Touch tournament comes to Rotorua

The Maori Touch Nationals are being held in Rotorua

Nearly 4000 touch rugby players and supporters are expected to converge on Rotorua this weekend for the Maori Touch Nationals.

The tournament will be played at Puarenga Park on Saturday and Sunday.

Event co-ordinator Kim Watson-Tanga said the annual tournament began in Rotorua, but had been hosted by Tainui for the last 10 years. Teams and supporters from out of town had booked out local marae, she said.

"Times are changing and when there came an opportunity to host the event, Te Arawa put up our hands. We are hoping to have it here every year," she said.

Mrs Watson-Tanga has spent a year co-ordinating the event with Manu Soloman.

Nine Te Arawa teams out of the 75 teams will be taking part in the tournament, which was a chance for players to represent their iwi she said.

Having the tournament was a big coup for Rotorua, she said.

"We can't get national games here because of the facilities. You need to have power available in the middle of the fields and we have rented the equipment to do that," she said.

The tournament is family friendly and will have a village with bouncy castles, and stalls selling food and clothing.

Many of the games will feature the "best of the best" of Maori touch, she said.

"The men's open is the most competitive grade and the under 21 boys always have good games," she said.

The public are welcome to go and watch the tournament, including the pohiri on Saturday morning at 9am, and the whakangahau (function) on Saturday night.