The De Anza College gymnasium became a home for emerging professional women’s sports in the bay area.

The San Jose Spiders, an expansion team of the National Women’s Basketball League, uses De Anza as their home court.

The Spiders are bringing revenue to the college and a heightened sense of community.

"We need more big activities like this … bringing the community to De Anza through different kinds of events," said Athletic Director Kulwant Singh.

After expenses, the De Anza athletic department receives $600 per game from the Spiders, Singh added.

"It’s a win-win situation. It’s good for the college, De Anza athletics and the community," said Singh.

Amanda Lassiter of San Francisco plays for the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx in the summer and is one of the Spiders’ star players.

Former San Jose State University players Cricket Williams, Tatiana Taylor and Kayla Forster are among the local athletes on the Spiders’ roster.

"You usually don’t have the convenience of seeing professional women’s sports so close to home," said De Anza basketball player Bianca Russel. "It’s inspirational … it’s something that young girls can look up to, especially since many of the players are from this area and have played in the WNBA and been successful."

Assistant women’s basketball coach Marshall Hattori says he thinks women’s sports, especially basketball, are growing.

"The Spiders allow local athletes to see what really good basketball is and brings good publicity to De Anza," said Hattori.

The Spiders’ first game, held on Sunday Jan. 16, was covered by NBC television. Singh says the exposure brings attention to the school and could catch the attention of prospective students. Approximately 700 spectators attended the game.

"I’m very impressed that the De Anza athletic department has aggressively pursued alternative funding for the department," said physical education instructor Gary Zarecky.

Zarecky, a former NCAA Division 1 basketball coach is optimistic about the success of the Spiders. Zarecky, supportive of the team’s endeavors, said that the track record has been very poor for women’s professional sports in the San Jose area. "Its just a feather in San Jose, but I really hope they succeed and think they can do well if they capture a die-hard fanbase."

According to parking enforcement Officer Mike Paccioretti, there was approximately $350 in parking permit revenue during game day.

The revenue from parking permits goes into the district parking fund.

Spiders Vice President of Operations Daryl Harrison said the Spiders chose De Anza over other locations because "every dollar we spend on the facility rental goes back to the De Anza women’s basketball program and keeps giving opportunity to women’s athletics."

The De Anza Athletic Department is responsible for general supervision of the games, setup, scoreboard operation, stats and cleanup.

"When word gets out, they [the Spiders] will grow and expand," said Hattori.

The next Spiders home game is at 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 30 versus the Birmingham Power. Tickets can be purchased at the door or at http://www.nwbl.com.