Encouraging children to stay active

Jumping into a wheelchair for Charmaine McMenamin was about encouraging children to keep active.

The 2019 Black Ferns player of the year wasn't too familiar with wheelchair rugby but she joined in a game on the artificial turf at Lytton High School yesterday.

It was part of Rugby Awareness Week in Poverty Bay. The week started with rippa rugby at rural schools and it also features coaching and refereeing development and a visit to Gisborne today by former All Black Keven Mealamu.

“It's really cool to do something different,” McMenamin, from Gisborne, said of her wheelchair rugby experience.

“I want to encourage kids to get out there and play sport and be active.”

McMenamin plays for the Auckland Storm in the Farah Palmer Cup domestic rugby competition and she has produced eye-catching performances as a loose forward for the Black Ferns in the past year.

The Tairawhiti sportswoman of the year is looking forward to a schedule of eight test matches in 2020, seven of them in New Zealand.

That will help the Black Ferns build up to the 2021 women's Rugby World Cup to be hosted by New Zealand.

“Women's rugby is growing, and having all those tests at home will be great,” McMenamin said.

“But it will be good preparation for the other teams as well.”

McMenamin is running a girls' rugby clinic at the rectory today.

Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union player development manager Kahu Tamatea said rural children had enjoyed the rippa rugby clinics from earlier in the week.

“They were so appreciative,” he said.

The union's community rugby manager, Ray Noble, said getting referees and coaches together had been beneficial.

This brought clarity to interpretation of rules for scrums, tackling and the breakdown, he said.

Mealamu's activities today were to include a front-row clinic at Rugby Park.