It’s a rugby tournament for the generations.

Ray Atkin’s father-in-law played in the Tai Mitchell tournament 40 or 50 years ago. Ray’s son played in the tournament in 2021 and 2022.

Today, Ray Atkin’s co-coached Tauranga East Boys team will feature when the “unique” Tai Mitchell rugby tournament returns to Blake Park for the first time in a decade.

“Mention Tai Mitchell and you will get smiles from granddads, from uncles and fathers, all of whom would have played the tournament,” says co-coach Ray Atkins, who is also on the hosting committee for this year’s tournament.

Many of them will be back on the touchlines for this year’s five-day tournament today, with the first of the girls' team kickingoff at 12.30pm.

The tournament will finish on Sunday with the finals.

There will also be smiles from the latest crop of Tai Mitchell tournament players — 19 teams, 540 players from Te Puke, Rotorua, Whakatāne, Galatea, Rangitāiki and Ōpōtiki, and three Tauranga-based teams, all celebrating Bay of Plenty rugby supremacy at intermediate school age level.

Altogether, more than 7500 people are expected to experience Tai Mitchell as players, coaches, managers, officials or spectators.

2023 winners - Tauranga West.

While the All Blacks gather in Dunedin for Scott Robertson’s first outing as coach, another generation of potential All Blacks gather in Tauranga. A former All Blacks captain, Sam Cane, cut his representative rugby teeth at Tai Mitchell.

“It not only serves as a platform for showcasing young talent of mainly Year 7 and 8 rangatahi, it also fosters a culture of excellence, sportsmanship and inclusivity,” says Atkins.

It’s a tournament with a long history and noble origins, being named 86 years ago, in 1938 - for Henry Taipōrutu Te Mapu-o-te-rangi Mitchell, Tai Mitchell, a Te Arawa leader in both Māori and Pākehā communities.

He carried out a wide range of social and economic activities as chairman of the Arawa Trust Board.

He was also an influential sports administrator in the early 20th century and was secretary of the Bay of Plenty Rugby Football Union.

His legacy remains strong.

“I love the opportunity Tai Mitchell provides young rugby talent that often gets overlooked at that age grade,” says Atkins.

He says the tournament’s uniqueness is that it has survived because it’s run by the NZ Principals Association and not NZ Rugby.

Tauranga West Girls.

This will be Ray’s second and last year as co-coach, a role he has enjoyed sharing with Arataki’s Mickel Rawiri.

There’s a bell shrine at Ōhinemutu dedicated to the memory of Tai Mitchell. The inscription reads “ahakoa kua mate ia e kōrero ana anō” - although dead he still speaks.

Eighty-six years later, perhaps the bell should toll for the beginning of the tournament tomorrow and in honour of one man’s lingering contribution.

A full draw for the tournament can be found on the 2024 Tai Mitchell Facebook page.