The National Provincial Championship, often simply called the NPC, is an annual round-robin rugby union competition in men's domestic New Zealand rugby. First played during the 2006 season, it is the second highest level of competition in New Zealand alongside the Ranfurly Shield. It is organised by New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and since 2021, it has been known as the Bunnings NPC after its headline sponsor. A concurrent women's tournament is also held, the Farah Palmer Cup.
Lancaster Park, also known as Jade Stadium and AMI Stadium for sponsorship reasons, was a sports stadium in Waltham, a suburb of Christchurch in New Zealand. The stadium was closed permanently due to damage sustained in the February 2011 earthquake and demolished in 2019. It has since been transformed into a public park with facilities for community sport, and was re-opened in June 2022.
The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is the pre-eminent professional women's basketball league in Australia. It is currently composed of eight teams. The league was founded in 1981 and is the women's counterpart to the National Basketball League (NBL). Several WNBL teams have NBL counterparts. The Adelaide Lightning, Melbourne Boomers, Perth Lynx, Southside Flyers and Sydney Uni Flames are the current WNBL teams sharing a market with an NBL team. The current league champions are the Townsville Fire, who won their fourth title in 2023.
Suzy Batkovic is an Australian professional basketball player and politician. Suzy played her junior basketball with the Port Hunter Basketball Club in Newcastle. She has played basketball for several European clubs including the French Valenciennes, the Spanish side Ros Casares, the Russian side UMMC Ekaterinburg, and Italian side Cras Basket. In the United States, she has played for the Seattle Storm after having been selected as a first round draft pick in 2003. She has played professional basketball domestically for the Australian Institute of Sport in 1996–1999, the Sydney Uni Flames from 1999–2001, and 2009–2010, the Townsville Fire in 2001–2002, the Canberra Capitals in 2010–2011, and the Adelaide Lightning in 2011–2013; she returned to the Fire for the 2013–14 season. She has been a member of the Australia women's national basketball team, being named to the team for the first time in 1999. She won a silver medal with the team at the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics and a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
The Canterbury Rams are a New Zealand basketball team based in Christchurch. The Rams compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Cowles Stadium. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as The Wheeler Motor Canterbury Rams.
The New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL) is a men's semi-professional basketball league in New Zealand.
Wolfbrook Arena is an indoor arena in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located in the suburb of Addington. It has gone through a series of name changes, the most recent of which prior to its current name having been Christchurch Arena.
ILT Stadium Southland is a multi-purpose venue located in Surrey Park, Invercargill, Southland, New Zealand. It was originally the home venue of the Southern Sting netball team. It currently serves as the main home venue of both the Southern Steel netball team and Southland Sharks of New Zealand's National Basketball League. It has also occasionally served a home venue for both the New Zealand national netball team and for New Zealand Breakers of Australia's National Basketball League. The venue is owned by Southland Indoor Leisure Centre Charitable Trust and the Invercargill Licensing Trust has the naming rights. Stadium Southland was originally opened in 2000. Following a roof collapse in 2010, it was redeveloped in 2014. The SIT Zero Fees Velodrome, which was opened in 2006, is adjacent to the main stadium complex. As well as hosting netball and basketball matches and tournaments, Stadium Southland has also hosted music concerts and tennis, badminton, boxing and wrestling events.
Donna Wilkins is a New Zealand representative in netball and basketball. She married Southland farmer Mike Wilkins on 17 March 2007. Wilkins returned to the Southern Steel for the 2012 season, after a short stint with the Canterbury Tactix in 2011.
Suzannah Wilson Bates is a New Zealand cricketer and former captain of national women cricket team. Born at Dunedin, she plays domestic cricket for the Otago Sparks, as well as playing for the White Ferns. She currently holds the highest score and highest batting average in the New Zealand Women's Twenty20 cricket team. She won the ICC Women's ODI Cricketer of the Year 2013. Bates again won ICC Women's ODI and T20I Cricketer of the Year 2016.
Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the 2007–08 season after its formation in March 2007, by New Zealand Football to replace New Zealand Knights as a New Zealand-based club in the Australian A-League competition. Since 2011, the club has been owned by Wellnix Inc, a company itself owned by seven Wellington businessmen.
Ellen Halpenny is a former New Zealand netball international. She was a member of the New Zealand team that were silver medalists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. During the ANZ Championship era, Halpenny played for Canterbury Tactix and Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic. She subsequently played for Scottish Sirens during the 2017 Netball Superleague season. During the ANZ Premiership era, she played for Northern Stars and Southern Steel.
Natalie Taylor is a New Zealand professional basketball player. She was a member of New Zealand women's national basketball team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She scored five points in the game they played against China, which they were defeated 80–63.
The Christchurch Cougars were a New Zealand basketball team based in Christchurch. The Cougars competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) and played their home games at Cowles Stadium. The Cougars pulled out of the NBL in 2011 after just two seasons following the Christchurch earthquake.
The Logan Thunder was an Australian professional women's basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). The team was based in Logan, Queensland.
Abby Bishop is an Australian professional basketball forward/center who plays for Southside Flyers of the Australian WNBL. She has played for the Australian Institute of Sport from 2005 to 2006, the Canberra Capitals from 2006 to 2010, Dandenong Rangers from 2010 to 2011 Canberra Capitals. She is currently a member of the Adelaide Lightning (2016/2017). She is a member of the Australia women's national basketball team and won a gold medal during the 2007 Oceania World Qualifications series and a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Samantha Richards is an Australian basketball guard from Melbourne, Victoria who played her junior basketball in Nunawading. She has played professionally in Australia for the WNBL's Dandenong Rangers, the Australian Institute of Sport, the Perth Lynx and the Bulleen Boomers. She has also played professionally in Europe. Richards has been a member of the Australia women's national basketball team on the U19, U21, University and Senior teams.
Antonia "Toni" Farnworth is a New Zealand professional basketball player for the Ringwood Hawks of the NBL1 South. She has spent most of her career playing in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) in Australia and has been a long-time representative and captain of the New Zealand national team, the Tall Ferns.
Guy Molloy is an Australian basketball coach, who is currently the head coach of the Southland Sharks in the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL). He is also interim head coach of the Sydney Flames in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL).
Rob Beveridge is an Australian professional basketball coach. After coaching the under-19 Australian Emus at the 2003 World Championship to a gold medal win, he began his National Basketball League (NBL) coaching career in 2007 with the West Sydney Razorbacks. The club re-branded as the Sydney Spirit and then folded; Beveridge subsequently joined the Perth Wildcats in 2009 and won an NBL championship in 2010. After four years, three grand finals and one championship, he left the Wildcats and joined the Illawarra Hawks in 2015. He led the Hawks to a grand final appearance in 2017 and left after four seasons.
