As interest in WNBA grows, so does stylist career of Burrell standout Sydney Bordonaro.
Sydney Bordonaro, a standout basketball player and a 2015 Burrell High School graduate, is making a name for herself as a stylist for athletes, including Kelsey Plum and Skyy Moore. — by KELLEN STEPLER
Lower Burrell native Sydney Bordonaro now can add fashion to the list of her basketball successes.
As a Burrell High School student, Bordonaro led the Bucs to their greatest seasons in basketball history from 2011 to 2015, setting numerous school records and making the all-state first team her junior and senior years.
After graduation, Bordonaro set her sights on the West Coast and played collegiate basketball for Pepperdine and Long Beach State while studying sports management.
In the WNBA, she has taken a behind-the-scenes role, styling some of the league’s top players as they prepare for games and take on other appearances.
Her accomplishments and styles recently were showcased on the “Today Show With Hoda & Jenna.”
“The intersection of fashion and culture and sports is where I see myself living,” Bordonaro, 27, told TribLive.
Ball is life
“Ball was and always has been my life,” said Bordonaro, who was born and raised in Lower Burrell.
In high school, Bordonaro was a top scorer and set up Burrell as a championship contender in each of her four seasons. She was the Valley News Dispatch’s Player of the Year in her sophomore, junior and senior years.
Bordonaro had always wanted to be a sports agent — and had a job lined up — but the pandemic hit and that world shook up.
“I was stranded in Pittsburgh a little bit and applying for, like, a million jobs in the sports agency world,” she said. “I could not get a job.”
“Ball was and always has been my life,” said Bordonaro, who was born and raised in Lower Burrell.
In high school, Bordonaro was a top scorer and set up Burrell as a championship contender in each of her four seasons. She was the Valley News Dispatch’s Player of the Year in her sophomore, junior and senior years.
Bordonaro had always wanted to be a sports agent — and had a job lined up — but the pandemic hit and that world shook up.
“I was stranded in Pittsburgh a little bit and applying for, like, a million jobs in the sports agency world,” she said. “I could not get a job.”
The pre-game tunnel walk before NBA and WNBA games is a grand entrance of sorts from athletes showing off their latest looks.
Bordonaro said she had no background in fashion or design but was thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Loyd and design her clothes. Being a former basketball player and being close in age with the athletes she styles makes it easier to dress an athlete, Bordonaro said.
She gets to know the athletes before she picks out styles for them.
“I understand who people are and what they’re about already,” Bordonaro said. “I’m dressing them to who they are and how they feel.”
A few months later, Bordonaro had what she described a “full-circle moment” when she was introduced to, and later would style, Kelsey Plum, a guard on the Las Vegas Aces.
Bordonaro had looked up to Plum, and it was surreal to now have the chance to work with her. In 2017, Bordonaro was interviewed in the Valley News Dispatch where, when asked if she could play anyone one-on-one, she picked Plum.
“She’s the best there is in college right now, and I’m such a fan of her game,” Bordonaro said at the time. “She’s so talented offensively, and I’d like to see myself against the best.”
Bordonaro was working odd jobs in Los Angeles to make ends meet when she got a call from Plum, asking her if she’d want to go to Paris with her as Plum was competing in the European Final Four. Over time, the two became friends.
“It’s crazy how life comes around full circle,” Bordonaro said. “I always looked up to (Plum). She was a blueprint for me as a player.”
‘Thrown into the fire’
Bordonaro styled Loyd and Plum throughout the 2021-22 season, but it wasn’t until spring 2022 when things “picked up,” she said.
“I had agents asking me to dress their players,” Bordonaro said.
Joking she had “no clue what (she) was doing,” Bordonaro said she pumped out 70 outfits per month working with different athletes.
“It grew quickly. Jewell and Kelsey are both big time. I picked up a lot that season. It was a good season and I learned a lot,” she said.
Things grew when she landed an opportunity to style athletes during a Google Pixel and WNBA commercial shoot last year.
“Last year was the year everything had changed, and I got more of an understanding of how this business works,” Bordonaro said.
“It was getting thrown into the fire and rolling with what works.”
Now, she styles more than 20 athletes, who span beyond the WNBA and include Skyy Moore, a wide receiver with the Kansas City Chiefs and a native of New Kensington.
Bordonaro’s successes landed her a feature on the “Today Show With Hoda & Jenna” last week. The program is the fourth hour of NBC’s “Today Show” and hosted by Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager.
For the segment, Bordonaro also styled Kotb and Hager. A few family members were able to make the trip from Lower Burrell to New York City to watch Bordonaro’s interview live.
“I was so grateful for the opportunity,” Bordonaro said. “You don’t realize how many people watch the ‘Today Show’ until you’re on the ‘Today Show.’”
Explosion of WNBA popularity
A basketball player all her life, Bordonaro said she’s thrilled to see the women’s game has grown.
“To see the WNBA explode like this, there’s nothing I love more than seeing that,” she said.
Earlier this month, the WNBA reported opening its 2024 season with the highest attendance in 26 years. It’s the most watched season across each network, according to information provided by WNBA spokeswoman Dina Skokos.
More than half of all WNBA games were sellouts, which was a 156% increase from the previous year, according to the WNBA.
Since the start of the season, WNBAStore.com has set the record for the most single-season sales in store history as overall transactions are up 756% compared to the same time period last year.
The league’s rookie class has continued to drive fan engagement, WNBA said. Highlights of Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark, Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese, Los Angeles Sparks’ Cameron Brink or Las Vegas Aces’ Kate Martin garner lots of social media interaction. Merchandise sales are seeing a 236% increase year over year, with Clark, Reese and Brink ranking in the top five for jersey sales during the first week of the season.
“What’s happening now in women’s basketball is confirmation of what we’ve always known: The demand is there, and women’s sports is a valuable investment,” said WNBA Chief Growth Officer Colie Edison in a statement. “We’re encouraged by growing engagement across all our verticals, especially as we welcome new and diverse audiences into our fandom. The WNBA continues to experience sustained growth as our league embraces this heightened momentum.”
Said Bordonaro: “The exposure that WNBA or women’s basketball is getting is long overdue, and seeing it happen is so amazing.”
What’s next
Bordonaro has a motto for the athletes she styles: Look good, feel good, play good.
“I love it when we put (an outfit) on someone and we look in the mirror together — they put it on and they’re like, ‘Oh yeah,’” she said. “There’s nothing like it when I see their smile.”
Bordonaro wants her athletes to feel confident about how they look. Her career goals include continuing to build on the success she has — and then some.
“Styling is the biggest blessing that ever came into my life,” she said. “Styling and working with athletes, there’s so much more to learn and people to meet. It’s literally a dream come true.”
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