The Kiwitag league season ended on Tuesday night with a big crowd to watch the finals at Waipuna Park in glorious conditions.
The finals were the culmination of seven rounds of round robin play.
The Kiwitag module for primary and intermediate schools has been going for nine years and has grown from 13 teams when it started, to 35 teams this year, and featured more than 400 eager players in three divisions of Year 3-4, Year 5-6 and Year 7-8.
Len Reid, the BOP Coachforce Officer for rugby league, says the competition has grown quickly and is an important part of the junior rugby league programme.
"Kiwitag is the beginning of our development programme and is not a stand-alone sport," he said.