History Made As Three And A Half Thousand Kids Take To Auckland Rugby League Fields In One Day

This weekend has seen an unprecedented number of kids from around Aotearoa descend on Auckland to take part in New Zealand Rugby League tournaments.

On Saturday, the New Zealand National Secondary Schools and Pasifika Wellbeing Carnival saw 3500 players taking part in matches across 16 fields in South Auckland.

A record 49 schools entered the National Secondary Schools tournament which saw around 1000 boys and girls travel to Bruce Pulman Park in Takanini.

To put the tournament’s growth into perspective, there were 21 teams in 2022 and 38 teams in 2023. This year a total of nine new schools joining others from Auckland, Christchurch, Hamilton, Hibiscus Coast, Huntly, Matamata, New Plymouth, Putaruru, Rotorua, Tauranga, Tokoroa, Whakatane, Whangarei, Wellington.

“It’s amazing to see the growth of the game across the motu at the moment, but also particularly around this tournament,” said New Zealand Rugby League CEO Greg Peters.

“The rangatahi age bracket is so critical for sport and for rugby league participation is up 26 percent year-on-year, and it’s going to grow again. I think this year, for the first time, we’re going to nudge through 40,000 total participants in New Zealand which is significant growth.”

Meanwhile at Mountfort Park in Manurewa, 143 teams of children aged from 6-12 have taken part in the Pasifika Wellbeing Carnival which is operated by Hakula Tonga Aotearoa Rugby League and supported by NZRL.

Hakula Tonga and Rugby League Samoa New Zealand fielded 43 teams each, followed by Auckland Cook Islands Rugby League (27), Auckland Niue Rugby League (21) and Auckland MāoriRugby League (10).

It is estimated that close to 20,000 people attended, making it one of the largest rugby league tournaments for youth in Australasia.

“We started this tournament in 2019 with 43 teams and to see it grow by another 100 is something we’re really proud of,” said Hakula Tonga Aotearoa Rugby League GM Hengi Fusitu’a.

“We use rugby league as a vehicle to celebrate our culture and the interest has increased so much that we are looking to take additional tournaments to other cities around the country.”

On Saturday, Auckland also hosted two games in the opening round of the SKY Sport National Women’s Premiership. The Akarana Falcons defeated the Auckland Vulcans at Cornwall Park in Greenlane while the Counties Manukau Stingrays beat Waikato at Massey Park in Papakura.

Cornwall Park also played host to the opening round of Auckland Rugby League’s Region of Origin competition. North and South were represented by girls and boys age grade teams ranging from under 13’s to under 15’s.

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