Local teams look to take national Touch title in Palmerston North

The country’s top 48 secondary schools Touch teams descend on Palmerston North this weekend to fight it out in the New Zealand Secondary Schools Touch Championships at Ongley Park.
From the opening ceremony at 8am on Friday morning through to the finals on Sunday afternoon, Ongley Park will be awash with 700 plus competitors, all of who have qualified at zone competitions around the country. They will compete in three grades – boys, girls, and mixed – for the best of the best in Touch for their secondary schools.

In last year’s event, local mixed team Queen Elizabeth College, took out the mixed title, and will be looking to do the same again this year. Rotorua High and Papakura High secured the boys and girls grades respectively.

Organised by TouchNZ, with assistance from Sport Manawatu, this is a tournament not to be missed – New Zealand’s top young touch players at their best.

Sport Manawatu’s events coordinator, Thomas Buchanan says the event is free to all supporters so he expects a large crowd over the weekend.

Thomas adds the championships have a great economic value to the Manawatu region, “each time we get to hold this event it provides an estimated $640,000 worth of total impact and $390,000 of value added into the local economy,” he says.

TouchNZ are grateful for the support of the Palmerston North City Council, NZCT, McDonalds, Classic Hits 97.8, ZM 90.6, Radio Sport, and preferred suppliers Kia Kaha, Skins, Nomis and Mitre.

The touch championships have been confirmed for Palmerston North again in 2009.

ENDS.