More NZers playing rugby

More New Zealanders are playing rugby, the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) announced today.

The union said 141,241 people played rugby in 2006 compared to 137,961 in 2005, a rise of two per cent, with more children, teenagers and women playing the game.

Referee numbers had also increased while the number of registered volunteers continued to grow.

NZRU community rugby manager Brent Anderson said the figures showed that rugby remained an enjoyable and important activity at the community level for thousands of New Zealanders.

"The introduction of the community rugby plan in 2004 is one of the reasons behind the rise but our clubs and provincial unions must be credited for their support of community rugby initiatives," he said.

Anderson said the community plan had provided provinces with the tools to implement several initiatives that had contributed to a 16 per cent increase in registered player numbers since 2003.

The number of children playing the game was up, with 66,570 under 13-year-old boys and girls representing a four per cent growth on the 2005 figure of 64,146, and a 23 per cent jump since 2003.

The number of players in the 13-19 age group was up from 33,835 in 2005 to 34,299 this year, with an overall rise of 15 per cent since 2003.

"Retaining players in this age group is one of the challenges for us and we have invested $3 million in the last three years to support the administration of rugby in secondary schools across the country which has seen 300 part-time positions created," Anderson said.

In addition, $685,000 per year had been supplied to assist the provinces and the New Zealand Schools Rugby Council to run age grade programmes.

The number of girls and women playing the game had risen from 10,578 in 2005 to 10,815 this year, with an overall increase of 41 per cent since 2003.

Meanwhile, the number of referees and other volunteers had increased. In total, 2309 referees were now registered compared to 2215 in 2005.

The number of volunteers to register their involvement had increased from 4641 in 2005 to 5386 in 2006.

- NZPA