Changes to junior rugby loom as the Otago Rugby Football Union attempts to keep more children in the game.
Union club and schools liaison officer Brett Compton said the changes had been approved by the junior advisory board and would now have to be approved by the rugby council.
The objective was to keep players involved in the game and ultimately the union wanted to keep participation numbers high.
If the changes are approved by the rugby council they would be introduced for next season Under the changes an under-9 rippa rugby grade would be set up and players who left to go to secondary school could still play for club teams.
Playing numbers had been relatively static over the past few years so something had to be done to keep the sport growing, Compton said.
Players who went to high school but weighed under 50kg could go back and play for their club team in year 9, in the under-13 grade.
If they weighed less than 45kg, they could play in the under-12 grade, and under 40kg, could play in the under-11 grade.
Compton said many players who left their club teams and went to a secondary school then struggled to make the one side for that year and were then lost to rugby.
Giving them a chance to play again in a grade against players of similar size would keep them in the sport, he said.
He doubted the change would hurt current players.
He estimated about 150 players a year across Otago were giving the game away when they went from rippa rugby to tackle.
Players competed in rippa rugby up to and including under-7 level and then went to tackle.
Those grades would still apply but there would also be an under-9 rippa rugby grade for those players who still wanted to play the sport but did not want to play tackle yet.
Compton said players developed at different ages and might take some time to adjust to tackle rugby.
There were 1500 junior players in rippa rugby but 900 of those did not play on Saturday, playing in competitions during the week for schools.
He hoped to get more of them playing on a Saturday and offering the rippa rugby grade at a higher age group might encourage players to switch to rippa rugby.
The union was not looking at moving to a weight-age grading system.
