Unprecedented money, unprecedented talent and, organizers hope fervently, unprecedented interest. They are the key ingredients that go into New Zealand’s revamped national women’s basketball league, now known as Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa.
The new league wins on Wednesday night when mainland Pouakai (mainly Canterbury / Nelson) Southern Hoiho (Otago / Southland) at the Cowles Stadium in Christchurch (tip 19:00) in the first of 33 matches (all broadcast live on SkySports on television) entertainment, culminating in the final series at Nelson’s Trafalgar Center on 26 August.
Among the southern teams in the first five-team league will be Auckland-based Northern Kāhu, Tauranga-based Mid-North Whai and Wellington-based Tokomanawa Queens.
Basketball NZ leagues boss Huw Beynon expects the new league to live up to its name – Tauihi means to rise in Te Reo Māori – with the commercial partnership with Sky pouring a record amount of money into the women’s game (as their men- equivalents, the women’s clubs) all receive $ 100,000 for their budgets).
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“The goal is to start a whole new era for women’s basketball in New Zealand,” said Beynon. “We want the league to be a destination for our top New Zealand players to come home and play in and also for leading players from around the world to come to this part of the world and make their mark. .
“We see it as a key platform to help our Long Ferns better prepare for international competition, to raise the standard and professionalism of the women’s game in New Zealand and to inspire the next generation of female basketball players.”
Here are five key questions to answer to get you excited about Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa:
FIBA
Jillian Harmon, in action for New Zealand at the 3×3 World Cup in Antwerp, Belgium, will play for the Hoiho.
Will it bring leading Kiwis home to play their hoops?
You bet it will, and it will only grow as word spreads about the standard of the league and the existence that can be made in it.
But already for the first season, we’ve seen the long-running, most-of-all-time Micaela Cocks return home to the front for the Kāhu, 2008 Olympic, series winner and arguably New Zealand’s best women’s hoop export, Jillian Harmon, committed to the Hoiho after an outstanding season in France and Lauryn Hippolite returned from a WNBL title-winning season with the Melbourne Boomers to join internationals Tessa Boagni, Mary Goulding and Ella Fotu (south of Auckland attracted ) in a power-laden Pouakai group.
And there are a whole host of Kiwi colleagues joining the league after stellar periods in the state, including Krystal Leger-Walker and Akiene-Tera Reed (Kāhu), Kendell Heremaia (Whai), Grace Hunter and Eva Langton (Queens) ) and Tsubasa Nisbett (Pouakai).
After all, there are 18 current or former long ferns standing in the league, and another raft looking in that direction.
What about the standard of imports?
It looks fantastic, with all five teams using their full quota of three limited players for the first campaign, including two who played in the WNBA, two others drafted, a series of former American college standouts and even Australian, Swedish and Argentine international.
As always, the standard of importation will be an unknown one, but it is expected to provide a level of quality, athleticism and experience that will elevate the league to a new level.
If you’re looking for one to see how it goes with former WNBA player Nikki Greene with the Whai. The 1.93m forward made 12 appearances for the Los Angeles Sparks in 2014 and played 11 games for the Connecticut Sun the following year. Her professional career has also taken her to South Korea, Israel, Poland, Australia and France.
And for geographical distribution, you can not go past the Queens who have an American in the former WNBA player Jaime Nared, Sweden international Elgin Gustavsson and and Italy-based Argentina representative Florencia Chagas.
Phil Walter / Getty Images
Long Fern Tessa Boagni should help make the Pouakai the team to beat in the first season of Tauihi Basketball.
Who is the team to beat in 2022?
Given the new and untested nature of the series, it’s a tough league to predict, but if you’re looking for a favorite, it’s probably hard to get past mainland Pouakai, which heads a quartet of capable Kiwi players, with Americans Trinity Baptiste, Cierra Walker and Erin Whalen expected to make a big contribution as imports. Their depth also looks good, with people like Tessa Morrison and Nelson’s youngster Maia Jones also expected to kick in from the bench.
But you can not discount Jody Cameron’s Kāhu, an exciting Whai group or the Queens who boast a lot of experience in Stella Beck, Jacinta Beckley and Josie Trousdell, as well as former Silver Fern Aliyah Dunn. And any team with Harmon in its midst, like the Southern Hoiho, cannot be written off. She has won titles in five countries and on three continents.
Why the Māori-influenced names?
Beynon says having Māori-themed names for the league and five participating teams was a “no-brainer” because of the influence New Zealand’s indigenous culture has on the sport.
In a first for a Kiwi national sports competition, all five teams had Māori nicknames, which Beynon felt were just right for a league of this nature. “The teams immediately embraced it and the players love it,” he said. well. “The teams must have their own identity. They have to find a regional sound. ”
Why watch some or all of the 33 matches on Sky or live at the stadiums?
Simply because there has never been a women’s league of this quality in New Zealand.
And with talent spread fairly evenly across the five teams, through the unprecedented money handed out to the franchises, it should also be a tough competitive league.
“Tauihi will be a league that raises the status of women’s basketball, to help take it to the next level in Aotearoa and beyond,” said Beynon.