Marist North Harbour Junior Rugby Club

About

Rugby Union and Rippa Rugby in a family fun and friendly environment in Albany North Shore.

Welcome all new and current players
Ages 5-13.

Story

The Marist North Harbour Rugby and Sports Club Inc. was formed in 1986 and since then has made remarkable progress for such a young club. It started with a number of junior teams. The first senior teams were entered in the North Harbour rugby competition in 1989.

In the early years the club was known as the "Nomads". After match gatherings were held at different locations, Milford Marina, Poenamo and Windsor Park to name a few. But nowhere could really be called home.

Training sessions were held at AUT Akoranga Drive, Northcote, on what could hardly be called "an even playing surface". However the hardy players, coaches and managers in those formative years have to be admired. Their dedication gave out club a great start.

In spite of the hardships they faced, the teams performed well in competitions and Marist NH was soon seen as a club that would be there for the long run. Since then Marist teams have succeeded in various grades of the North Harbour competition, with only the Premier title remaining elusive.

In 1995, the present clubhouse was completed and Marist North Harbour had its new home.The location adjacent to the North Harbour Stadium Complex in Albany provided good facilities for the club's rugby activities and also is favourably positioned to be able to hire out the premises to others to help finance operations. For the past several seasons (since 2007) the club has had eight teams in the senior competition, which is more than any other club. There were 23 teams in the junior section in 2011, and for 2012 it is looking like there will be 31 junior teams playing in our colours.

Marist players have also achieved representative honours at provincial, Super Rugby, New Zealand University, New Zealand age group and All Black levels. Rudi Wolf, Anthony Boric and Tony Woodcock have kept the Marist name prominent and we are enormously proud of their achievements. It speaks volumes for these men that they also continue to contribute to Marist at club level.

Marist is also proud to be the official “University” club in the North Harbour Union. This relationship and the nationwide “Marist” connection provides unique opportunities for our younger and up and coming players to be selected for and to tour with NZ University and NZ Marist teams.

Clearly, with playing numbers steadily increasing, the clubrooms and changing rooms and are very crowded at times. The club has, with assistance of a grant from the Lotteries Commission recently completed a feasibility study on its future growth and development. That report can also be found on this website and during 2012 the club will be canvassing stakeholders for approval to adopt and implement the recommendations of the study.

Marist North Harbour Rugby and Sports Club Inc. does not limit its main activity to rugby. We also have also had netball and touch football modules, and have developed strong relationships with and support for support schools and other community groups in the North Harbour region.

As with most sporting bodies of our type, financing activities is a difficult process. Marist NH is most grateful for the support we receive from sponsors. Amateur clubs such as ours cannot survive without such help and we urge our members, both playing and non-playing, to support our sponsors at every opportunity.