Junior rugby launches new tournament

The inaugural Mike Cooper Invitational J3 (U11) tournament will be played at the Mahurangi Rugby Club grounds on June 11. A total of 15 teams have registered, from Whangarei to Auckland, and the tournament will be played in a round robin and finals format. Former Mahurangi College teacher and rugby coach, Mike Cooper, has been a long-time supporter of junior rugby at the club. Meanwhile, the Mahurangi junior rugby programme is six weeks into its 15 week season.

There are 243 kids registered over 22 teams, which is on par with last year. Junior rugby chairperson Patrick Sullivan says the club is lucky this year to have an extra Under 13 girls quick rip team.

“We also have quite a few girls scattered through our tackle grades and I am sure we will see a few Mahu girls as Black Ferns in the future,” Sullivan says.

“We also have 25 kids in our ‘Mahu 4s’ programme. This is just a club run programme for the under five kids to introduce then to rugby and have a bit of fun. It is run on a Thursday after school and is great for parents who have older kids training at the club already.”

Sullivan says although registrations have closed for this year, the club encourages any parents to come along to the club on a Saturday morning to see what the club is about and find out why Mahurangi is the best club to play for, at and against.

All roads lead to Wellsford netball

Junior netball continues to thrive at the Netball Rodney Centre in Wellsford, with a mind-boggling 56 teams from throughout the region turning up to play on the Centennial Park courts every Saturday. This season, teams from Years 3 and 4, and 5 and 6, are having to play on the old tennis courts, while Years 1 and 2, and 7 and 8, are on netball courts that are still playable, centre president Kelly Ayres said. As with several other sports and clubs, the netball centre has been waiting for facilities to be updated and improved by Auckland Council and Rodney Local Board for many years, and some courts are not playable this season. Ayres said it was good to have the Centennial Park Masterplan finally signed off and a timeline for improvements to be carried out over the next four to five years.

In the meantime, she said having spectators confined to outside the tennis court’s high fencing was not necessarily a bad thing, since it meant the young players had plenty of space and were not being crowded by passionate parents.

Ayres said she was grateful to all the centre’s many clubs and members for their continued support.

“It has been a really uncertain time for everybody, so having their support is awesome,” she said.

Netball Rodney Centre has more than 700 players including its senior teams, with players coming from as far north as Maungaturoto and Waipu, as far south as Warkworth and Kaipara Flats, and right out to both east and west coasts.

Info: Netball Centre Rodney on Facebook

Record breaker heads to Paris

Para athlete Mitch Joynt is off to Paris to compete in the World Champs next month.

The former Warkworth resident, who now lives on the Hibiscus Coast, currently holds the Oceania records in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m events.

He says he was not particularly competitive before he had his right leg amputated below the knee following a wood chipper accident. He was 18 at the time and working as an arborist.

He says having such a major accident as a teenager gave him time to rehabilitate and recover.

It wasn’t long before he began thinking about proving himself in competitive sport. After initially trying rowing, and representing NZ in a World Cup as a snowboarder, he discovered a talent for sprinting six years ago and hasn’t looked back.

When not working as a full time truck driver, he trains hard, wearing a state of the art running blade, and works out in his home gym.

Mitch says he mainly competes against himself because sprinting is all about times. He still has around $5000 to raise to make the Paris trip possible.

Donations can be made here: https:// givealittle.co.nz/.../mitch-joynt-to-worldchamps

09 423 8871

Badminton–SnellsBeach

A warm invitation to new players to join us where the emphasis is on fun. We meet at the Snells Beach Community Centre on Tuesday and Wednesday with a 9am start. Welcome to those who are keen to learn or improve. Spare racquets are available. Phone Barry 027 425 5612 or Lynne 021 735 767

Indoorbowls

Tomarata Indoor Bowls meet at the Tomarata Hall, Mangawhai Rd,Tomarata on Wednesdays at 7pm. New members welcome. Info: Eryl 09 431 4965

Snells Beach Indoor Bowls meet at the Mahurangi East Community Centre, Hamatana Rd, on Mondays at 12.30pm, beginners welcome. Info: Pam 425 6405

Juniorrugby

The inaugural Mike Cooper Invitational J3 (U11) tournament will be played at the Mahurangi Rugby Club grounds on Sunday June 11. Come along and support junior rugby.

Karateclasses

Mangawhai Kyokushin Karate classes are held on Tuesday evenings in the Mangawhai Senior Citizens Community Hall, in Fagan Place, from 5pm to 6pm. All welcome. Enquiries, phone Garry Clarke on 021 0333 999

Wakaamainvitation

Students aged between 13 and 17 are invited to join a Saturday waka ama gettogether at the Mangawhai estuary, off Sellars Drive near the campground, from 8.30am. Details, contact Nicole on 021 662 943