Juniors tournament set to hit town

Taupo residents will get the chance to watch the All Blacks of the future when the town hosts the biggest national junior rugby festival in New Zealand.

Grassroots teams from around the North Island, Christchurch and South Africa will travel to Taupo and participate in the two-day New Zealand Junior Rugby Festival on September 22 at Owen Delany Park.

Now in its third year, event organiser Tyrone Campbell said it was a great festive occasion and an increasingly important event on the country's rugby calendar.

Providing international opposition for some of the New Zealand's age-group rugby teams was an additional highlight.

"It's a big deal for the clubs to represent their region and it's a chance for our emerging rugby stars to show their game," Campbell said.

"Having one of the top junior teams from Cape Town join us is exciting."

The idea of hosting a rugby festival came to Campbell on his OE five years ago, while sitting around a campfire in the Scottish Highlands.

"It was a bit crazy, but I believe that if you have a vision and you believe in it, you can make things happen."

"Getting the festival off the ground was a lot of work, with more than a few challenges a long the way," he said.

"But it keeps getting better and next year we're combining with the North Island junior netball festival which means an even bigger event bringing around 100 teams to Taupo."

Team members are aged between 8 and 14 and with many families having children involved in both sports, Campbell said it made sense to combine the two events, which were held two weeks apart this year.

"Taupo is a magnet for tourism and I was keen to bring the event to a place with plenty to offer the teams and their supporters, both on and off the field."

King Country Rugby chief executive David Trewavas said the tournament was a wonderful way to get teams of all abilities to converge in a great central location to celebrate a much-loved game.

One of Taupo's top five events, the Junior Rugby Festival makes a significant contribution to the local economy, Campbell said.

A second tournament is held in Queenstown the following weekend.