It's all happening in Junior Touch around Australia, whether it be the AusTouch program, new Junior competitions or the NSW Junior State Cup, it's certainly looking promising for the future of Touch.
SWQ- AUSTOUCH KICKS OFF AT CHINCHILLA:
From South West Queensland Terry McSweeney and his team have kicked off the Aus Touch Program in Chinchilla...
"As you would be aware the AusTouch program has been developed to increase participation in the sport of Touch and increase the skill level of the participants and to promote a healthy, safe after school activity for children.
Yesterday, Wednesday the 16th of February saw the initial AusTouch program in SWQ with 106 children signing up to participate in the affiliate of Chinchilla 180 km west of Toowoomba. The number could well increase as a number of children were unable to attend the sign on day.
The sign on was held from 3.30 to 4.30pm with the association President Brenda Rackemann and members of her executive including Lisa and Jo as well as a number of volunteers busily signing up eager children who flooded in straight after school.
It was good to see so many parents looking to be involved in some capacity. The program will have 15 volunteer leaders to guide the children over the next 7 weeks and I think some of the leaders are as excited about the program as the kids.
The first session of the program commences next week under the guidance of myself and Phil Gyemore with the leaders then taking the reins for a few weeks before our return mid program to provide assistance if require.
If your association or school in South West Queensland is interested in running the AusTouch program just contact our office for further details, as going on the Chinchilla response it is going to be a much sort after activity.
AusTouch can be run after school once a week over 6 to 8 weeks or as an intensive 2 day program.
I'll keep you up to date over the coming weeks as the Chinchilla program progresses!"
Any enquiries on SWQ Touch contact Terry at:
SWQ Touch Assoc
PO Box 550 Darling Heights Qld
0746311464
0407130703
Any enquiries on AusTouch, contact Marianne Maguire on (08) 8373 3222
SQBD- BEENLEIGH TOUCH JUNIOR COMPETITION BEGINS:
For Karley Banks the last few weeks have been more than a little hectic as she helped a Junior Touch competition kick off at Beenleigh...
"We had 40 kids start last week, after a great response at the initial sign on days and really good coverage in the local media.
The short lightning season (six weeks in total) will include skill development each week for 30 minutes before the teams take part in matches.
There are two divisions, Under 10's and Under 15's - it's a Mixed competition for this first season with the emphasis on coming along and trying the sport.
Strudwick's Sportsworld has sponsored playing shirts for the children and Beenleigh are keeping costs to a minimum to ensure their first foray into the sport is affordable, safe and fun.
We're hoping to expand the competition after this initial lightning season and Beenleigh are keen to develop the competition to a level where they can send representative teams away to this year's Qlueensland Junior State Cup at the Glasshouse Mountains from the July 1-3."
Any enquiries on Beenleigh Touch, give Karley Banks a call at South Queensland & Border Districts Touch Association on (07) 34230887 or sqsdo@qldtouch.com.au" target="_blank">sqsdo@qldtouch.com.au
NSW TOUCH CONTINUE TO BREAK RECORDS WITH JUNIOR STATE CUP:
For New South Wales Touch this weekend is set to be their busiest of the year. Right now around 7000 kids state wide are packing their bags for a trip to Wollongong for the 2005 NSW Junior State Cup.
Here's a report on the event from NSW Touch:
The NSW Touch Association's (NSWTA) Junior State Cup will once again raise the benchmark for the largest representative Touch Football carnival in the world when it takes place this weekend in Wollongong.
The event has continued its run of increases in participant growth and popularity. Since 2002 when 182 teams competed, the Cup has increased to set a world record of 274 teams at the 2005 event.
The continual rise of the event reflects the current growth patterns in the sport; however with this being a junior event, it is particular pleasing for the organisers.
"The popularity of this event far out weighs anything else in the touch world and that is a real positive for the sport," NSWTA General Manager Dean Russell says.
"However we are now really going to review our delivery as the event is nearly at a point where we have too many teams for the current format. It is a problem we enjoy having though. Its much better to have too many kids playing than not enough."
"This event continues to be a positive feature of our game that we must continue to capitalise on" Russell added.
Overall 2004 State Champions Manly will once again be strong contenders filling teams in every division, however it is expected that they will not have it all their own way with home to town favourites, Wollongong, having planned a concerted effort this year to take the title.
Strong junior competitions such as Wagga, Parramatta, Penrith, Cronulla and Newcastle are all favoured to do well and could very well hold the converted tag of overall State Champions come Sunday afternoon.
However while the focus will be on Touch, the local community will be set for a big weekend with up 12500 visitors to the area over the two day carnival. Russell expects the financial boost to the community to be significant.
"For these tournaments to be successful we need to have successful partnerships with the local community and with the likelihood of such a large number coming to town, the 2 day event will certainly provide an enormous economic boost to the whole Illawarra area."
The event will take place this weekend, February 19/20, at Thomas Dalton Park, Charters Lane, Fairy Meadow and is played in both boys and girls divisions from U/10's through to U/18's involving teams form all over NSW.
Draws and times can be found at www.nswtouch.com.au
Any requests for interviews can be made by contacting the General Manager on 0417 242 989
Event Statistics
,,X 275 teams over 10 divisions, 5 boys and 5 girls.
,,X Five age groups U/10, U/12, U/14, U/16 and U/18
,,X Over 7000 players and officials with a further 5000 family members expected to attend
,,X Teams from as far north as Murwillumbah, South as Wagga and Griffith and West as Dubbo and Parkes as well as all the strong Sydney clubs will all participate.
,,X Some 767 games over two days in 20 hours of actual playing time
,,X Finals commence at with the U/10's Girls at 2.30pm and conclude with the U/18's Boys at 4.30pm Sunday afternoon.
,,X 25 fields running concurrently
,,X the Worlds largest Touch Tournament
So things are happening for Junior Touch around Australia, that's plain to see! It's great for the direction and future of our status as the World's leading Touch nation, as well as for the health and development of our kids.
If your local, regional or State organisation has a story to share on the development of our future Touch Champions, send it to Rachel Moyle at media@austouch.com.au" target="_blank">media@austouch.com.au
