Te reo nicknames for teams in women’s league
Having Mā ori themed names for all five teams was a ‘‘no brainer’’ for the ground-breaking women’s national basketball league.
The revamped competition will achieve a first for top-level New Zealand sport when it tips off on Wednesday with each team adopting a te reo Mā ori element in their name.
Basketball New Zealand’s new competition has been dubbed Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa with Tauihi meaning ‘‘to soar’’.
‘‘It was priority No 1 at the start,’’ BNZ general manager Huw Beynon said. ‘‘Straight away we all just went it needs to have a strong tikanga Mā ori and te reo Mā ori influence in it.
‘‘It’s such a huge sport with young Māori players and the Māori community.
‘‘It was an absolute no brainer. The teams embraced it straight away. The players are loving it.’’
Five regional sides will compete for the title over eight weeks with each side playing six home and six away games and the finals in Nelson over August 26-27. of the sport in New Zealand.
Ensuring the teams had names which would stand the test of time and had a strong Mā ori influence was important, Beynon said.
‘‘Straight away we said, ‘How are we going to do this? What are we going to call these teams?
‘‘ Let’s give them Mā ori names. They need to have their own identity. They need to resonate regionally.’’
Once the owners for the five teams were confirmed, they were given a brief.
The sides needed to have a te reo Mā ori element in their name, which had geographical relevance, and also tied into Tauihi’s ‘‘to soar’’ meaning.
The teams were tasked with coming up with a logo, with Tall Ferns legend and BBNZ board member Megan Compain’s marketing company EightyOne carrying out the designs.
The five teams had all made use of their three overseas import slots with multiple players who have been drafted into the WNBA and elite overseas leagues competing.
It had already attracted Tall Ferns, who had been playing overseas, back to New Zealand, which was an objective of the new competition, Beynon said.