Former Warriors player and current Otumoetai Eels co-coach Doc Murray counts himself as, of all things, a shorts counter.
Everywhere you see school kids he counts them - in malls, at schools, on beaches. And everywhere they are the same. Short. Striped. Bearing a NRL logo on the bottom left-hand corner.
Problem is, hardly any of the kids wearing those fashionable duds play the sport of their origin - even though most of them watch State of Origin.
But then, how could they when there are barely any teams in which they can play?
Clearly like with many sports it is the transition to secondary school that provides the greatest challenge.
"If you have a look at our junior grades we've got a lot of kids," said Murray.
"Last year at the AIMS Games, I coached a team and Mr Diver from Tauranga Intermediate was happy to put a team in.
"But once we get to that college stage, that's where we are struggling. Kids want to play league but the colleges won't allow it in there.
"I'm not sure if I'm wrong or not, but at the end of the day why isn't there league in colleges? Not every kid wants to play rugby union. Shouldn't they have the choice of what they want to play?"
At the moment they do not.
The Eels have under-15 and under-17 teams, but they only play against a very limited number of teams in a competition unsupported by colleges across the region.
The result is a handful of kids who faithfully turn up to senior Eels trainings even though the regulations say they are too young to play, and countless more who would play if the game - much safer and better officiated from the days in which it earned a bad reputation for violence - was in colleges.
"We'd love to have a secondary school competition where you've got Bethlehem College, Tauranga Boys', Mount Maunganui, Aquinas and all the rest.
"It is a hard, physical game, but now there is a lot of safety in it. It's not a thug's game - I don't think there's room in any sport for thugs these days. You're getting quality referees who know the rules ... it's our job to keep it as clean and as hard as possible without crossing that line.
"We in Tauranga are a stronghold of rugby union and always will be. We just try our hardest, we don't have the money to go around and buy whatever we want. We just want to get keen kids, give them training and make the best player we can make out of them.
"At the end of the day I just want competitions for our kids and seniors to play in. The game is for the players, not just for the people on the committee. That's where I get a bit lost.
"If you ask a kid in Taupo if he wants to go and play a game of league in Tauranga - of course they will. If you ask a kid from Tauranga if he wants to go and play a game in Ngaruawahia - of course they do. It's all about the game."
Murray said coaching clinics and a more professional approach from New Zealand Rugby League meant more opportunities now exist for budding players to begin rewarding careers.
The secondary school competition in Auckland, which like a potential combined competition in Waikato and Bay of Plenty is played across a large area, is producing players such as Roosters sensation Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, and with 16 NRL teams with under-20 sides there are pathways aplenty for promising young professionals.
"If you look at Auckland and how strong it is, that's a huge area. But they have a huge competition with three divisions every year with players to burn. Why can't we do the same? Have a big competition where everyone is playing everywhere. That's the dream.
"Over the years you form great relationships with other clubs and you enjoy it. Then all of a sudden they get pulled away because Bay of Plenty and Coastline don't get on, or Bay of Plenty doesn't like Waikato.
"I think they need to start getting along and understand why we are here. There is a lot of history between Coastline and Bay of Plenty but at the end of the day you just want people playing football. If you've got a problem with people, just leave it. I don't know how to put it, it sucks."
Eels winger Ryan Gordon, who has won selection to the New Zealand Maori side, is the poster child for a league player who dabbled in union due to a lack of opportunities.
"I hit a point where I thought there wasn't a hell of a lot going on in league in New Zealand so I played rugby," said Gordon.
"I played that for years and have just come back to league. I had no idea about how much I missed it.
"Everyone I played with over in Australia had been playing it from a young age; it's in their blood. Over here it's rugby. A lot of people think league is a hard sport and a lot harder than rugby, but I enjoy not lying in the bottom of rucks anymore."
Of the schools that could be reached in a timely fashion or replied by correspondence, not a single one had ever offered rugby league to its students.
Sports co-ordinator at Aquinas College, Hikitia Gallagher, said the reason league was not offered at her school was down to logistics.
"We are a smaller school in comparison to Otumoetai and Tauranga Boys', so it's all about numbers," said Gallagher.
"Most of our students are currently playing rugby as their preference. We've never had a rugby league team as such, we've only had individuals who have played.
"I guess a part of it, and it might be the same in other schools, is that we have three people in the school who are rugby people and so they are always going to push the players to play rugby.
"We've always been strong in rugby in terms of parent and staff support, so until we get an adult or parent who has that background and is keen to take it on, that won't change."
Tauranga Boys' College director of sport Darrell Boyd said the school has never had a rugby league team, though many students play the game at the club level.
"Having a league team has met with lots of debate amongst staff and students," said Boyd.
"Our current position is that we offer many sports and are reticent to add to resourcing. We are also traditionally a rugby school and are unsure of what this would do to playing numbers in this code."
Otumoetai College sports coordinator Paul Braddock said the school has not had a rugby league team in a regular competition in the considerable time he has been at the school.
He believed there had not been a secondary school competition to play in during that time.
"We try to support all sports our students are interested in, sometimes it is a numbers or coaching issue," said Braddock.
"We also want our students playing in a well saturated competition that shows it is well managed and will give our sport people ownership.
"I don't know if there is a stigma around rugby league in our area - we do have boys that play for the local club."