Northern Māori Programme – 2026/27
Rangatahi Programme
Background – The Northern Māori Rangatahi programme has been introduced in the past few years via the Pathway Tournament programme with 2 Tane teams entering the ND Emerging and Youth Rangatahi Tournaments. This has been a positive programme and the players involved have enjoyed the experience provided. In recent months the ND Community team has been meeting with stakeholders to discuss where this programme is best placed to provide impact for the communities it serves. The consistent theme is that while the programme has worked well, there is already pathway opportunities in play for our young Māori performance players, and there is potentially even bigger impacts to be made by re-positioning the youth sector of the Northern Māori programme as one that focuses on providing an enhanced cultural experience with cricket as the vehicle driving it, rather than it being an additional pathway team. There was also a strong theme that it would be good to engage our young wahine in this space.
Re-Positioning of Programme – Following extensive community outreach and the themes that came through that process, the 2026/27 Northern Māori Rangatahi programme is shifting to a stand alone programme with a stronger focus on cultural engagement and cricket being used as a vehicle to support this.
The main event of the coming summer is a three day regional Under 19 Māori Rangatahi tournament to be held at Smallbone and Ray Boord Park in Rotorua from January 19th – 21st. The tournament will feature both Tane and Wahine teams from Northern Māori and Tāmaki Makaurau. In future years, we see this tournament expanding to include teams representing the Central Districts and Wellington region
All players and staff will be staying at Mataatua Ki Rotorua Marae, and an off field committee with representatives from both Tāmaki Makaurau and the Northern Māori community is being set up to advise to ensure that as part of the wider tournament experience, there will be opportunities for everyone to engage in kaupapa māori such as learning waiata, engaging in traditional māori games and a pō whakangāhau celebrating te ao māori within our game.
As the symbolic heartland of Māori culture in New Zealand, Rotorua seemed like a perfect venue for the inaugural running of this event.
Senior Tane and Wahine Programme
The pinnacle event for our senior Tāne and Wāhine players in the 2026/27 season is undoubtedly the Māori national tournament being held in Tāmaki Makaurau (Lloyd Elsmore Park) from October 18th-21st, 2026.
Players from all over the motu will be staying together at Te Mahurehure Marae, and engaging with a range of off field activities together.
Games are also being scheduled for later in the season with Tamaki Makaurau, NZ Croatia and Rotorua, so a significant expansion of opportunities will be provided in 2026/27.
Heartland Cricket – 2026/27
Concept rationale: The concept has come from a theme of feedback from the non-metropolitan regions of ND that without a flagship/aspirational team above club cricket to aim for, this is affecting morale for many of these smaller areas and leading to players walking away from the game prematurely due to the level and 'sameness' of cricket on offer. This concept sits squarely in the community space and is aimed at providing a variety of experience for passionate club participants as well as something aspirational for players in smaller communities to aim for. The concept was trialled at a smaller level at the back end of 2025/26 with Poverty Bay playing against a Bay 'Lakelands' side at Smallbone Park in Rotorua. The feedback was excellent and the game generated significant interest within the local communities involved. All of the District Associations are supportive of the concept and are keen to work with NDCA to bring this competition to life, and make it a great first experience for all involved
Tournament structure 2026/27: 3 day tournament March 27th-29th, 2027 (Gisborne) +1 x near neighbour game in -season (Jan 2027
Potential Teams (tbc): Poverty Bay, South Waikato (Tokoroa, Tirau, Putaruru), Rotorua, Midlands (Taupo, Whakatane), Thames Valley (Hauraki Plains/Coromandel), Northerns (Kaipara/Far North).
District Association Age Group Representative Programme – 2026/27
| Youth Girls (U16) | Sunday 29th Nov – Tuesday 1st Dec | Cambridge |
| Youth Boys (U17) | Monday 30th Nov – Friday 4th Dec | Manurewa |
| Emerging Boys (U19) | Monday 7th Dec – Friday 11th Dec | Whangarei |
| Emerging Girls (U19) | Tuesday 15th Dec – Friday 18th Dec | Rotorua |
| U15 Boys | Sunday 31st Jan – Monday 1st Feb | Tauranga |
Always a highlight within the community calendar, the coming season sees Northern Districts Cricket Association expanding their offering for our youngsters who represent their District Associations with the introduction of an Under 15 Grade to go along with the 4 tournaments already in place. Over 450 youngsters from Northland, Counties Manukau, Hamilton, Waikato Valley, Bay of Plenty and Poverty Bay will once again have the opportunity to play a tournament where they will enjoy good cricket, great camaraderie and an opportunity to compete with and connect with other people their age from right across the region.
NDCA School Tournaments Calendar – 2026/27
The Boys and Girls First XI Cup Tournament will again be held in Hamilton (March 15-19, 2027) with 16 teams (8 male and 8 female) from across ND representing their schools at these events. The qualifying stages will be done within each District Association and once again will provide an enjoyable sporting platform for hundreds of teenagers from the far north down to Gisborne.
The secondary school space is an area of great focus for ND and it’s Districts in the coming summer and we are expecting to see significant growth in participation in 26/27.
