Sideline Sid - Sports blogger Sideline Sid is a local sport fanatic. Not only is he a classic rugby bloke but he has views, opinions and knowledge on all sports played in the Bay of Plenty.

Sideline Sid had a busy few days over the weekend, keeping up with what was happening on the local sporting scene.

Friday it was off to Blake Park for the Western Bay Rippa Rugby World Cup where the stars of the future were showcasing their skills.
Twenty years ago when Kiwi Sport came on the scene, I believe that the concept of participation, where games were played in a non-competitive environment, did junior sport in this country serious harm.
However, in the last decade, sporting codes have recognised that there needs to be an even balance between encouraging youngsters to take part and to participate in competition where winning and losing is part of the game.
Rippa Rugby and Milo Cricket are two of the sports that teach youngsters the fundamentals of the sport in a modified version of the game, but still have a competitive result.
The Rippa Rugby World Cup caters for Year 3-6 boys and girls.
On Friday, Blake Park was alive with the sound of 48 teams thoroughly enjoying playing the game.
Rippa Rugby is about ripping a tag from the opposition to stop the play, instead of tackling.
For the record, Fairhaven Primary from Te Puke won the Year 5-6 division, with Pillans Point taking out the Year 3-4 grade.

Saturday afternoon saw me at Blake Park, taking in the Baywide Premier rugby battle between Mount Maunganui and Rotoiti. With both teams are near the top of the competition leader board, a tight contest was expected.
However, after a close encounter in the first half, the Mount cut loose in the second spell to run four further tries to take a significant 38-3 victory. While there are still seven games before post section play - defending champions Tauranga Sports and Mount Maunganui (with possibly Te Puke Sports) give the Western Bay a real chance of annexing the Baywide silverware.

Another sport that I caught up with during the holiday break was the NZTF National Taekwondo championships at the QE2 Youth Centre. Taekwondo originated in Korea, and today is the world's most popular martial art in terms of participant numbers. Competitors are known as players and the sport was granted admittance to the Olympic Games in 2000.

The weekend tournament attracted 400 players from throughout the country, as well as a small but strong representation from Australia, Samoa and Tonga. The local Mount and Tauranga club, which fights under the banner of Team KO, really made their presence felt, taking out the trophy for most medals won during the weekend.

The event was extremely well run and organised, with a large band of supporters on hand. The opening on Saturday was a joy to behold with the Maori challenge being picked up by the Samoan contingent. The rendition of the New Zealand national anthem by a local woman competitor was outstanding.

The organisers of the so-called professional boxing extravaganza, held at the same venue a couple of weeks ago, should have taken lessons in event management and presentation from the local Taekwondo organisers.

The game plan that the Aussie organisers put in place for the pro boxing event was flawed from the start. They tried to mix the Australian Idol winner with a no name boxing card - with both attractions failing to bring in the punters. Their lesson to treat Tauranga lightly was felt in their pocket, with the occasion losing thousands of dollars.

Seeya at the Game.