This team is one for the books

MARYKE PENMAN

WINNING WRITER: Warrior Jerome Ropati with Northcote Primary School’s Finn Nicholson, 9, who was the winner of the League in Libraries competition.

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He was the Junior Kiwis captain and now rugby league player Jerome Ropati is inspiring a team of a different kind.

As captain of the third annual Warriors League in Libraries programme, Ropati helped judge the best short story or poem written about the Warriors by Auckland schoolchildren.

Northcote Primary School's Finn Nicholson was the overall winner in the competition which aims to improve the literacy levels of children aged seven to nine.

Finn, 9, says his winning short story was about all of the players and their speed against the Brisbane Broncos.

Teacher Jo Deerness, who is a huge Warriors fan, says she has entered her year five and six class in the competition for the past two years.

"I found it was very engaging for the kids, particularly for the boys."

As the overall winning class, Northcote Primary's room 12 were visited by Ropati who presented Finn with a Warriors jersey, and the class tickets to a Warriors game.

Josh Byers, from programme sponsor Konica Minolta, says the Warriors are great ambassadors for the initiative that attracts hundreds of entries.

"If they say reading is cool, it means a lot in the minds of their young fans."

Ropati is pleased to be connecting with the community.

"Players need to have more in their lives than simply training and playing, and initiatives such as the League in Libraries programme are a great opportunity to make a difference in the lives of our young people," he says.

The top eight winning schools will meet the Warriors at a local library visit in August.

While the players are visiting the library they will work with the children to complete four literary activities.

- © Fairfax NZ News