While the focus of the event, now in its 14th year, is on participation, a raft of awards were handed out at Sunday’s prizegiving, including the major award, presented to the team that demonstrates outstanding performance, sportsmanship and overall excellence on and off the field.
Festival founder Tyrone Campbell says the award’s a "real credit" to the Wakatipu Basin team and their club, which boasts "such an awesome culture".
The U10 Upper Clutha team won "Team of the Festival", for the team with the highest overall points, combining performance and sportsmanship, including match results and ratings from opposition teams and refs.
A total of 42 teams travelled from all over NZ for this year’s event — which didn’t get under way till Saturday after Queenstown’s council made the call to cancel games on Friday, due to ground conditions at the Queenstown Events Centre.
Meantime Tyrone Campbell says this year’s event marked a turning point in the sport.
He says it was the "world’s first-ever zero-waste rugby festival", a milestone achieved four years in the making, supported by event partners Without Waste.
Its director, Kate Gislason, says it’s been a "massive journey", starting with educating teams and families about managing their own waste.
"From there we trialled reusable serve ware from DISHrupt, got teams directly involved in sorting their recyclables, and step by step built a culture of responsibility.
"To now reach full zero waste at a festival of this size is a proud moment for everyone involved."
