Basketball New Zealand

Tall Ferns v Opals (FIBA Oceania)

The Tall Blacks have the Ramsay Shield … now trans Tasman rivalry in women’s basketball has a focus with the introduction of the Landon Shield.

Named after long-serving Basketball Australia administrative Lorraine Landon, the trophy will go on the line next time the Tall Ferns face the Opals in a domestic series.

The New Zealand women have yet to beat their world champion neighbours in a series and have achieved just one victory – at last year’s Good Luck Beijing Olympic test event – in the history of their encounters.

But the advent of the Ramsay Shied in 2001 inspired the Kiwi men to the first of three series successes over Australia to date, so maybe the Landon Shield should provide further motivation for the Ferns.

Earlier this year, Landon, the BA national teams and competitions manager, was named among 40 “movers and shapers” who had made significant contributions to the growth and development of basketball in FIBA Oceania’s first 40 years.

She received a citation for that achievement from FIBA president Bob Elphinstone during the halftime break of Wednesday’s Oceania women’s championship decider in Canberra.

Landon has had a long playing and administrative career. She currently heads the FIBA Women’s Commission, was competition manager at the Sydney Olympic Games, and has been honoured by FIBA and the IOC for her contribution to basketball globally.