The project will see one match streamed live on the Auckland Rugby website every Saturday of the competition, with highlights of all other games in a weekly highlights show.
“This is a great development for the 1A competition, and for secondary school sport in Auckland generally,” says Michael Leach, Headmaster of King’s College and Chair of the Auckland Secondary Schools Heads Association.
The project will also see selected students have the chance to go behind the scenes and get some work experience in television production and media.
Auckland Rugby CEO Andy Dalton says it will be an exciting opportunity to share the action to a wider audience.
“We are really looking forward to being able to showcase all 12 schools in the 1A competition and to let former players and students, wherever they may be in the world, get behind what is one of the strongest schoolboy competitions in the world,”.
Dalton says the new service adds to the excellent coverage already provided by SKY and that Auckland Rugby engaged with the Principals of the schools early in the development stages of 1st XV TV to ensure support and an efficient operational approach.
Auckland Rugby Chairman Glenn Wahlstrom said 1st XV TV will be a great experience for players.
“We’ve seen that with SKY’s coverage in recent years, but this will enable us to showcase more teams every week and for the wider school communities to enjoy the amazing atmosphere and excitement of the competition.
“We imagine Old Boys across the globe will become ardent fans of the shows,” said Wahlstrom.
One match is set to be live streamed on the Auckland Rugby website each week, while all supporting content will be available on 1st XV TV Youtube and social media channels.
