Bay of Plenty's finest female rugby players get their chance to state their early dominance in the opening round of the Bay of Plenty Women's Ruby Competition.

Kicking off on Saturday, the competition boasts seven teams, three from the Eastern Bay of Plenty, two from the Central Bay of Plenty, one from Western Bay of Plenty and the East Coast team.

Opotiki versus Mount Maunganui in last season's final. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

The teams are; Opotiki, Waimana, Paroa, Rotoiti, Waikite, Arataki and East Coast.

Last season there was two teams in the competition from the East Coast but they struggled with travel and have this year come down to one team.

In previous years, the competition has run from August to September, but this year the window has been moved to April to July to enable a team to be entered into the National Provincial Championship.

Pere Paul has been appointed as coach of the representative side based on player performance during the upcoming competition.

There will also be an opportunity for secondary school girls to impress and push for inclusion during the Bay of Plenty Secondary Schools competition.

Bay of Plenty Rugby Union chief executive Mike Rogers says the union has been working during the last few years to grow the women's game and now have good secondary school and club competitions in place.

Former Black Ferns Star and women's rugby committee member Exia Edwards is more than confident there are more than enough teams to create a strong Bay of Plenty representative side.

Exia says has been behind the movement since 2005 when they last had a team in the NPC, trying to get numbers back up, creating awareness around the competition and pushing it through the union and the clubs.

The competition has teams playing fortnightly on a Sunday, with their first game this weekend.

Bay of Plenty Women's Club Competition draw: April 13

Paroa v Arataki in Paroa at 1.00pm

East Coast v Waikite in Opotiki at 12.00pm

Opotiki v Waimana in Opotiki at 2.30pm

Rotoiti - BYE