Invitational, provincial, local & school sevens tournaments
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@Stargazer said in Invitational, provincial, local & school sevens tournaments:
@Crucial Several of the teams that have been named, already have a strong Blues region representation. Just look at the two NZ Baabaas teams.
I just have a feeling that this year’s comp is very makeshift and without the overseas team fees is being done ‘on the cheap’
The promoters have to do what they have to do I guess, just wish they would be upfront about it. -
@Bovidae said in Invitational, provincial, local & school sevens tournaments:
@Crucial I am assuming Olive won't be involved, unless it is with the Cavaliers?
As far as I know she hasn't heard a thing. I was in contact this afternoon about something else but she is in the dark. Was told just to wait and see but NZR have little say over this apart from saying it would be good for her to take part and that they want her to play.
Usual school sports carry on. After all these years I still don't understand why NZR let go of their pathway during formative years to a bunch of self invested amateurs. -
Actually I have just had a look at who actually runs this thing. It is the same company that organises Condor so I assume that their framework for selections is laid down at that tournament.
Their website is quite amateur and they look to have a vested interested in identifying players to sign as an agent.Fair go to them, they have invested in a product and tapped into NZSSS to provide players. No doubt those within NZSSS will have their own politics and agendas.
NZRU are using Ignite as their 'official' talent ID and testing along with the Super Franchise age group programmes. -
@Crucial It's a pity that it works this way. A lot of people, most importantly the players, won't know who organises this. I've noticed that a lot of players think that the NZ Condor 7s team is an official NZ representative team and that they're playing at a schools world championship (at least, in normal years). They get to play in their first (and possibly only) "black jersey". It's sad to see players getting disappointed because of the organiser's "politics" and "agendas". I hope they are told that the real pathway to a rugby career and higher honours is via the Ignite7s, not the Condor 7s or World Schools 7s.
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@Stargazer said in Invitational, provincial, local & school sevens tournaments:
@Crucial It's a pity that it works this way. A lot of people, most importantly the players, won't know who organises this. I've noticed that a lot of players think that the NZ Condor 7s team is an official NZ representative team and that they're playing at a schools world championship (at least, in normal years). They get to play in their first (and possibly only) "black jersey". It's sad to see players getting disappointed because of the organiser's "politics" and "agendas". I hope they are told that the real pathway to a rugby career and higher honours is via the Ignite7s, not the Condor 7s or World Schools 7s.
Credit where it’s due though, any comp arranged in a national or international basis is great for the kids. It is just these rare occasions when players haven’t come through the right schools that mean that they may not capture everybody.
I have seen firsthand how school sports loses the aim of being there for all players by administrators playing trades with each other. The “prestige “ factor of schools has a big influence on young players. Some have to move schools, some lose touch with friends etc and it’s all focused on the win for the ego of adults.
NZR have realized this and put systems in place to develop who they want slowly and encourage them to be wide ranging in their sports while still keeping in touch. They have ditched whole layers of rep teams. -
MacEwan and Hilton are both from Hamilton BHS. Cashmore is from Tauranga BC I think.
I am wondering if players from the upper NI are favoured purely due to the ease of getting them to Auckland. I did read that it is the coaches that choose their teams, not the organisers, who have been getting some criticism about team selection.
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@Bovidae said in Invitational, provincial, local & school sevens tournaments:
MacEwan and Hilton are both from Hamilton BHS. Cashmore is from Tauranga BC I think.
I am wondering if players from the upper NI are favoured purely due to the ease of getting them to Auckland. I did read that it is the coaches that choose their teams, not the organisers, who have been getting some criticism about team selection.
The timing of this being straight after Condor was possibly to keep some players up there. Even so the slow announcements seem to indicate that coaches and managers were struggling to complete squads in some cases and the longer it went on the harder it got. Some players may have had preferences of teams and had to wait for one before going to another.
Difficult situation I guess but they seem to have got something anyway so that’s good for the kids. Just wish that the organisers would stop trying to make out that these are totally merit based/representative selections.