𝙒𝙝𝙤 𝙒𝙚 𝘼𝙧𝙚 [𝘗𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘦 𝘉𝘶𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴]

ɪɴᴛʀᴏᴅᴜᴄᴛɪᴏɴ

Noa St. James | December 19, 2002
Bi
London, UK
The Journalist

Paige Bueckers | October 20, 2001
Bi
Hopkins, Minnesota
The Focus of Attention

Jude Bellingham | June 29, 2003
 Stourbridge, United Kingdom
Straight
The First

Michael Hayes | April 3, 1996
Manchester, England
The Camera Guy

Evelyn Wilson | September 1, 2001
London, UK
The Sound Tech

PROLOGUE

For as long as she could remember, Noa St. James had been chasing stories. Growing up in the heart of London, she'd devoured the tales of athletes, artists, and everyday people who, despite the odds, found ways to carve their names into history. Noa's hunger to capture the world's untold stories had taken her from the bustling streets of Brixton to the corridors of Cardiff University, where her talent quickly earned notice.

It was there, during the rainy afternoons and sleepless nights of research, that her life began to shift. A professor saw what others couldn't—her uncanny ability to dig deeper, to find the pulse of a moment—and opened a door for her at BBC Sport. A dream for most, and yet, for Noa, it was only the beginning. She stood behind the camera, microphone in hand, capturing the confidence of Trent Alexander-Arnold, the precision of Lewis Hamilton, and the carefully guarded vulnerability of Jude Bellingham—the man who would later fancy her. But it wasn't just her reporting that made an impact—it was her. 

Noa had a way of making athletes open up, of turning routine interviews into engaging conversations. She started posting behind-the-scenes clips from her interviews, casual moments of humor and insight that quickly went viral. People weren't just tuning in for the athletes; they were tuning in for Noa. Her social media presence exploded, her witty takes on sports moments and candid interviews turning her into more than just a journalist—she was a personality.

Still, as thrilling as these interviews were, as breathtaking as those moments with legends felt, there was something more. Something that tugged at her.

That tug finally pulled her in a new direction when she found herself on American soil, covering the frenzy of the NCAA Men's March Madness Tournament. The crew had been instructed to follow the energy of the men's teams, the future NBA stars—but Noa's eyes wandered. She had read about another tournament, the women's tournament, and wondered...

Why wasn't anyone covering these games?

When she returned to England, her mind refused to let go. The women's stories, their passion, their fight to be seen—it all weighed heavily on her. At BBC headquarters, she stood before her producer with research in hand, determination in her voice. But the pitch to cover women's sports in America was met with a polite, yet firm, refusal. No one was interested, she was told. The men's stories sold; the women's didn't.

Noa wasn't one to back down.

She dove into weeks of research, scouring stats and stories until one name kept surfacing—Paige Bueckers. The UConn guard had captivated college basketball with her skill, her leadership, her magnetism. Noa was captivated, not just by Paige's stats, but by her story. A young woman balancing the weight of expectations, injuries, and the relentless pressure of being one of the most visible athletes in the game, all while fighting for a place in a sports world that barely made room for her. Noa brought the name and the research to her producer again, this time crashing into a high-level meeting, startling a room full of businessmen. With no other choice, the producer approved her project—but with strings attached. Six months. Two crew members. A sliver of resources compared to the coverage she'd had for men's tournaments.

But Noa didn't care. She packed her bags and crossed the Atlantic again, this time with a clear focus: to tell the story of Paige Bueckers, of her team, and of the fight for equal recognition in sports. Her cameraman, Michael, and Evelyn, a sound engineer, joined her on the flight.

Six months to immerse herself in their world, to capture the moments the world wasn't paying attention to.

What she didn't know was that her project—this documentary on Paige Bueckers and the UConn team—would become much more than a professional pursuit. It would change everything.

What started as a story about women's sports would turn into a story about two women—one a journalist determined to tell the truth, the other an athlete trying to live hers.