England Touch Association

English Touch Association
Established 1995
Location Manchester, England
Website England Touch Association

The England Touch Association (ETA) is the national governing body for touch football (touch rugby) within England. It was granted membership to the Federation of International Touch (FIT) on 18 March 1995.[1] The current Chief Operating Officer is Gregg Cropper.[2]

History

In 2013 the ETA formed a strategic partnership with the RFU's O2 Touch Rugby initiative to develop the sport of Touch Rugby within the UK in the build up to the 2015 Rugby World Cup.[1] In July 2018 England Touch and the RFU announced an updated partnership to grow the game in the lead up to the 2018 European Championships.[3] The ETA submitted a Sport England pre-application document June 2018.[2]

European Championships

The England Touch Association hosted the 2018 European Touch Championships in Nottingham, England.[4] The tournament was covered by the BBC,[5] a milestone for the sport, with England crowned as overall champions. The ETA open men's and women's teams defeated Wales to be crowned champions in their respective divisions, whilst the ETA mixed open team narrowly lost their semifinal to Scotland, but defeated France in the playoff to achieve a bronze medal.[6][7]

Touch Football World Cup

During the 2011 Touch Football World Cup, hosted in Edinburgh, Scotland,[8] the women's open team came fourth overall, whilst the men's open 30s were silver medalists to Australia.[9][10] England Touch submitted multiple teams to the 2015 Touch Football World Cup, hosted in Coffs Harbour, Australia,[11] where they lost narrowly to Papua New Guinea in the mixed, open bronze play off, whilst winning their playoffs in the women's 27s, and the mixed 30s, to achieve bronze in both those categories.[12][13] The next world cup will be hosted in Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia, in April, 2019.[7]

Glaxay Touch London, and London Scorpions Touch, competing in the Women's National Touch Series final, 4 August 2018. Canterbury RFC, England.

Nationals

The final major, opens tournament for the 2018 season, the ETA Nationals, was held at St Ives, Cambridgeshire, in August, with the South East Sharks winning the men's and women's open finals respectively.[7][14]

Rankings

At the close of the 2017 season October rankings, and according to FITs ranking policy,[15] the ETA open men's team ranked fifth in the world, with the women's open team placing fourth. As of the close of the 2018 season, and the September rankings, the ETA open men's team have climbed to second on the world rankings, ahead of New Zeland and South Africa, with the women's open team placing third, ahead of Wales.[16]

References

  1. 1 2 "RFU Expands O2 Touch Initiative". Sport Industry Group. 30 May 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Reflections from the Top". Federation of International Touch. 13 July 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  3. ↑ "England Rugby and England Touch Association announce partnership". Rugby Football Union. 17 July 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  4. ↑ "European Touch Championships". European Federation of Touch. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  5. ↑ "Catch-up: European Touch Rugby Championships - day two". BBC. 19 July 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  6. ↑ "European Championships 2018". Federation of International Touch. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 "Touch Nationals: England Coach Tim Osborne looks to World Cup". BBC. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  8. ↑ "World Cup Touches Down in Edinburgh". Edinburgh Rugby. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  9. ↑ "2011 World Cup Results". Sports Technology Group Pty Ltd. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  10. ↑ "World Cup 2011". Federation of International Touch. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  11. ↑ "World's best touch footballers descend on Coffs Harbour". ABC. 30 April 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  12. ↑ "Touch World Cup Australia 2015". Sports Technology Group Pty Ltd. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  13. ↑ "World Cup 2015". Federation of International Touch. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  14. ↑ "Touch Rugby England National Championships". BBC. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  15. ↑ "FIT World Ranking Policy". Federation of International Touch. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  16. ↑ "World Rankings". Federation of International Touch. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
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