Bay of Plenty have become the latest rugby union to announce a shift away from junior representative rugby teams, announcing this morning they will replace their under 13s and 15s programmes with "development days" instead.
In a statement, Bay of Plenty Rugby said they had opted to scrap their junior representative programme after the Northern Regions Rugby Council's decision last week to scrap interprovincial union representative programmes below Under-16 from next year.
As such, events such as the Roller Mills - an under-13 weight restricted tournament that was 94 years old - have been cancelled, leaving little reason for junior representative programmes in northern parts of the country to remain.
NZR's Head of Participation and Development Steve Lancaster says the move will help keep kids in rugby longer. (Source: Other)
Community rugby manager for Bay of Plenty Pat Rae said the region is still keen to develop the next generation of rugby stars but there are other ways than just representative teams.
"While I know that this decision will not be popular with many of those involved with teams in this age band, I know that it is the right decision moving forward," Rae said.
"Rugby is changing rapidly like never before and with these changes come challenges. While we continue to see some extraordinary growth, especially in the girls/women and non-traditional formats of the game, participation rates in the teenage boy tackle space continue to fall."
The decision makes Bay of Plenty the third major union to end their junior representative programme, with both Tasman and North Harbour making the same decision earlier this year.
Much like Tasman and North Harbour, Bay of Plenty will instead offer development days which will be held for the u13, u14, and u15 grades and involve both boys and girls.
“How good would it be for current and former Steamers and Volcanix players to do the same for hundreds of u13, u14 and u15 boys and girls, of all abilities, shapes and sizes?"
Rae says the development days would not be restricted to those boys selected for a rep team, but open to all boys and girls that wanted to learn from Bay of Plenty's finest.
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