Plenty of wins in a challenging period

With droughts, unprecedented bushfires, air quality issues and then Coronavirus, it's been a challenging year. But when we reviewed the July 2019 to June 2020 financial year for the Touch Football Australia (TFA) Annual Report, we were pleased to be able to report on plenty of success stories in the world of Touch Football. And you gotta celebrate the wins! Here's a trip down memory lane for the reporting period.

• TFA launched the All Abilities program. Fourteen programs were rolled out in every state and territory (except VIC and WA), and an All Abilities division was introduced at the National Touch League for the first time ever, allowing people with an intellectual or physical impairment to take part in our sport in a truly inclusive way.   
• TFA launched the 8th Edition Touch Football Rules, to bring the rules of the game in line with the way the game is played today. 
• TFA launched our first ever Learning Management System, The Nest. The Nest is a hub where all members of the sport can go to develop their knowledge of the game and develop an education profile in the sport. The Nest can be accessed via: touchfootball.etrainu.com
• A brand new registration system for participants was launched, as well as a great new www.touchfootball.com.au website. For the first time, the sport now has this portal for people all over the country to find Touch Football competitions and register straight to them, as well as a great new match centre where fixtures and results for all competitions display. 
• During the sport's shutdown, many online initiatives were launched, including The Final Touch online training programs and The Late Switch. TFA partnered with The Final Touch (Australian Emu players and exercise scientists Sammy Rodgers and Ash Kearney) to launch new online training programs, allowing our community to stay footy fit during lockdown and well beyond. And in The Late Switch vodcast, Touch commentator Scott MacAllister chats with heroes - past and present - of the game. 
• The Australian Emus won the Youth Trans-Tasman on home soil, a month before the country went into lockdown. Huge audiences tuned into the test series - the live stream had 325,683 viewers and was watched for a total of 1.7 million minutes.
• TFA secured our national licensed apparel providers for three years, including Major Partner Inferno, and signed with other new partners, Inspire Sport and Adjusta Mattress. We also renewed with partners Mater, Indomie and Buderim, despite the challenging year.
• TFA became a member of Pride in Sport, as part of our aim to become the most inclusive sport in Australia. To mark the new partnership, TFA Chair Anita Hagarty and CEO Jamie O'Connor marched in the Mardi Gras as part of the Pride in Sport float. 
• Sport shut down. But then we successfully rebooted community competitions! With the help of TFA partner Mater, we created Return-to-Play Guidelines and Protocols that allowed people to return safely to the activity and community they love!

To find out more about the 2019/20 financial year and read the TFA Annual Report or Financial Report, click here.