New format for Nelson junior grade rugby announced
“We look forward to working together, and with our community to provide as many positive experiences as possible in rugby in 2024.”
Chris Little
The Nelson Bays sub union will introduce a new format for it’s under-14 and under-15 junior boys rugby in 2024.
This new format will see both under-14 and under-15 boys’ grades run in separate windows throughout the year.
In a statement released by the Nelson Bays sub-union, it announced for the first eight weeks of the season, from April 6 to May 25 and including holidays, there will be a club competition where only club sides can enter teams.
Following on from the club competition will be a schools competition, which will run from June 8 to August 10.
The change in format comes after “a lot of discussion on age-grade” in Tasman, a joint statement by the sub union and Nelson College said.
Those involved in the decision making process hoped the format would give “our boys the opportunity to represent their club and their school”.
“We look forward to working together, and with our community to provide as many positive experiences as possible in rugby in 2024.”
Nelson Bays sub-union chairman Chris Little said this option for junior grades had been on the table for a couple of years now.
The decision comes after there was division between the union and Nelson Col
lege in late 2023, outlined in a newsletter put out by the college.
The college accused the union of excluding school teams from under-14 and under-15 competitions in the 2024 season and expressed their desire to become a
rugby club in order to enter the competitions.
At the time Little had said that Nelson College had “jumped the gun” and further details were still being sorted.
Since then, discussions around what format the under-14 and under-15 competitions would take, have been had.
“We decided that we should, instead of sort of working against each other, we need to find a way that we can all work together,” Little said.
With the new format, the college no longer has to go down the route of becoming a rugby club and Little hopes that this structure will allow boys to have a good experience playing for a club and for their school.
“I hope people can try and find some positives.”
Little said the new format is, ultimately, looking to do what is best for the rugby community.