all kinda worked itself out. We got to that point, we were successful and then we were able to celebrate together. It was cool.”

Compain transitioned from player into a role at AND1 - now an international basketball sports company, but when she joined, it was a small Philadelphia start-up.

“I ended up working in product development. I was developing basketball shoes and then I went over into sport marketing. So signing teams, and signing athletes, kind of running events and things with sports teams and athletes,” says Compain, who graduated from St Josephs University with a degree in sociology.

After two years with AND1 she got a role in sports marketing at Adidas and spent four years with them, two in Germany at their headquarters and two in Amsterdam, which is where most of the sport marketing team is based. She planned events with the NBA all around the world.

“It's funny because that was always my ultimate dream role, to work in sports marketing for basketball at Adidas,” she says.

Compain got into basketball in her first year at high school in Whanganui, after playing netball and gymnastics in her earlier years. Her brother also played the game and she saw close family friends enjoying the sport, so decided to give it a go.

She spent four years at St Josephs in Philadelphia, where she is still considered one of the most dynamic players in history of women's basketball at the college. She topped the scoring for the SJU Hawks in three straight seasons, and was inducted into the college's basketball hall of fame in 2015.

The shooting guard thought towards the end of her college stint that she wouldn't be considered for the WNBA draft. But that did not deter her.

She went to three open trials, in Charlotte, Utah and New York. It was at that last trial that she made it through to the second round from roughly 600 attendees - but that round fell on her graduation day.

“Cutting players was pretty brutal,” she says. “So I just went up to the [New York Liberty] selectors and coaches and said ‘Look, give it to me straight, do I have a legitimate shot at making the New York team? Otherwise I'm going to go home to Philadelphia and graduate because my family has flown from New Zealand to see me.’ And they said, 'Go to graduation'. So I did.”

The night of her graduation, Compain received a call from Utah to confirm she had one of two roster spots from the open trial of about 350 people.

No woman from New Zealand has been able to reach that level since. And for Compain, there's mixed emotions about that.

“I think it's really sad. It's been 23 years. There's been an incredible amount of talent that has come through since then. I know there's been a lot of girls who have come close, they’ve had trials but haven’t managed to crack it,” Compain says.

“And then on the other hand, I wear it as a bit of a badge of honour. But it’s taken me awhile to think about it like that.”

Would she like to compete in today's game?

“I'd absolutely love to. I was really lucky because in the inaugural season there was a huge amount of hype around that. And it was still quite in the infancy of women's sports being given a real platform,” she says.

“We were playing in front of 10 to 15,000 people, and packing out arenas and that was really exciting. But where the game has gone from then to now with the advent of social media and the broadcasting reach is much greater, and these athletes have real profile and value now so it would be pretty exciting to play there.

“I also love the fact a lot of the women are making stands about societal issues, and things that are really important. Athletes haven’t really been allowed to use platforms to do that. And I think that’s a big step for the NBA, for men and women.”

Compain was part of the first women's sport leadership academy sponsored by the New Zealand Olympic Committee.

The initiative broadened her thinking around women in sport and the challenges involved. The visibility of women in the media piqued Compain’s interest.

“That's when I started to think, ‘Oh maybe my story is interesting’. I’ve always been, not dismissive, but not really putting myself out there for things like that,” Compain admits.

“But now when the opportunities come along, I'm trying to be a little more conscious and cognisant of what telling my story can potentially do for other young athletes coming through so that’s probably where I hope to continue to be able to inspire in that speech.”

Compain has some time to evaluate the next opportunity after recently leaving New Zealand Rugby.

Her husband owns eighty one, an advertising agency in Wellington. She says there may be something there, in terms of working with creatives.

“I feel like there's a little bit of a gap in the market with regards to really good sport and asset management in New Zealand. And I feel like it would be a little bit of a waste to walk away from relationships and brands,” she says.

“So there might be an opportunity to stay involved, but on the other side. It’s sort of a work in progress. It's still formulating in my head how it all comes together."

If her track record is anything to go by, Compain will find the sweet spot to suit her skills and reach her next goal.

Ashley Stanley
newsroom.co.nz 16/11/20