Rugby tournament brings community together

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Wairarapa Sheep and beef farmer Richmond Beetham enjoyed taking part in a local touch rugby tournament so much he can’t wait to sign up again next year.

“It was awesome fun and great to get off the farm and socialise with everyone afterwards,” he says.

The round robin tournament was held over three Wednesday evenings in October at Memorial Park in Masterton and organised by East Coast Rural Support Trust.

Richmond says it was great to have a run around each week and let off some steam.

“It was fun but also a bit competitive and I really looked forward to it each week. I’ll definitely do it again next year.”

Short and sharp and good timing

Richmond says having the event locked in meant he had to finish work and head along each week.

“Come 5pm I had to finish up work to get to the games, which was great otherwise I would’ve kept working and finding another job around the farm that needed doing.”

He said the timing of the tournament and the fact it was short and sharp meant it was possible to attend.

“It was held after docking and before weaning so it was a good time to have it. It makes you have a bit of a break before it gets crazy busy again.”

His team consisted of his three kids aged 13, 11 and 7, a farming neighbour and a rural professional.

“The games were fun and it I enjoyed the local banter with everyone afterwards. It was good to see farming neighbours in a different context as well because I usually just see them in a farming setting.”

Entries flooded in

East Coast Rural Support Trust facilitator and clinical psychologist Sarah Donaldson organised the tournament.

“The entries flooded in this year. We had 18 teams with mostly 8-10 people in each team, with six playing on the field at any one time and the rest as subs. We had men, women, and a good range of ages from kids to older people.”

Each team had to have three members who had to be either under 12 years of age or female or over 50.

“We organised it at that time of year because farmers have finished docking and calving by then and are ready for a break from the farm.”

It’s the third year the family-friendly tournament has been running but didn’t go ahead last year due to COVID-19.

She says the tournament endorsed the Five Ways to Wellbeing; connecting, taking notice, giving, learning and being active.

Great way to build community spirit

Sarah says the support of the local Wairarapa Bush rugby team was invaluable in helping organise it.

“It’s a great way to build community spirit and was awesome to see people having a good time.”

A BBQ and get together was put on after the games, which encouraged people to socialise and connect. There was also a prize-giving at the completion of the tournament.

“It was a really neat cross-section of the rural community that came together.”