Basketball New Zealand

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NZ Tall Fern Noni Wharemate (Photosport)

Harbour guard Noni Wharemate is the new captain of the NZ Tall Ferns Ö at least, for now.

Wharemate (25) takes over the leadership of the national womenís basketball team through the unavailability of incumbent Donna Wilkins and veteran forward Aneka Kerr for next weekís three-game tour of Japan.

But coach Mike McHugh admits the role will probably be revisited later in the Beijing Olympic campaign.

ìAt this stage, until she signals otherwise, Donna is the Tall Ferns captain,î he says. ìShe is unavailable for this particular tour and if, for any reason, she doesnít return to the team, we might reconsider the captaincy situation.

ìAneka is another senior player, and we might consider co-captains or a senior leadership group.

ìBut without wishing to denigrate the people in those roles, I think captaincy is a bit out-dated in sport today. Personally, I prefer a model in which everyone in the team is a leader, but itís always an honour to be named captain of your country and I respect that tradition.î

As a point guard, Wharemate is a natural leader of the team. She graduated from the University of Texas El Paso in 2004, setting a new school record for career assists, and debuted for the Ferns the following year.

ìDespite not being in the Tall Ferns a long time, Noni is vastly experienced from her time in the United States,î observes McHugh. ìShe has a maturity in the way she goes about her game and her life.

ìShe cares about her team-mates and that is a great attribute for a leader. Iím confident she will do a very good job in Donnaís absence.î

Wharemateís appointment is another indication that this is a young and internationally inexperienced squad, which must step to another level collectively through this Olympic programme.

ìThe only player returning from the last Olympics is Angela Marino, who is just 21,î says McHugh. ìOthers have come in since then and their maturity has been accelerated though the Commonwealth Games.

ìItís a bit scary. At the last Olympics, the Czech Republic were considered a young team filled with 23-24 year olds, but next time round, they will be four years older with WNBA and European experience under belts.

ìWeíve had to start from scratch and continue to develop this team.î

Japan are ranked 15th in the world, two spots ahead of the Ferns, and are in the final throes of preparation for the Asian Games, the regionís Olympic qualifying tournament. As part of that build-up, they have just completed a seven-game tour of New Zealand and Australia, during which they defeated Aussie U19 and U21 teams bound for FIBA World Championships.

During the NZ leg of their trip, the Japanese narrowly beat a Northern All-Star selection containing several Tall Ferns and coached by McHugh.

ìThey are typical of an Asian team Ö they rely heavily on the three-point shot,î he says. ìBut they also have some big players, which is a little unusual for Asian teams.

ìThey will be very difficult opposition. They were able to handle the young Australian teams very well and those were significant results for Japan.

ìMy expectation is that we will do well, but weíve got to balance that around what our objectives are. We are at the beginning of a campaign that takes us through to Beijing and weíre trialling a number of young players without our traditional leadership structure.î

NZ Tall Ferns to Japan Media Kit (pdf 697KB)