The entrance of Women's Rugby Sevens at the 2016 Olympics in Rio is certain to be in the future plans of a number of players participating in the North Island Secondary Schoolgirls' Rugby Sevens tournament at Greerton Park today and Friday.

Bay of Plenty Rugby has been pro-active in the development of Women's Sevens, enlisting the services of former New Zealand Sevens' star Chad Tuoro, to identify and develop the promising Bay of Plenty Women's Sevens players to an international standard.

Hosting the inaugural North Island Secondary Schoolgirls' tournament, in association with Sport Bay of Plenty, is an indication of the desire of the Bay Rugby Union to be a leader in the development of the women's sevens game in New Zealand.

Bay of Plenty Rugby Union Operations Manager Neil Alton says BOP rugby is focused on giving local women's players the best chance of representing New Zealand at the 2016 Olympics.

'The North Island Secondary Schoolgirls tournament is one of our first steps in taking the Bay to the forefront of Women's Sevens Rugby in the country”.

A select field of eight secondary schools, from Mahurangai College north of Auckland to Wellington region representatives Wainuiomata College, will battle to find the North Island champions that will be crowned on Friday afternoon.

The desire of Bay of Plenty, to promote and develop the secondary schoolgirls' sevens game in local schools, is shown by the representation of four teams from the Bay. Opotiki College, who have a proud record in promoting secondary schoolgirls rugby, will be joined by Rotorua Girls' High School along with Tauranga Girls' College and Otumoetai College.

A local Bay of Plenty derby, between Opotiki College and Rotorua Girls College and Otumoetai College taking on Putaruru College, will open the tournament at 9am on Thursday morning. The finale, which will decide the inaugural North Island Sevens titleholder, will close the tournament at 1pm on Friday.

North Island Secondary Schoolgirls' Sevens tournament at Greerton Park on March 29 – 30.

Day One (Thursday 29 March) Qualifying rounds

Day Two (Friday 30 March) Championship playoffs

Teams: Wainuiomata HS, Fielding College, Mahurangi College, Putaruru College, Rotorua Girls HS, Tauranga Girls College, Otumoetai College, Opotiki College.