Kids' festival sign that league is on the way up

Northlanders will be able to catch a glimpse of the visiting Kiwi and Samoan rugby league teams on Thursday at Kensington Park, as 32 primary and intermediate school teams vie to be part of next week's Four Nations test.

Primary and intermediate school rugby league teams will compete in the inaugural Northland Champions Primary School Festival, run by Rugby League Northland (RLN), which will see the semifinalists play at Toll Stadium prior to the main event.

The Kiwi and Samoan teams will be watching the 32 school teams between 11am-12pm, giving the kids even more incentive to impress.

There may also be other opportunities to see the Kiwi and Samoan teams, with open training sessions rumoured to take place although nothing has been confirmed.

Thursday's festival of league comes after RLN delivered mini-module programmes in 12 secondary schools and accredited more than 230 college students as New Zealand Rugby League qualified 'mini-mod' coaches. They, in turn, have coached more than 3000 kids in 35 primary schools.

In Northland, modules have been run in Kaitaia, Dargaville, Kaikohe, Rawene, Bream Bay, and Whangarei.

The winners from each of these modules will be the schools competing in Thursday's festival.

Though the festivals are about participation, there is also an element of competition with the top two teams invited to attend a one-day tournament.

For RLN, Thursday's festival comes on the back of several years' hard work developing the game in the province.

Four years ago, league participation was at its lowest with only 655 registered players - that has now grown to more than 2500.

Credited for the turnaround has been the development of a credible school programme.

Schools taking part include:
Kaitaia Primary, Pompallier, Whirinaki Kura, Rawene/Kohukohu, Selwyn Park, Ruawai Primary, Matarau Primary, Maungatapere Primary, Ohaewai, Kaikohe West, Tautoro, Whau Valley, Tikipunga, Hora Hora, One Tree Point, Pukemiro, Whangarei Intermediate, Dargaville Intermediate, Hikurangi Intermediate, Manaia View, Kaikohe Intermediate, Okaihau Abundant life, Tauraroa, Kaitaia Intermediate, Otangarei Primary.Northlanders will be able to catch a glimpse of the visiting Kiwi and Samoan rugby league teams on Thursday at Kensington Park, as 32 primary and intermediate school teams vie to be part of next week's Four Nations test.