England Touch adds more experience to Board of Directors

England Touch is strengthening its group of Non-Executive Directors even further with the appointments of Geraint Thomason and David Jenkins onto the Association’s Board.

Thomason brings a wealth of business experience with him garnered from several decades working in the IT sector, including 18 years as a senior executive within IBM, where he led the team responsible for some of the company’s largest global clients.

Since leaving IBM he has been actively involved in developing a number of established and start-up companies and is now a Consultant within the technology sector.

Thomason is a long-standing member of Esher Rugby Club in Surrey and plays for the successful Expendables (veterans) team.

He is looking forward to helping England Touch achieve its ambitions.

“Like a lot of rugby players I’ve long enjoyed playing Touch to develop fitness and teamwork,” he said, “but I’ve also come to appreciate that it is its own sport that deserves to be taken seriously.

“Touch in England has come a long way in a relatively short time and this reflects the hard work done by Gregg Cropper and the management team, my fellow directors Natalie Davis and Mark James, and up until recently Chris Martin, and the dedication of all of the volunteers and players within England Touch and its clubs.

“I’m looking forward to being a part of England Touch and contributing to the strategic plan as the sport continues to grow rapidly and benefit more and more people across the country.”

David Jenkins has considerable experience of leadership within the sports sector, including as General Manager of the International Cricket Council Academy at Dubai Sports City; as Chief Executive of Football Aid (professional football’s preferred charity) and Field of Dreams, its not-for-profit parent company; and more recently as a consultant and advisor currently developing a smart city proposition that increases the number of people participating in sport and physical activity.

He is hoping to use his experience to help England Touch take the next step as an organisation.

“I’ve been impressed by England Touch’s development in the past couple of years,” he commented. “The number of players is increasing dramatically, which is not a surprise given the sport’s accessibility and openness, and England Touch as an organisation is really ambitious to entrench Touch as a participation sport.

“It is an exciting time and I am looking forward to using my experience to help England Touch move forwards.”

“The board and I agreed Geraint and David would be real assets to the organisation and we are delighted to have them on board,” commented Chief Operating Officer Gregg Cropper.

“Geraint’s skills around governance and stakeholder and commercial management, along with his overall approach and motivation will fit really well with the wider team.

“David has very relevant background and experience, with senior roles across sporting, leisure, charity, event and educational sectors. With his strong commercial background in sports industry and a whole host of other skills we are sure he will bring a lot to the role."