A new era of women’s basketball is about to begin.
The Southern Hoiho will today be unveiled as the South’s new professional franchise.
It will play in the inaugural Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa league, a women’s equivalent of the men’s National Basketball League, beginning on June 29.
Australian group SEN, the Otago Nuggets owner, holds the licence to the team.
Nuggets general manager Angela Ruske will also head up the Hoiho.
Ruske confirmed SEN, which also owns the Perth Wildcats, had leaned on its Australian connections to secure Charles Nix as the team’s head coach.
He is involved with the Wildcats and will arrive in Dunedin in June.
Dunedin locals Natalie Visger and Tracey Kelly will be his assistant coaches, while Lisa Wallbutton will be the team’s manager.
The Hoiho will wear blue, gold and maroon, and will encompass the entire southern region.
They will play four home games at the Edgar Centre, as well as two in Queenstown.
The league will feature five new teams from around the country — the upper south’s Mainland Pouakai, central’s Tokomanawa Queens, mid-north’s Whai and a northern team to be named.
Significantly, player payments will be on equal footing with the men’s NBL.
It is hoped that will attract the cream of New Zealand’s best talent back to play. Most of the top Kiwis are playing in the highly-rated Australian WNBL.
Teams will also be able to sign three imports.
Ruske said player signings would be announced in the coming weeks.
Zoe Richards would appear the most likely local target. The 24-year-old Tall Fern starred for the Otago Gold Rush in 2020 and played professionally in Australia last year.
Other potential targets may include locally based former Tall Ferns Nicole Ruske and the recently returned Samara Gallaher, while the likes of Olivia O’Neill and Annabelle Ring are among a group of talented locals.
NBL general manager Huw Beynon said the name Tauihi meant "to soar", which was the vision for the women’s game in New Zealand.
"Tauihi will be a league that exists to elevate the status of women's basketball, to help take it to the next level in Aotearoa and beyond," Beynon said.
"And as a product for fans, it will deliver a high level of professional women's basketball action featuring an exciting mix of homegrown and overseas talent which will also help grow and develop our next generation of Tall Ferns."
