FIRST AND SECOND

TOURNAMENT WINNERS: The Turanga Touch mixed under-14 team won their division of the Central Touch Provincial Grassroots Tournament in Palmerston North. They are (from left): Quinn Coutts, Hine Walker-Komene, Philburgh Viljoen, Missy Nepe-MacDonald, Impala Waipara, Georgina Moeke, Samara Beattie, Quaydon Chaffey-Kora, Hema Tangira, Khadyn Kahukiwa-Kora, Manaia Keelan-Wyllie, Kahu Leach-Waihi and Cortez Kora.Picture supplied

Gisborne's mixed under-14 Turanga Touch team were undefeated winners of their division at the Central Touch Provincial Grassroots Tournament.

The mixed u12 and u14 teams travelled to Palmerston North for the competition. The u12s were second in their division.

The teams had five games across two days, and the u14s had four wins and a draw.

Their first games during pool play were the hardest, coach Evan Mita said.

A first-up 4-2 win against Galaxy, who have clubs around the country, was followed by a controversial 5-5 draw against Unit from Palmerston North.

Mita said the referees and officials had a 5-5 scoreline while they and their supporters had scored the game as a win, 6-5.

The 5-5 scoresheets were mistakenly signed off for Turanga by someone who wasn't authorised to do so, which made the result official, although the team had video evidence of the tries being scored.

The team decided not to take it further, as it didn't adversely affect their chances of winning the tournament.

The final three games of the tournament, including the playoffs, were one-way traffic. After an 11-0 win the team advanced to the semifinals, where they won 10-0 to set up another meeting with Unit.

The team left no room for doubt in their second encounter with Unit and secured the tournament title with an emphatic 7-4 win in the final.

Mita said he and the team were confident going into the tournament after a 10-week training programme.

The u14 team had had a lot of on-field experience, having won the local Senior B division.

They had also played several competitive warm-up games against the u16 Turanga touch team, Mita said.

“We worked pretty hard with them, and all that hard work paid off.”

Mita has been coaching touch for over three decades and said he'd seen the game evolve dramatically.

“It's so fast now . . . there's a lot more to the games, and the new rules sped up the game.”

He said the next generation had “unbelievable” levels of skill. Over the u14 team's five games at the tournament, he could recall only two or three dropped balls.

The u12s had a more challenging schedule, with a younger team that struggled against the larger provinces with their bigger player pools, coach Scott Leighton said.

“It was the first tourney for lots of them . . . and although it was for u12s, all of them are young enough to play in the same grade again.”

He said the majority of children in his team were 10 years old, with some as young as nine. They were short of boys, and often fielded a majority female team.

The u12s lost in the final to OT Whanau, in a game that Leighton said wasn't close.

“As a coach, I'm proud of the kids.”

Support from sponsors The Warehouse Gisborne, Coxco Farming & Horticulture Ltd, Turanga Health, Gear Meat, Puawai and Co and Nick Tupara helped the teams get to the tournament.