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The junior rugby season at Mahurangi RFC is well underway.
And with 341 junior players registered this year, including 234 boys and 107 girls ranging in age from four to under 13, it’s as popular as ever.
If there was any doubt, you just need to wander down to the Warkworth Showgrounds on a Saturday morning to see the sidelines packed with parents cheering on their sons and daughters.
Mahurangi RFC juniors chair Kevin Forde, who has three kids of his own playing at the club, says last year Mahu had 24 junior teams in total, which has increased to 26 this year.
“The biggest growth has been in girls numbers and teams from the 2024 to 2025 season,” he says.
“There are now two girls U9 rippa teams, a girls U11 rippa team and two girls U13 rippa teams, as well as an U15 and an U18 girls team.”
This continues a trend the club has started to see emerge with girls playing numbers increasing over the past couple of years.
Forde says it’s a “huge operation” running a junior rugby club and they rely on volunteers to fill the many roles, from the committee and team managers to coaches and referees.
“We’re talking dozens and dozens of volunteers and we’re really lucky to have a lot of the parents contributing to that.”
He adds that the juniors also get a huge amount of support from local businesses, who help fund a number of their key activities.
