Children in the Rugby Tots programme at the Ponsonby Rugby Club. Photo / Danielle Wright
Children in the Rugby Tots programme at the Ponsonby Rugby Club. Photo / Danielle Wright
Danielle Wright meets a group of 4-year-olds preparing early for rugby glory
On Christmas Day, 1937, the first midget cars raced around the Western Springs track. Today, in a shed at the top of the stadium, midgets of another kind are racing around - this time chasing rugby balls.
I've made my way past disused stadium stands, hundreds of old tyres and quite a bit of mud to find the Rugbytots practice ground where 10 little boys are being put through their paces in a dusty shed covered in red sawdust.
The misty air and unusual venue provide a gritty, romantic, image of early-morning grassroots rugby as the boys line up to score tries - a mini-masculine scene despite the colourful hula hoop boundaries. A couple of dads capture the photographic moment as sawdust scatters.
Rugbytots began two years ago in England and has since been franchised around the world.
It's also a way for fathers and sons to bond on a Saturday morning and I ask Wayne Castle, whose 4-year-old son has been attending for almost a year, why he keeps coming back.
"I never played rugby myself," admits Wayne, "But my boy is mad-keen on it. His room is plastered with All Blacks posters."
He says Rugbytots classes are a good learning platform in preparation for rippa rugby and then full contact. Living near Trusts Stadium, his son has been allowed to run out with Ma'a Nonu and Jerome Kaino.
"He's had more contact with the All Blacks in four years than I have in 30," says Wayne. "These early-morning Rugbytots sessions are what he really looks forward to each week and I've noticed his kicking and catching have really improved."
Wayne says his wife isn't as keen on attending the classes and he guesses around 90 per cent of the children are brought to the lessons by their fathers.
"It was the same for me. It was my dad who took me to soccer," says Wayne. "Once you get to proper rugby matches it's cold and nasty weather early on a wintry Saturday morning. My wife would rather take our daughter to a nice warm ballet class."
Learning how to kick a rugby ball. Photo / Danielle Wright
"The last thing you want is the kids not knowing what to do aged 6 or 7 on the rugby field," says Wayne as the kids line up behind colourful balls for kicking practise.
Tiny goals are placed in front of the boys and they do perfect penalty kicks down the middle. The dads are loving this set-up. It's as if their sons are wearing the famous black jersey in a crucial match.
When you're 4, or father to a 4-year-old, dreams of sporting glory aren't yet out of reach.
"As a rugby-mad nation, the council should get behind something like this," says Wayne. "They promote healthy food and spending time with your kids, so why not this? If they set it up in a park, lots of people would turn up for it."
If rugby is a young man's game, you don't get much younger than these players. Whether they go on to become rugby greats is anyone's guess, but with Rugbytots they will have a head start - and their mums will have a lie-in.
Having a ball
Rugbytots is open to ages 2-7. There are Saturday morning classes on the North Shore, in Remuera and at the Ponsonby Rugby Club in Western Springs. Contact Annalie@rugbytots.co.nz, ph 021 878 335 or see rugbytots.co.nz for more information; $15 a session.
