Rugby club goes alcohol-free

A rugby club is believed to have become New Zealand's first to be alcohol- in a radical move aimed to benefit the local community.

The Arataki club in the Bay of Plenty has spent nearly a decade in the doldrums, without the use of clubrooms at its Grenada Park base, after a dispute with the council over the non-payment of rent.

But, three games into a new season, things are looking up. A concerted community effort saw them enlist former player and coach Greg Doolan, who has returned to the region after 20 years coaching overseas.

"I arrived, met with the players and told them I'd be happy to come back but I believed there was a bigger picture," Doolan said.

"I told them the rugby club should be much more vital to the community than just providing a leisure pursuit and to achieve the aims I wanted to achieve.

"I wanted it to be New Zealand's first alcohol- free rugby club. They only needed about 90 seconds to agree."

Doolan believes alcohol has played a large part in crime and drug use in the area and has seen research that suggests domestic violence spikes during the rugby season.

One of the club's first aims was to get the clubrooms back - and with the support of the council and local businesses, it's now available after home games.

That's delighted long- serving midfielder and former New Zealand sevens player Stu MacDonald, who said the alcohol ban had been almost universally accepted.

"We wanted to get back into the club and give our visitors a feed," MacDonald said.

"A lot of the committee are our mums and dads and aunties and we felt it was about time that we did something. We weren't too fussed with running a bar - the main thing was just to feed our visitors."

It's also reaping rewards on the pitch - Arataki have made an excellent start to the Baywide season, with the section two club unbeaten after three rounds.

- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES