It’s been an incredibly successful year for the Ōpōtiki Rugby Club and that continued Tuesday night at the Bay of Plenty Rugby Awards.

Ōpōtiki Sports Club was named club of the year for their efforts on and off the field in 2026.

They won the award over more than 20 other clubs around the Bay of Plenty.

The honour comes after the club took a leap of faith in 2026 and opted to rejoin the Baywide division after a hiatus of several years.

Ōpōtiki’s premier and development teams showed their potential with positive showings in their divisions, and the women’s side cannot be forgotten after making it through to the semifinals of the Baywide Championship division, despite having one of the smaller player bases.

Ōpōtiki men’s coach David Te Moana said the club were stoked to been named club of the year.

“We’re really proud. It’s the first time our club has won that award and earned this type of recognition with Bay of Plenty, so we’re really happy about that.

“It justified our decision to go up to the Baywide division where we more than held our own and showed we’re capable at that level.”

Te Moana said it showed how hard the club had worked to make the move successful.

“It paid off. Mana [Howe] got called into the Steamers and unfortunately although it didn’t quite work out in terms of gametime, it shows we are getting noticed.”

He said they had tried to create a culture change at the club.

“We had to do something – the club needed to try and create a culture shift and be more inclusive and I feel like we’ve done really well in terms of that and shifting the mentality.”

Every week Ōpōtiki had huge numbers on the sideline supporting the teams and a lot of old faces, who hadn’t been present for years made returns, showing the transition the club was making.

“It’s an award for our whole community. Rugby plays a big part in it and to be recognised like we have only bodes well for the future.”

Te Moana said they had already started looking towards 2027 to what they hoped would be an exciting campaign.

Meanwhile, Eastern Bay referees Jaco Brouwer and Shinoa Nikora also received awards at the BOP Rugby Referee Awards recently capping off a strong EBOP season.