Te Tai Tokerau Under-15 Mixed Touch team's bid for a national title has been crushed after they exhausted their funds on a tournament they need not have taken part in.
In October last year, Touch New Zealand informed TTT Under-15 Mixed team coach Joe Rau his side had to contest last weekend's Northern Inter-Provincial Series at Rotorua if they wanted to qualify for next month's Nationals, in Nelson.
"So we poured all our money and resources - which mostly came out of our own pocket and from fundraising - into going to the IPS tournament," Rau said.
At the IPS tournament, No 2 seeds TTT, defeated No 1 seeds Bay of Plenty, 3-2 on Sunday, after losing 4-3 to the same side during the round robin tournament the previous day.
The Under-13 Mixed side comfortably won their final against Auckland 7-1, and the newly formed TTT Under-13 Boys development side placed third.
As preparation for the IPS, Rau's Under-15 Mixed team played in a tri-series tournament against heavyweights Counties and Auckland in January. The Northland team scored an upset win over Auckland, came close to beating Counties, and won their grade.
At the tri-series, TTT Touch discovered Counties and Auckland were bypassing the IPS tournament and going straight to the nationals instead.
"So we approached Touch NZ and queried why those teams didn't have to go to the IPS, and Touch NZ chief executive Joe Sprangers said he had spoken to the IPS and Nationals tournament organisers, and the rule which applied to all teams, had been relaxed," Rau said.
The news came too late for TTT Touch, who used more money than what was intended at the IPS, leaving nothing left for nationals.
"I feel sorry for the kids. If we could go, we would go," he said.
"We definitely have the goods to go well, and I think we could have some players in the New Zealand mix - all the national team selectors will be there."
He added TTT Touch needed to do their groundwork earlier for next year's campaign. Some parents had already suggested they should start fundraising soon for what potentially could be a national title winning contingent of touch players.
"Only 22 kids trialled for the under-15 team, whereas down in North Harbour and Auckland, between 200 and 300 kids trialled for the same team - and we still managed to do very well," Rau said.
Player numbers had dropped in recent years but a few passionate people were aiming to revive its profile, including Rau, who has coached TTT teams for the past two years now.
"That's a job I'm trying to do - and we are winning in the sport - that's something Northland hasn't done for a while. The kids' confidence is starting to grow and I want to stick with it as the sport gets bigger," he said.
- Rau said there might be a silver lining to this scenario.
"I spoke with Peter Walters aka 'Mr Touch' [national coaching and elite development manager] and he told me to shortlist six under-15 players to go to the Under-15 Elite Academy in September, where the NZ teams are picked."