Young touch stars of future ready to shine

TOUCH HIM: Bay of Plenty touch player Tanekaha Rangi-Mariu dives for the tryline during the junior tournament last year. PHOTO/BEN FRASER

The next generation of future Touch Blacks will be on display when the biggest touch tournament in the country rolls into Rotorua today.

About 1000 young touch players are expected to swamp the touch fields at Puarenga Park today and tomorrow, during the Northern Region Junior IPS Touch Tournament.

The tournament sees teams in three age groups (under-9, under-11, and under-13) represent their provinces from the upper North Island.

Touch Bay of Plenty junior co-ordinator Ira Te Kani said the tournament had a great following, with plenty of families making the most of the long weekend.

"The teams love playing here and with it being a long weekend the whole family comes down and does the tourist thing on the Monday.

"It has always been well supported by families. A lot of families will put two or three children into the tournament."

She said it had been hosted in Rotorua for five years and would boast 84 teams this year.

"What we have tried to do is make it so spectacular to scare everyone else off [from trying to take it away from Rotorua], and the council has been fantastic in supporting this event."

The Rotorua tournament has surpassed the annual Whakatane Open Touch Tournament for number of teams entered - making it the biggest touch tournament in the country.

Te Kani said there was no nationals for children aged under 13.

She said the province to beat at the tournament was generally Counties Manukau.

"Counties are the province to beat and will be again this year. They have a huge base."

There is elite and development grades in all age groups.