ETA History flashback

As we plan our assault of Coffs Harbour, here's a bit of history for you:

1999 FIT World Cup - In a first for a northern hemisphere team, the England W30's took a 5-4 bronze medal win over Niue, giving our nation the first World Cup medal win outside of the southern hemisphere.

In what was a precursor to the current European Touch Championships back in 1991, the comp saw our resident statistician, Pete Sheff's first step onto the international stage, as coach of the England Women's 30's side at the 2nd Masters World Cup in Sydney, a mere 4 years after we became just the 13th member of the Federation of International Touch (FIT).

The English national sides arrived approximately a week prior to the championships and underwent a camp to bring them up to speed and to educate them on some of the finer points of the game down under. It was a steep learning curve, and was not without it's hurdles, but it proved a rewarding experience, as the English sides went about to prove they were there for more than just to make up the numbers. Players formed friendships that continue to this day, and as testament to that, Pete is on hand when we land in Australia in April for the TWC15.

It's quiet fitting, as the ETA revel in our victory of winning the European Touch Championships 2014 - some 15 years later - that we reflect on just how far we have come since those inaugural years on the world stage.