On Monday the 22nd of February a group of year 3 and 4 students attended a Rippa Rugby tournament held at Petone recreation grounds. In past years we have always entered two teams, so two teams were taken to the tournament this year, unfortunately we were only permitted to enter one team (Next time Mr Hudson should remember to read the fine print). However, the situation was managed with typical Wainuiomata ingenuity and resilience. All children played in two games each and those not playing were kept busy on the inflatable football field, Practicing rippa rugby skills and playing on the playground.


Parents provided invaluable support and transportation. Several parents stayed for the entire day to coach, managed and generally supervise the teams. We could not participate in the event without keen parents and it is great to see many taking the opportunity to help out and see their children performing outside of the school.

The children played to a high standard but had a mix of wins and losses. The losses were close games and could have easily gone in our favour. A particularly pleasing aspect of the day was the good sportsmanship shown by the children and the level of support they provided for each other. Our defensive line was a strength but we found ourselves having to catch up on points after a slow start to most of the games. Next year I am sure the year 3 students who participated this year will bring valuable experience with them to next years tournament.

Good luck to the year 5 and 6 students who are attending a rippa rugby tournament on Tuesday the 9th of March at the same venue.