Jenna Renee
Across continents and basketball courts, Tayla Dalton feels the presence of her late mum, Silver Ferns great Tania Dalton, with every step of her journey. At 24, Tayla’s already visited 28 countries, while completing five years at university in the United States and touring the globe with the Tall Ferns basketball team.
Now back home in New Zealand, surrounded by family again, she’s realised just how much it matters.
“When you’re on the other side of the world, you can be pretty lonely in your own thoughts,” she says.
“But since I got back, I’ve been smothered with love.”
And that connection to her mum feels even stronger.
“I’m sure she’d be pretty happy with where I’m at,” she shares.
Tayla’s playing her first season of professional basketball for Tauranga Whai, the defending Tauihi Aotearoa champions – an opportunity she never dreamed possible.
Unexpected professional journey
“I always thought if I was going to play professional basketball, I’d have to jump on a plane to do it,” she explains.
“I never imagined it’d happen in New Zealand.”
A New Zealand home base
Home these days is just across the road from the Omanu Surf Club at Mount Maunganui.
“I’m so lucky, so spoiled,” admits Tayla, whose dad Duane represented New Zealand in surf lifesaving.
She shares a house with two Whai teammates, US player Mikayla Cowling and Kiwi talent Jade Kirisome, who was Tayla’s best friend at Saint Mary’s College of California in the US during
her basketball scholarship.
A fun and supportive home
“The three of us are always giggling – it’s such a cool household dynamic,” laughs Tayla, who shares her nana’s baking and care packages with the flat.
“My teammates are amazing and the community around our team feels so much bigger than basketball. I love that it’s really family-oriented.”
Family has always been at the heart of Tayla’s story. Her mum Tania touched countless lives through her energy, humour and generosity, and her sudden passing from a brain aneurysm in 2017 left a big void. But her legacy lives on through her three children and the foundation bearing her name, which supports young women in sport – with Tayla a trustee and her dad serving as chair
Sibling bonds and sporting roots
She’s always been close to her younger brothers, who are now following in her footsteps as promising basketballers. Charlie’s on a uni scholarship in Florida, while Mattie plays for the Auckland Tuatara men’s team in his final year of high school.
While Tayla loved her five years in the US, it didn’t start off that way. She first headed to California at the height of Covid, farewelled by friends and family in the airport car park.
Finding her feet in the US
“I remember walking in with my mask on, already counting down the days until I could come home,” she recalls.
“But by the end of five years, I didn’t want to leave. I’d grown up so much. No one there knew my backstory – I could just be me, blazing my own trail.”
Brains and basketball
Tayla threw herself into both sport and study, completing three degrees.
“I’m such a nerd,” she muses.
“Instead of taking four classes a semester, I took nine.”
She returned with degrees in data science and business analytics, plus a Master of Business from Gonzaga University in Washington in her final year.
A passion for learning
“I didn’t have a spare minute over there, and I miss that,” she shares.
“I love learning. I’m a sponge.”
Beyond the court
That drive hasn’t dimmed. As part of her Tauihi contract, Tayla spends one day a week interning at Craigs Investment Partners, shadowing different departments and taking it all in.
She explains, “It’s fascinating. It’s cool dribbling and shooting a basketball for a job, but it doesn’t fulfill my brain the same way. Wherever I am in the world, I need to keep learning.”
That was something she realised during her winter stint playing for the Townsville Flames in Queensland. She’s open to the idea of making the leap into elite netball like her mum one day, but for now, basketball has her full focus.
Eyes on the Olympics
“I want to see the Tall Ferns through to the 2028 Olympics – that’s my goal,” she reveals.
Beyond basketball, Tayla’s purpose shines through her work to help keep young Kiwi women and girls in sport. After attending board meetings of the Tania Dalton Foundation via her laptop in recent years, she’s reveling in the opportunity of face-to-face meetings with the female scholarship recipients.
A big sister role
“It’s so cool supporting these girls, going to their workshops and some of their games,” smiles Tayla.
“My role is almost a big sister. Mum’s done so much for young girls – because of who she was, so many girls are now able to be the best they can be. “But Dad doesn’t get enough credit. He’s the brains behind it all. He came up with the idea of a foundation the day after Mum passed away. He says if he hadn’t said he was going to do it, he might never have.”
Breaking the next generation
Tayla’s passion for empowering young women has also seen her become an ambassador for the 2degrees SupportHer Club, an initiative from the telecommunications company to encourage girls to stay in sport and educate parents on how best to support them to do so. She loves working alongside fellow ambassador Dame Valerie Adams, who was one of her childhood idols.’
“I didn’t realise just how many girls drop out of sport at such a young age,” she admits.
“It made me think about when I was little, seeing friends give up because of how tough their parents were on them – trying to live out their own dreams through their 11-year-old kids at a Saturday netball game in the pouring rain. “Mum and Dad always taught us sport is such a powerful vehicle. It’s not just about skills – it’s the life lessons, the relationships, the opportunities. Look where I’ve been in the world because of basketball.”
Now back home at the Mount, Tayla’s living the balance her mum always believed in – sport, purpose, joy and a sense of belonging. And there’s no doubt that Tania Dalton would be beaming.
For more info on the 2degrees SupportHer Club or to purchase merch, visit 2degrees.nz/supportherclub. For the Tania Dalton Foundation, go to taniadalton foundation.org.nz.
