Sports fans often recognize the powerful potential of a great moment. It is at times in a play, a strategy, or a gravity-defying move so memorable and so riveting that it is fixed in time as an iconic moment in athletics history. From the rush of adrenaline, and the recognition of resilience as a player or team weathers injuries and losses, to the inspiration that taps into the indomitable human spirit, great sports moments have the ability to capture the heart of spectators and audiences across the globe and transcend the sport into something more. It is an experience that holds true for both men’s and women’s sports, but while the history of men’s sports is often highlighted by countless iconic moments, the legacy of women’s sports is arguably in those very moments, often untold, defined by the women athletes and the community of fans behind them.
In the last century alone, women have shaped and reshaped the playing landscape for the next generation of players, like Mildred Ella “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias, Billie Jean King, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Michelle Kwan, Simone Biles, Kerri Strug, Caitlin Clark, Abby Wambach, Megan Rapinoe, Briana Scurry, Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Teresa Edwards, Diana Taurasi, Rell Sunn, and Carissa Moore, to name a few. They have forged bonds and national leagues, like the introduction of the National Women’s Soccer League, Women’s Elite Rugby, and Professional Women’s Hockey League, and leveraged the game as a platform to advocate for gender and pay equality that translates well beyond the playing field. And at A Bar of Their Own in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the state’s first sports bar dedicated exclusively to women’s sports, those athletes and those moments—whether made on local court or pitch, collegiate pool or diamond, or national or international stage both past and present—are celebrated throughout its brick-and-mortar space at E. Franklin Ave. in an intentional curation of program, menu, and mission.
“I think that for far too long women’s sports have taken the back seat and we are finally demanding to sit in the front and have people pay attention to what we are doing, and I think that it is a really exciting time, not just for women’s sports and women athletes, but for athletics as a whole. We get better all-around when we prioritize folks who are traditionally underrepresented,” said Jillian Hiscock, founder of A Bar of Their Own.
“For me, the big intentionality around [A Bar of Their Own] was creating a space that prioritized women. Women and women’s sports. Not that we don’t want other folks to come in, we want men and we want families to feel welcome, but it was really being intentional about if we wanted this to be a safe and inclusive space for women, non-binary, and trans folks, what would that look like and how we would make that happen?” Hiscock added.
Launched in March 2024, A Bar of Their Own is an inclusive, family-friendly sports bar dedicated to celebrating and uplifting women athletes—and their stories. Located in the former Tracy’s Saloon & Eatery in the Seward Neighborhood of Minneapolis, one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods located along the western banks of the Mississippi River, A Bar of Their Own is one in a newly growing network of sports bars dedicated to uplifting women’s sports across the country. For Hiscock, a self-admitted lifelong athlete and season ticket holder for the Minnesota Lynx and the University of Minnesota Gophers Softball Team—as well as a community owner of the Minnesota Aurora FC—the inspiration behind the bar came from its own series of moments that led to curiosity and an exploration of the question: What if women’s sports fans had a bar of their own?
“I think I share an experience with a lot of women sports fans in that women’s sports weren’t really on TV when I was growing up, and when they started being shown on TV, if I wanted to go and watch a women’s sports game, it was always a guess of whether it would be on, where I was going, if they would have the channel, and if they would be willing to change it [to the game]. It was just a consistent experience, and I never honestly really thought that much about it, it was just the way it was,” Hiscock said.
“My wife and I are season ticket holders for the Gophers and they were in a national tournament playing in a pretty important series out in Washington and it was on ESPN2, but when we walked into a sports bar less than five miles from campus, it wasn’t on. It was at that point we started thinking about it more intentionally. And I mean, I am absolutely always going to give my flowers to Jenny Nguyen who opened The Sports Bra in Portland in April 2022. I think she was the first of many frustrated women’s sports fans to say, ‘well, let’s change it,’” Hiscock added.
Nguyen, founder and chief executive officer of The Sports Bra, initially launched The Sports Bra in Portland as an authentic, inclusive space that would become a cornerstone in the community for people to watch women’s sports. The chef-turned-business-entrepreneur has since taken the restaurant-and-bar landscape by storm as interest in events like the 2024 NCAA Women’s Final Four dovetailed with its growth, culminating in a recent announcement for a nationwide expansion with a franchise model backed by Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit. Hiscock noted when Nguyen first opened The Sports Bra, she was working for the Women’s Final Four tournament that was held in Minneapolis, surrounded by women’s sports fans, and kept wondering who would bring it to the Twin Cities market.
“We are the perfect spot for it, we have the market, and we have all of these teams, but never at the time thinking it was going to be me. I worked in restaurants and bars, but have never owned a restaurant, and I honestly just kept waiting for somebody to do it here in Minneapolis who had more experience, who had a more relevant background, but nobody did,” Hiscock said.
“In Fall 2022, I started socializing a little bit more with my friends saying I can’t believe nobody has done this yet, if we did it, where would we want it, what would we name it, and just started to talk more about it. And then I met with Jenny Nguyen in May 2023 for the first time and basically was like, ‘talk me out of this, this sounds crazy,’ and she was like, ‘I’m not going to, you should do it, Minneapolis is perfect for it,’” Hiscock added.
In July 2023, Hiscock filed the LLC, laying the foundation for A Bar of Their Own’s launch earlier this year, working full-time outlining its intentional business plan and mission, and finding a location that would serve as the home for the new dedicated sports bar. By Sept. 15, 2023, Hiscock launched the bar’s official website and then organized a crowdfunding campaign that ran from Sept. 30, 2023, through Dec. 15, 2023, in a similar model behind The Sports Bra. A Bar of Their Own’s community-funded campaign sought to raise $200,000 to put toward securing its new space, purchasing inventory, equipment and supplies, and for staff with tiered supporter levels based on the amount donated. The successful campaign saw over $205,000 raised backed by more than 1,000 supporters, which helped the team move into their space on Dec. 1, 2023, and officially open its doors by March 1, 2024.
“It’s been a whirlwind the last eight-to-nine months,” Hiscock said. “I love standing by the door on a busy weekend to see when people come in for the first time, because it is a very different experience. Women are so used to being an afterthought that to see ourselves prioritized on a stage like we are in the bar, is really just an overwhelming experience for a lot of people because you are not used to it. I think that is one of the coolest things for me, is that we created a space that finally gives women and women’s sports fans the place of privilege and honor that they have deserved for so long, but never had.”
It is an experience that at its heart is about representation, belonging, and community, where the vehicle of connection, camaraderie, and shared story is women’s sports, and all are welcome. It is also one that has been carefully crafted and curated by its team, from the inclusion of sporting memorabilia from local community, collegiate, national, and international women athletes showcasing a broad range of well-known and unique sports and games; to gender neutral bathrooms and the weekly schedule of games available to the inspiration behind their food and drink menus.
Its draft list and liquor-based cocktails features woman, non-binary, and trans-owned, -made, or -led brands like Urban Growler, Cooper’s Hall, Wooden Ship Brewing Co., Unmapped Brewing, Bent Paddle, Duluth Cider, Uncle Nearest, Freeland Spirits, and Du Nord Social Spirits. A Bar of Their Own’s food menu also incorporates dietary considerations like gluten-friendly, dairy-free, and vegan options—and a Side of Equity™ with VOICEINSPORT Foundation, which allows patrons to upgrade any side with a donation to the nonprofit organization to help close the equity gap for women athletes in the Minnesota public schools.
“We knew we wanted to prioritize women, non-binary, and trans-led and -owned establishments and so our beer list, our cocktail menu, and our dessert menu are really focused on highlighting women and women-owned businesses,” Hiscock said.
“I think when it comes to the space in particular, representation is really what we are going for, I mean that is how we are catering. Our mentality is that we didn’t want this to just be a Lynx bar or a queer bar, we didn’t want this to be any of those very specific things, we wanted folks to see themselves in all different kinds of ways. Do we have a Pride flag? Absolutely. Do we have a Black Lives Matter scarf? Absolutely. But we are also trying to make sure we are doing things like highlighting downhill skiing and bandy and unique sports like frisbee and rugby that maybe aren’t as mainstream, because those athletes and sports deserve just as much recognition as the more mainstream sports like basketball and soccer,” Hiscock added.
The intentionality also translated into the type of private events it will host on Mondays and Tuesdays when it is closed to the public to ensure those being invited into the space honor and respect the values behind A Bar of Their Own; and in the hiring of staff. Hiscock noted during the hiring process, it was important to hire individuals who would help create a safe and inclusive space, ensuring guests felt comfortable and had a great experience, ultimately embodying the mentality behind the bar in both front-of-house and back-of-house operations. Throughout the brick-and-mortar space, athletic jerseys, posters, and other memorabilia tell a story about women’s sports and women athletes, about self-reliance and confidence, teamwork and defying gender stereotypes and social norms, and provide a point of common ground as people come together to celebrate their friends, their daughters, their sisters, their mothers, their grandmothers, their spouses, and their siblings in community—like the local, two-time, All-American women’s basketball player at both the University of Minnesota and Minnesota State University, Mankato who cold-called Hiscock to share her story.
“If you were to say that now, like a woman athlete who was an All-American at two different colleges within a four-year span, it’s Caitlin Clark. We would all know about that person. But this is a local woman that nobody knew about. Stories like hers wouldn’t be shared if we weren’t intentional about making space and prioritizing those stories. It has been unexpected in terms of the impact it has had on me, because I think the stories that people come in and share about their own experiences, about their parents, their moms, their grandmothers’ experiences—that is how we know and learn about what happened before this movement has gotten more exposure, is learning about the stories that came before us,” Hiscock said.
“They weren’t told on the mainstream media stage; we didn’t have accessibility to these stories in the same way as today, and so continuing to share these stories and the legacies of those athletes and those women really is the only way to keep that history alive in terms of where we’ve come and how we’ve gotten to this point. So much of our history in women’s fandom and women’s sports has been lost sadly, because there weren’t cameras, there wasn’t media covering it. We only have the stories of the people who participated in those events to carry that legacy forward,” Hiscock added.
As A Bar of Their Own looks forward, Hiscock said she is excited to see how it will continue to grow and evolve, and has welcomed the feedback from the community to ensure it continues to excel where it is successful, and to address issues where it may be falling short—as it continues to build awareness around all of the incredible athletics taking place throughout the year, and elevate and amplify all of the women athletes, regardless of stage. A Bar of Their Own has also launched A Fund of Their Own, or AFOTO, to support local girls and women interested in getting involved in the game, sponsoring athletes and teams around the Twin Cities, highlighting its founders’ passion for creating a space that is welcoming, affirming, and fosters community through sports.
“I love watching people and hearing people experience it for the first time. It takes me back to the fact that we are doing something super different and super revolutionary, and this isn’t the norm for people. I would love to live in a world where we are not the exception, that we are more of the rule. It just takes businesses to think and be intentional about how is the space that I’m creating more welcoming and inclusive for all people,” Hiscock said.
“We want this to be a place built for everybody, but it does take a lot of hard decisions and potential backlash which we knew we would get just by existing. We made all those decisions very intentionally because we wanted to lift up women in every single one of those situations and that is not always popular. Change is hard, but I think the response we have seen has shown that there is absolutely a hunger for it. It makes people feel seen, it makes people feel heard, and that is something that we are all longing for. I mean, belonging is one of the most core functions of human existence and being able to see physical manifestations of belonging in our spaces and on our walls is really powerful,” Hiscock added.
Text: R.J. Weick
Photography: Jordan Wipf
First published in Great Lakes By Design: In Flight, Volume 8: Issue 2
