Welcome to the Marist Junior Rugby 2024 season.  To our existing Marist families welcome back and to those new members we look forward to seeing your children in the Green and White of Marist Junior Rugby club. 

This newsletter details important dates and information you will need as the season gets underway. 

Our preferred method of communication is through our Facebook page, to ensure you are up to date with what is happening within our club please Like and Follow our page.  If you have a query, feel free to send an email, one of the committee members will respond.  

Facebook: Marist Junior Rugby Palmerston North 

Email: maristjnrrugbypn@gmail.com 

Registration: www.sporty.co.nz/maristjnrrugby 

Changes to Junior Rugby: 

The Manawatu Rugby Union is moving all junior rugby clubs to school year grades (ie year 1, year 8) as a first tier and then age as a second tier.  The transition will be implemented this season across all grades, so all players will be required to play at the same school grade as the friends they are at school with, with the exception of those whose birthday falls after 1 April.  Where there is a child that needs to play up or down a grade a dispensation could be applied for by the parent/caregiver in conjunction with the club, this will go to the Manawatu Rugby Union Committee for review and decision of approval or decline.  A dispensation application could be for playing up or down a grade, but factors such as age, skill, length of time playing, weight of child and club comment will all be taken into consideration. 

Marist Junior Rugby where possible will keep consistency with players remaining in the same team with the same coach as the previous year.  Our Marist Junior Rugby families will play a big part in making this transition a success, we ask for your assistance to register as early as possible, if you have any concerns or questions, please attend one of our registration days at the clubrooms, dates below.  There is also the opportunity to make a comment within the online registration. 

Online Registration: 

All registrations are required to be completed through www.sporty.co.nz/maristjnrrugby website; this is now live.  The information you enter is the only contact information we will have, we need your phone number and email address so our club including coaches and managers are able to contact you for trainings, games and most importantly if there is an emergency, so please ensure all information is up to date and amend any pre-populated fields that have changed. 

Fees: 

All fees are to be paid directly to Marist Junior Rugby: 

MJR Bank Account Details: ANZ 11-6901-0051902-11 

Year One & Under: Free fees for 2024 season 

Year Two – Year 7: $45 per player or $80 for two or more (if one is Y8/OBM $90) 

Year 8/OBM: $55 including OBM pair of socks which you keep (club will supply shorts & jersey – both to be returned at end of season) 

Marist Junior Rugby Uniform: 

Jerseys: 

All players will be issued a playing jersey for the season, this is for playing in only, not for training or wearing as a casual shirt.  All playing jerseys are to be returned at the end of the season cleaned and in a condition that you would be happy to receive the following season.  The return of a jersey that is not acceptable or the non-return of a jersey will see Marist Junior Rugby invoice the family for the jersey. 

Shorts and socks: 

All players except for Year 8/OBM will be required to wear the regulation Marist Junior Rugby green shorts and green socks with white hoops.  These items are stocked at Kelly’s Footwear, Main Street, Palmerston North. 

Shorts - $39.50

Socks - $14

Kelly’s Footwear Special deal – purchase a pair of rugby boots you will receive a FREE pair of MJR socks. 

Second Hand Shorts, Socks and Boots: 

We do have a limited number of second hand shorts, socks and boots available for sale, we will have these at our registration day for purchase.  If you have any items that you wish to donate, we would be happy to take these off your hands.  All funds received from the sale of these goods goes to our Helping Families Fund. 

Club Apparel: 

Hoodies - $55 Kids sizes and $60 Adults sizes 

Last season we released a hoodie in a sports performance material, which we will continue to sell.   

We will have a range of sizes of kids and adult hoodies available to try on, order and pay at our registration days.   

Our first hoodie order will cut off on 10th March 2024 with a delivery date of approximately 15th April 2024. 

Our second hoodie order will cut off on 10th June 2024 with a delivery date of approximately 4th July 2024. 

Training Tees - $30 all sizes 

This season we will have a new training tee in a sports performance material.  We have ordered a small number of each size and will be selling these at our registration days.   

Sponsorship: 

We really do appreciate all the help and support we get from our sponsors each year.  Sponsorship is a great way to get involved with the club and is also a fantastic way to promote your business.  We have a number of packages available, just contact our sponsorship lead Craig if you have any queries or are interested in sponsoring. 

Team Sponsor - $100    

Gives you naming rights for a team for the season plus your business name and logo on the team photo.  You will also be listed in Marist Sports Club 2023 Green & Gold Times. 

$500 Club Sponsor - $500   

On top of team/team photo naming rights and listing in the Marist Sports Club 2023 Green & Gold Times, your business will be constantly advertised via our Facebook page, at our skills & drills sessions, family club days, prize giving and any other event our club holds throughout the season. 

Major Sponsor 

A bespoke package that combines the benefits of the $100 and $500 packages, along with naming rights/extra promotion for our bigger events through the year.  Get in contact with us and we will work through a package that suits your requirements. 

Other Sponsorship Opportunities 

We really do appreciate all the help we can get.  We are always on the lookout for donations of giveaway prizes/vouchers, food and drink for club days, storage space for kit, BBQ chefs, supplies of oranges for halftimes, helping hands with jersey dispatch/returns, and pretty much anything else we can use that would benefit the club and help make rugby at Marist Junior Rugby an awesome experience for our players, coaches and managers. 

 Marist Junior Rugby Registration Days: 

• Sunday 18th February 2024 3.00pm - 4.30pm 

• Sunday 25th February 2024 3.00pm - 4.30pm 

• Wednesday 6th March 2024 4.30pm - 6.00pm 

• Sunday 10th March 2024 3.00pm - 4.30pm 

All registrations days will be held in the Marist Sports Club, 19 Pascal Street, Palmerston North. 

There will be an opportunity to talk to committee members, register online, try on and order/purchase hoodies and a new style training tee and pay for fees and merchandise via EFTPOS or Cash. 

Season Key Dates: 

Here is a list of dates that we are working towards for our season, each event will be published on our Facebook page so please look there for confirmation of date, time and venue. 

Sunday 24th March 2024 Marist Club Day - team announcement 

Saturday 6th April 2024 Marist skills & drills sessions 

TBC Performance IQ – Year 7 & 8 

Thursday 25th April 2024 (ANZAC Day) Marist vs Marist pre-season games 

Saturday 11th May 2024 Season Starts – Game 1 

Saturday 1st June 2024 No Game – Kings Birthday weekend 

Monday 10th June 2024 Team Photos Year 1 – Year 5 

Tuesday 11th June 2024 Team Photos Year 6 – Year 8 

Friday 28th June 2024 Matariki Public Holiday 

Saturday 29th June 2024 Normal round – Game 7 

Sunday 30th June 2024 Marist Junior Rugby 7’s Tournament 

Saturday 06th July 2024 Normal round – Game 8 

Saturday 13th July 2024 No Game – School Holidays  

Saturday 20th July 2024 No Game – School Holidays 

Saturday 27th July 2024 Normal round – Game 9 (first round after school holidays) 

Saturday 24th August 2024 Season Finishes 

Marist Junior Rugby Committee: 

Our club is run by volunteers, the Committee run our club making all things Marist Junior Rugby tick, we have a group of mainly parents and a few senior players who coach and manage our teams.  Please consider joining the wonderful group of volunteers we have at Marist Junior Rugby.  We need Committee members, coaches and managers to ensure our club remains as strong as possible.  Please contact Kent to discuss or pop in to one of our registration days for a chat to any of the committee. 

Kent Higson | Chairman 027 546 9717 

Alastair Cadzow | Senior Convenor 021 567 172 

Craig Lowe | Sponsorship & Junior Convenor 021 417 287 

Jared Wright | Marketing 027 886 4718 

Hamish Sutherland | Social Media 021 829 607 

Sara Paterson | Treasurer 021 617 603 

Rachel O’Dea | Uniforms 022 019 2537 

Maggie Leota