The Tauihi basketball league returns for its third season next month, but it has already made more history through its defending champion.
The Northern Kāhu unveiled an all-women ownership group today which features plenty of experience in women's sport and ties to New Zealand.
The quintet is made up of Jo Caird, a former New Zealand Junior Tennis representative and first official photographer for the All Blacks; Jody Cameron, a New Zealand basketball great and current coach of the Kāhu; Paula George, a double international (rugby and netball) who captained the Red Rose; Rachel Howard, a former Football Fern and current brand-building executive at one of the top global sports brands; and Dani Marshall, the founder of an award-winning media outlet dedicated to women’s sports in Aotearoa.
Marshall, who originally hails from the US, told 1News she was ecstatic to be part of the line-up.
"I pinch myself every day that I get to work with these absolute legends," Marshall said.
"It makes it really special to be able to know people who have shaped the landscape of women's sport."
Their takeover is another significant step in that field as it’s believed to be the first all-women-owned sports teams in professional sport.
"We have an all-women ownership group, all-women coaching group, and all-women management so that's really exciting," Caird said.
Caird added the idea to take over the team spawned from a mix of passion and frustration.
"It all started because I was frustrated watching the fantastic women's sporting events – we had the FIFA World Cup, we had the women's Rugby World Cup, and we saw 50,000 people turning up and loving it, absolutely loving the event. And then afterwards, it was what I worried about – it was this massive drop-off," Caird said.
"The Black Ferns played England six months later and there's about 3000 people turned up. And instead of complaining about it and being frustrated, I thought, 'right, I need to get in there and kind of change the visibility, change the awareness, provide the product that these fans of women's sports want'.
"We know there's a massive appetite out there for family-friendly sporting entertainment so we thought we'd give it to them and the best way was to become an owner."
That quickly led to chats with her now co-owners who, after watching the Kāhu soar to a championship last year, knew they had found their team.
"That team deserves crowds and it was like, 'how can we do it?'," George said.
"And Jo was like, 'well, we can find a way to own it'. So I was like, 'yeah, yeah, that sounds good', but then it was like, 'man, she means it!'"
'What it means to be a fan'
After some fundraising and a few dents in life savings accounts, the Kāhu officially exchanged hands this morning – just 18 days out from the new season.
Now that they’re in control, there’s already plenty of goals in place from the new bosses but it’s not all about defending their crown.
"I want young female athletes see a pathway here in New Zealand, that they don't have to leave their shores if they don't want to. That there's still something of quality and that they get well-paid for it," George said.
Caird added: "We want crowds to come and feel like they really belong to something, get involved, become our Kāhu family."
"The Kāhu family is going to extend beyond the court into the community and create a really cool experience for everyone involved."
The acquisition comes just two and a half weeks out from the new season but with Cameron staying on as coach, the organisation from top to bottom is comfortable they’re ready for a title defence.
"Our owners and all the people behind us now are putting action behind their words," returning guard Krystal Leger-Walker said.
"Our league in general is very innovative and makes a lot of changes but this change, I don't think anyone saw coming."
The Kāhu open their season at home on Sunday, October 6 at Eventfinda Stadium, where they're hoping they can drum up plenty of support with children’s tickets selling for $5 and adults for $10.
"I grew up watching football and rugby, I was a [Tottenham] Spurs fan, and whether they've won or they've lost, I lived and died with them," George said.
"That's truly what it means to be a fan and I just want people to understand that and be that for the Kāhu."
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