Davidson continues to inspire
Tall Ferns basketballer Penina Davidson continues to blaze a trail in her sport in the wake of her revelations that she has carved out her hoops career while dealing with bipolar disorder.
Davidson was recently unveiled as the recipient of a three-year deal to play for the Harbour Breeze in New Zealand’s Women’s Basketball Championship – a role that will sit alongside her main gig with the Adelaide Lightning in the Australian Women’s National Basketball League.
It is understood to be the first multi-year contract of its kind for a Kiwi women’s basketballer to play domestically, and Davidson, a Tall Ferns regular and former University of California, Berkley standout, said she was rapt to be able to set an example for others to follow.
‘‘Getting paid to play at home was something I could have never dreamed of as a little girl,’’ she said. ‘‘Growing up playing basketball in New Zealand as a woman is tough, because we always knew that if we wanted to continue to play, we would have to move away from home to do so.
‘‘As the basketball community in New Zealand grows, hopefully so does the opportunity for our girls to have something like this to look forward to in the future.’’
Davidson told Stuff earlier this year about her battle dealing with bipolar disorder throughout her sporting and college career and said she hoped to inspire ‘‘a string of girls’’ to push for more significant achievements.
‘‘We want to trailblaze our way and hope other associations will pick up on something like this,’’ she said.
‘‘The basketball community in New Zealand is growing and hopefully opportunities will grow too. Then we can start thinking about bigger things like competing at the Olympics and World Cup and beating Australia.
‘‘It starts with small stepping stones and people doing their one percent. This is a 1 per cent that I hope will add up to something bigger,’’ she added.
Davidson was a key member of the Tall Ferns team that recently won the William Jones Cup in Taiwan for the first time. She averaged 11.4points and 10.6 rebounds a game.
Harbour Basketball CEO John Huntsaid that Davidson’s signing was part of an aspiration to eventually push for a spot in the Australian league, a la the Breakers.
‘‘Penina is an extraordinary role model for young New Zealand girls. Her academic and sporting achievements to date are remarkable,’’ Hunt said.
‘‘Penina’s signing is a statement of intent from Harbour Basketball that we want the Breeze to be at the forefront of New Zealand women’s basketball. Our longterm goal ... is to have a New Zealand women’s team competing in the Australian WNBL.’’
Tall Ferns coach Guy Molloy described the signing as ‘‘great for basketball in New Zealand’’ and said the forward’s presence would rub off on the next generation of talent.