Growing up in Wisconsin in the 1980's, Nicki Collen knew she loved sports. But strong female professional athletes to look up to were few and far between. She admired Chris Evert on the tennis courts from afar, but Nicki’s true love was basketball. With the WNBA still decades away, she looked to the NBA for inspiration.
“Larry Bird was my biggest idol,” she says, looking back. “I didn't think about who female role models were at that point,” Collen says. “You just didn't associate with women's professional players and really aspire to that.”
Despite not having that example to follow, Collen blazed her own path, persevering and working hard to compete at the collegiate level and into the coaching ranks. Collen had to prove herself again, spending years as an assist for college and professional teams before landing her first head coaching gig with the Atlanta Dream. It’s a daunting challenge for a first-time head coach, but she dove right in.
“My personal motto is that people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care,” Collen explains. “From the minute I got the job, it was about building relationships in the community. It was about building relationships with the team as individuals, so understanding what makes them tick and why they love to play the game.”
There were bumps along the way – the Dream started 7-8 in her first 15 games – but she and her team showed faith in their system and turned it around. When her team had what she calls an “a-ha moment” where things seemed to click on both sides of the ball, she says it’s thanks to the work put in when things weren’t going as well.
“It was all the pieces that happened in front of it that laid the ground work for the ability of this team to make it happen. The great part about my situation was that when you inherit a team that has talent, but hasn't had recent success, they tend to be really hungry for that success.”
That hunger showed in a red-hot 16-3 record over the second half of the season that led them to a franchise record for wins, a spot in the playoffs and the 2018 WNBA Coach of the Year award for her individually. She says it was keeping faith in the system that turned the team around.
“I think the energy that the team got from seeing that the ball could be spread around, it could be shared, that the ball has energy, that they could be truly successfully individually and collectively and that is was fun to play that way. We had four players score 20 points and have 5 or more assists. It was the first time in the league history that had happened. We started to come together.”
As the Dream continued an incredible 2018 season, Atlanta United was chasing a title of their own. With the two teams being side-by-side, Collen was able to experience a match and be a part of the excitement firsthand.
“I was lucky enough to get to come to a game with my son,” she says. “While I had heard about Atlanta United, it wasn't until I was in Mercedes Benz Stadium and felt the energy from the fans that I was just blown away.”
With Collen and the Dream building the success on the court, Atlanta United’s fans off the court are what they are aspiring to at their own games. Like soccer faced for years in America, the WNBA faces its own preconceived notions and obstacles about the game and that kept people from giving a match a chance.
“We want to grow our fanbase the same way the United did. We look at this and think ‘at one point people thought people aren't going to care about soccer in Atlanta.’ But come to a game. It couldn't be further from the truth. So, can we drive the same sort of excitement at our games and for women's basketball as soccer has become so exciting here in Atlanta.”
“I think once you come through the door one time and you feel the energy and you see the fans and how excited they are and how they stand, you can't help but want to come back and talk to other people about it. It's that same kind of thing for us.”
As more and more people realize how special an Atlanta Dream game can be, that only means more growth for the league. And as the league grows, girls just like Nicki years ago now have more and more role models to look up to, showing an example to young women how to achieve their goals on the court and off it.
“Even from my position as a mom of two daughters and a son, having them see me coach at the highest level and do it differently from everybody else,” she says. “They've seen me as a mom. They've seen me as an assistant coach. To have them see me live out my dreams motivates them.”
“Now when we talk about young girls, they have this professional role model. It's on TV – this year more than ever,” she says. “There is someone that you can look at and say that could be me someday.”
© 2026 Atlanta United FC
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