Northern Kahu Women

The northern rivalry with Tauranga Whai has settled into the fixture Kāhu circle on the calendar.

The club exists because a group of women decided to own a piece of it. In late 2024 five of them — Jody Cameron, Jo Caird, Paula "Georgie" George, Rachel Howard and Dani Marshall — bought Northern Kāhu outright, with Cameron stepping into the head coach's role. It made Kāhu the first professional sports team in New Zealand owned, managed and coached entirely by women.

By then the team had already made its mark on Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa, as one of five founding franchises in 2022. Kāhu lost that first Grand Final to Tokomanawa Queens, then beat the same opponent 98-72 a year later to take the title, with Ilmar'i Thomas named Grand Final MVP. Tess Madgen, the Australian international and former Opals captain, was central to that 2023 run; Penina Davidson, the Tall Ferns centre, had captained the side through its early seasons.

They play out of Eventfinda Stadium, in Auckland, in front of just over 4,000 at capacity — a ground representing the wider Auckland and Northland region the franchise was built to cover. The colours are dark blue and orange, and the nickname, Kāhu, comes from the hawk.

Since that 2023 championship, the title has not returned to Auckland.