National women's coach Sean Horan is based in Tauranga. Photo / George Novak
National women's coach Sean Horan is based in Tauranga. Photo / George Novak
The New Zealand Women's Sevens team completed another successful training camp at Mount Maunganui this week with three Bay of Plenty players in the mix.
The hard yards were put in under our fierce summer sun at Blake Park on the Sir Gordon Tietjens Field, appropriately named after the coachof the All Blacks Sevens men's team who has done more for the game than any New Zealander.
With Tietjens and national women's coach Sean Horan based in Tauranga and the Blake Park precinct the first choice training venue for all our national sevens teams, the region has become known as the home of sevens. But it is too early for such a lofty title to be bestowed on our patch of land.
Sevens began in Scotland with the Melrose Sevens in 1883 and the Scottish Borders town is regarded as the spiritual home of sevens.
The residents of Sigatoka in Fiji have a claim to the title in a country where sevens is the national sport.
When a flash flood washed out Sigatoka's main bridge, its replacement was officially named the Melrose Bridge in honour of Fiji's winning the Melrose Cup at the Hong Kong Sevens in 1997.
There has certainly been a dramatic improvement in sevens by Bay of Plenty teams in the past two years. This was evident at last week's Bayleys National Sevens held in Rotorua when the men's and women's teams made it through to the cup quarter-finals in style.
With the 2016 Rio Olympics getting closer by the day, sevens rugby continues to expand and is now a viable career path for our young athletes.
The dream of winning a gold medal at the Olympics will ensure sevens rugby continues to expand at a rapid rate.
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