World Cup tipped to spark boom for rugby

Traditional sports remain popular in the Western Bay and Sport Bay of Plenty is expecting rugby to become even more popular after this year's Rugby World Cup.
Figures obtained by the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend show that netball was the sport played by more people than any other in the Western Bay last year, according to approximate figures from Sport Bay of Plenty.
Golf was the next most popular, based on a membership of 4018 in the region's five clubs, with rugby level-pegging at 4016 players.
Football was played by 2860, largely made up of children and adolescents (2492). Hockey is also popular with 2375 registered players, while 1697 played rugby league last year.
Sport Bay of Plenty sport manager Megan Cleverley said it was difficult to say if numbers were growing, as statistics had only been kept in the past few years. But she expected to see a boom in rugby next year after the Rugby World Cup, as the popularity of the 2010 Fifa World Cup had that effect on football.
"I certainly think the profile of the world cups raises the profile of the sport. Kids, and parents, seem to gravitate towards it.
"We would expect an increase. We know that rippa rugby [a safe, non-contact sport for primary-school children] is already increasing in numbers.
"Rugby and netball are always going to be popular."
Bay of Plenty Rugby Union operations manager Neil Alton said it was expected the Rugby World Cup would increase interest in the sport in the region.
"Certainly we would hope it's a legacy of the tournament that we would expect more kids, and more people wanting to get involved at different levels, whether it's refereeing or coaching."
Mr Alton said rugby had experienced growth in the Bay of Plenty in recent years, particularly at the junior and secondary school level.
While children today had more sports available to them, team sports such as rugby retained their popularity, he said.
Mrs Cleverley said sport was holding its own despite today's busy lifestyle and competition from modern-day distractions, such as internet and electronic games.
"The traditional Saturday sports are pretty busy," she said.
"We have certainly got more choice [these days] - there's more X-box games, but there's also more sports now.
"When I was growing up, something like canoe slalom wouldn't even have been a consideration, whereas now kids can go to school and do sports like canoe slalom or archery.
"Sport still holds its own. We certainly encourage kids to get out there and be active, and we support the schools."
But challenges facing sports clubs in the Western Bay include retaining school leavers and transport to games.
"We have quite a large drop-off in the [school leavers] age group, which is challenging," Mrs Cleverley said.
"A lot of people in Tauranga move away [after finishing school]."
A new trend towards playing sport casually was also hurting grassroots sport, Mrs Cleverley said.
"A lot of people would rather turn up, pay their $10 and play, and not have to worry about [things like] putting up the nets," she said.
But some sports were using the social leagues and "pay and play" to their advantage.
"Some organisations have got smarter and are using that as a income stream, [such as] hockey and basketball. That's actually helping grassroots.
"It's about sports being clever and meeting the market."
Basketball was hugely popular in Tauranga and was one of the biggest sports in the city, Mrs Cleverley said.
She attributed the sport's success to the appointment of a full-time general manager in the area.
"That seems to have paid off. We find it has an effect when the capabilities of the organisation get better and key people come in to drive it. It has a flow-on with sport."