Established in honour of mentor, mother and champion Silver Fern, Tania Dalton, the Foundation that proudly carries her name seeks to empower young women athletes to thrive, both on and off the field.
When Silver Fern Tania Dalton suddenly passed away in 2017, she left a huge vacuum, as a competitor, mother and friend.
Created in her memory, the Tania Dalton Foundation (TDF) aims to award up to 14 scholarships to young sportswomen each year, with each scholarship recipient participating in the TDF programme for three years. The Foundation supports young women aged 15–21 who are competing at regional, national, or high-performance levels, and who show leadership potential but also face barriers that may limit their opportunities.
The scholarship helps reduce financial stress on the recipient and their family, allowing more space to focus on what they love doing. The money recipients receive can also help alleviate the costs of sports-related travel and equipment. Established in 2017, with the first cohort of recipients commencing the programme the following year, the TDF has celebrated its one hundredth scholarship awarded this year.
But, as TDF General Manager, Jeanette Paine explains, the Foundation is much more than just about funding.
“It’s about creating long-term opportunity through mentorship and leadership development. The Foundation strives to help girls from all sorts of backgrounds meet their full potential in their chosen sport, but also in all aspects of life,” she says.
“The TDF programme is designed to nurture both sporting talent and future leaders at the same time. And the really huge thing for the young women coming through is the connection it gives them to their peers – we create a sisterhood that supports each other over the long term.”
Jeanette says scholarship recipients hail from all over New Zealand (this year’s cohort includes girls from between the Far North and Cromwell in Central Otago) and currently covers 16 sports codes.
“With Tania’s legacy, netball is always strongly represented, but we also have young women playing rugby, rugby league and touch; we have triathletes, amazing talent from track and fi eld, and basketball. Surf lifesaving has also become increasingly well represented and that’s great because there is such a strong community service ethic associated with that.
“The impact the TDF programme has on women’s sport in New Zealand really is amazing. It’s so visible and tangible. We have five alumni currently in the Black Ferns squad. We also have alumni representing New Zealand in athletics and softball,” she says.
TDF Scholarship Manager, Paula George (universally known as Georgie), knows the pressure young female sportspeople can be under first hand. Before arriving in New Zealand nearly two decades ago from her native UK, Georgie was captain of the English Roses women’s rugby team. Playing at a time when many women’s sporting codes weren’t afforded the level of off field support they are today, she has been there, done that. And as such, embodies an impressive mentor for the young women coming through the TDF programme.
“It’s about wellbeing beyond the game. In many sports, there simply isn’t the same degree of focus on resilience, self-awareness, or maintaining a healthy mindset as there is for boys,” says Georgie. “That’s changing of course – there’s something of a tipping point approaching in women’s sport where its popularity and exposure has skyrocketed, which is amazing to see.
“And at the same time, what the Foundation has created will grow into a hugely powerful network of incredible achievers and leaders in 10 years’ time. The girls coming through create an amazing network with each other that lasts well beyond the three years of their individual scholarships.
Tania Dalton
“And we’re seeing much more corporate awareness of what we do as well – more companies love what we’re wanting to achieve and approach us about getting involved, which is fantastic. But from our side, we want to partner with corporates who are getting involved for the right reasons. We don’t want cheque-writers who just walk away after ticking a box. The scholarship programme is long term, and we want to work alongside sponsors who are in it for the long term too.”
Funding is provided by corporate sponsors who are each paired with a recipient. One such sponsor is Archibald & Shorter North Shore, which sponsors senior Carmel College student – and no doubt future touch rugby star – Ella Henderson.
Ella played in the Premier Touch team the Northern Strikers and the North Harbour Touch Under 18s team where she won the Coaches Choice Award 2024. Earlier this year, Ella also captained the U18 North Harbour Touch team at the Youth Nationals, where they won a silver medal. Archibald & Shorter North Shore’s commitment to the TDF goes beyond supporting an individual scholarship recipient though. The dealership regularly hosts the Foundation’s formal graduation ceremony, which also doubles as a welcome for the next group of inductees.
“It can be a really emotional evening,” continues Jeanette. “You have graduating girls who have made lifelong friends, talking across codes and ages. And you have the next wave of girls coming into the programme, who are always so excited to be there. It’s such a shared journey for all, and we’re so lucky to have the fantastic support of Vernon [Brown, General Manager] and the Archibald & Shorter North Shore team.
“The potential the Tania Dalton Foundation scholarship programme delivers for the young women who go on this journey – along with their families – is immense,” she concludes.
“It can be measured far beyond the sports field. The Foundation helps recipients to be the best they can at what they love doing, but it also teaches them they can be the absolute best in their communities and careers as well. It really does help open their eyes to what’s possible.”
