Not having received messages for a while, we were starting to believe we were doing a sterling job but, jokes aside, we value those calls even if someone hits their cellphone in the pocket by mistake to leave the sound of shuffling and muffled voices for a marathon four minutes.
Needless to say, we're back in business in the messages department although the lines of communication via cellphones, emails and visits to the office or field are always open, too.
Yesterday I received a phone call from a Waipukurau woman who went to watch her great grand child play Rippa rugby at Park Island, Napier, on Saturday morning.
"There's nothing more cute than watching the little ones, is there?" she rightly pointed out following the 6th graders' match between Taradale Cheetahs and Napier Old Boys' Marist.
But she had a beef with certain aspects of what she believed robbed the youngsters and spectators of the pleasure of letting nature takes its course, as it were, within reason.
Seeking anonymity for obvious reasons, the great grandmother said the pint-sized Rippas weren't allowed to put on a fend, push or drop their shoulders into another player.
"The kids' shirts also have to be tucked in so that other children can pull the tag off easily when they are chasing each other," she explained, adding four coaches were on the paddock to monitor proceedings.
However, the NOBM players didn't tuck their shirts and had started fending and dropping their shoulders, thus prompting a Taradale coach to stop the game to brief the players on the rules but to no avail.
"A mother of one of the kids walked up to an Old Boys' Marist coach to speak to him and he agreed those things weren't allowed and their shirts should be tucked in.
"But he went on to say they were doing all those things because a Pirate team had done the same to his Old Boys' Marist players the previous weekend so they were going to do it, too."
The disappointed great grandmother said the parents and relatives of both teams were thoroughly enjoying the game and even supporting opposition players when they showed skill and flair in executing the basics.
No doubt, many will share her dismay considering Rippa rugby is about giving children a taste of the country's No 1 sport before full contact kicks in from the 7th grade.
NOBM Intercity JRB convenor Paul Teddy, on hearing the account, declined to comment last night, referring me to the New Zealand Rugby Union.
But it begs the question: Should there really be a need to seek redress from any formal body when children of that age in any code are involved?
That adults assume the mantle of coaches in teams, one can safely assume, comes with a degree of responsibility that enjoyment and safety on the field will always be paramount to grown ups trying to assert their values on the foundation of clauses and sub clauses in the game of jargonistic rituals.
Broad guidelines of no tackling, tucking one's shirt and no fending should be enough for anyone to comprehend without concerned mums having to approach adults in charge on or off the field about safety.
It's perhaps best fathers aren't getting involved but parents should be lauded for not intervening, especially in the 8th-grade skirmish between rival coaches at Elwood Park, Hastings, on Saturday.
Two wrongs don't make a right. If a coach breaks the rules then the onus is on others to stop play and address those flaws for the children's sake.
